Animal House or Caddyshack?

Like I stated previously, Animal House is a defining film of the late boomer, early gen-x generation, much like Dazed and Confused is the defining film of mine (late gen-x, early millennial)

Animal House speaks to boomers on an elemental, gut-level. It articulates a very specific rejection of what came before, and it is the definition of an inside joke (in a good way).

Caddyshack is a fun movie that anyone can sit down and enjoy. Its brilliance is its accessibility.

 

"I lied too...I'm only 13."

I practically spit out my drink at that scene/line the first time I saw Animal House.


While both movies are funny and both had vulgarity and silliness, Animal House started it all with those type of comedy movies. I like Animal House better, but Caddyshack gets the edge with the established Star Power (Animal House cast was mostly unknowns at the time, except for Belushi, Donald Sutherland and one or two others.)

There wasn't one thing I hated about Animal House. Whereas Caddyshack, they could've done without the silliness of Bill Murray's character and his interactions with the "imaginary" gopher.


Some of my favorite vulgar scenes from Caddyshack:

"I bet you 50 bucks he picks his nose....I bet you 50 more he eats it." LOL

Anyone ever go swimming and see a Baby Ruth candy bar floating in the pool and then someone eats it later?




Seriously, though, we should open up a poll involving all these type of movies and see which one is the last one standing.


Animal House
Caddyshack
Blues Brothers
Stripes
Porky's
Fast Times At Ridgemont High
Vacation
Revenge Of The Nerds
Bachelor Party
Christmas Vacation


And any others I am forgetting that are of the dark humor/vulgar humor variety.

 

I can visualize Caddyshack as the crew from Animal House 15 years later, on the golf course and in business rather than on the campus and doing panty raids.

 

Animal House by a gophers whisker. Both pure classic cinema gold.

 

So I got that going for me, which is nice.

 

Interesting that they were considering Chevy Chase for a part in Animal House....Landis wasn't too keen on the idea
Chase went with Foul Play...probably a good decision.Not sure how Chase would've panned out in that ensemble cast.

 

Tough one.... AH by just a skinch.

 

I should try to mash them up: Animal Shack

 

Animal House!

 

Damn, I never knew all of that.

After doing a little digging, I have never noticed that moment in Caddyshack where Kenney gets a line of coke for a lady to do and it is on screen in the film, in the background at Rodney's table during the sequence when Judge is telling a story and Noonan is giving Lacey tons of butter because he is infatuated with her. That is crazy.

 

Caddyshack. Murray, Ted, and Rodney really on their games. I used to caddy so there's that as well

 

I'll take that as an "I can't vote for one or the other because they are both so good."

 

Couple other thoughts on Animal House / Caddyshack (and why I think Caddyshack is superior)

John Landis, unquestionably terrific comedy director late 70-80s. Created many we consider classics.

Harold Ramis - Rich comedy background both in front and behind the camera (most famously SCTV) - in his very first film, he was able to "wrangle" all of these styles of comedy - the total piss-on-the-party rat-a-tat joke machine of Rodney's style, the Groucho-esque Chevy character - suave, belongs to the society (technically), but has no respect for authority. Then Bill Murray as the benevolently smart/dumb loner who lives in his own world and has his dreams.. it keeps going. Props to Brian Doyle-Murray for his work behind and in front of the camera. He often does not get enough credit in comedy IMO.

Plus, Harold was a master at taking nearly unfilmable scripts (due to length, due to motivation, etc. etc. he fixed a lot through his work) and making them work as films - and he had heart. Something about his films that always had "heart", sometimes obvious, sometimes not. There's actually a sweet love story buried in all the Caddyshack madness! This one does remind of a Marx Bros film - only the "brothers" are all over the place, and Danny doesn't sing a song. Even the shots they needed to squeeze in just to have all work (for absolutely no plausible reason, Chevy and Bill are shoved together to get one scene together - great watching them together on screen).

Anyway, Animal House, the characters belong in college (sure Bluto's getting too old, but that's an old joke, too) and its about their hijinks.

In Caddyshack, none of our main characters "belong" - and the ones that do, they take the piss out of them, and they come off as befuddled at best - they take on high society from so many angles. Ted Knight of course, fantastic.

I guess I like the true anti-authoritative vibe that runs through all of Caddyshack.

And did I mention Kenny Loggins was alright, too?

 

I'm watching caddyshack now.

Animal house by a mile

Rodney doing his nightclub act in the movie doesn't work

 

Weird coincidence that just occurred to me, and I don’t think anyone else has noted yet: the only other movie the actress who said that line appeared in was Caddyshack.

 

Actually Sarah Holcomb also appeared in Walk Proud with Robby Benson & Happy Birthday, Gemini, along with Mr. Mike's Mondo Video.

Animal House was her 1st film & Caddyshack was her last however.

 

I literally cannot choose. Dangerfield / Murray vs. prime Belushi. Add in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and you have three of my all timers.

 

You're probably right, but the soundtracks to each film reflect a division. Animal House is set in the early 1960s so the music is Louie Louie, Hey Paula, Tossin' & Turnin', Shout, Sam Cooke, etc. (=older crowd). Caddyshack is set in its time so the music is "modern": Kenny Loggins, Journey, etc. (=younger crowd). I know both films sprung from the brain of Doug Kenney, but it seems like the studio aimed Caddyshack's marketing at younger folks. Maybe not. Maybe I'm just interpreting it that way because Animal House's soundtrack is nostalgic and Caddyshack's isn't.

 

Let me put it this way:
When I was younger, Animal House.
Now, Caddyshack.

Didn't Harold Ramis have a hand in both films, though? What an amazing talent he was.


Dan

 

They are both good, in their own ways.
They both have some lesser parts too.
I suspect the OP is just starting a conversation, but I do not really know why the question was posted....so I asked. Nothing more than that from my end.

 

That's King *@#!! Frat to you, sir! The greatest sleaziest slimiest rip-off movie ever filmed in Florida!

 

It seems that those that love Blues Brothers also love Animal House.

Which might explain why I don’t care for Animal House. In my opinion, Blues Brothers is too long, and not funny at all.

 

If I might. The Blues Brothers trump's them both. Sorry.

 

Blues Brothers was an incredible disappointment for me. Thought it was awful and not funny either

 

+ infinity