25th Anniversary Animal house Celebration

Yet another blessing of living in Portland! I will be close enough to drive to the 25th Anniversary Celebration of “Animal House” in Cottage Grove, OR.

See www.animalhousecelebration.com for details.

The Oregonian’s Saturday edition had a three-page article about “Animal House”. There were interviews with most of the major stars. I was intrigued to learn that Donald Sutherland was offered a choice of $40,000 up front (which he took) or a percentage of the gross. Had he taken the latter, it would’ve been $40,000,000.

Or that the bass player in the Otis Day & The Knights band was local legend Robert Cray, who at the time was playing in the Curtis Salgado band, who was the person from whom Belushi formed the idea for the Blues Brothers.

Or that at the time, Peter “Boon” Reigert was dating Bette Midler.

Or that the president of University of Oregon’s office is Dean Wormer’s office in the movie. And that Chris Miller (writer & producer) scoured the East Coast trying to find a location, and every college that read the script quickly denied him. So when the UO President was asked, he quickly approved it — because once he was a dean at another college, he denied permission to a filmmaker looking for a location to shoot “The Graduate”, a movie he became very fond of.

I had to take umbrage at the review given by one critic, who said “seeing it 25 years later, it’s… not as funny as I remembered it.” You can’t review a great movie 25 years later and find the same meaning! Movies (and art in general) must be framed in the context of their time.

If you see “Animal House” now, after having seen “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, “Bachelor Party”, “Revenge of the Nerds”, “Porky’s”, or any of the many movies that make up that teen-comedy-anti-establishment genre, it will seem dated and plodding.

But in 1978, there was no such genre. “Animal House” created it. It’s like how “Jaws” today doesn’t seem that scary (ooh, wooden-looking fake shark!) or “Star Wars” looks cheaply-made or “Rocky” looks like… well, not like the Best Picture of the Year.

Anyway, the celebration is going to include a Look-A-Like (shouldn’t that be Look-Alike?) Contest, a Toga Contest, a parade through downtown Cottage Grove (same route taken in the movie) including The Get-A-Life Marching Band (www.getalifemb.org, which I may have to join someday), two showings of “Animal House”, and various bands that include a Blues Brothers Tribute Band, Otis Day & The Knights, and The Kingsmen!

Oh, wait. I will have had my feet operated on just 48 hours prior. I’ll be doped up and in pain. I will be broke and out of work. My dad will be over for the weekend.

“Radical” Russ — Argh! Why couldn’t it have been this weekend! Double Argh! I guess I will have to make due with the “Animal House 25th Anniversary: Double Secret Probation Edition” DVD, available August 26th…