Presenter(s): Katherine Wilson—English
Faculty Mentor(s): Philip Krysl
Session 1: Flicks and Pics
This research project asks what is left of an old fraternity house made famous in 1977 during the filming of National Lampoon’s Animal House, and is answered in a short motion picture: https://vimeo . com/401735276/4367deb178
In the mid-60s and early 70s the Animal House was a half-way house for parolees going to college . In 1977 it’s exterior starred in the movie Animal House, but the interior was off limits . So the set decorators bought two identical doors, and mounted one of them as the front door on the “Exterior” of the Animal House, while the other they mounted on the Sigma Nu House, which also had sidelights, and would help continuity-wise to not only mimic the living room and basement of the other house, but would double as the Interior door .
In 1986, an old friend of Katherine Wilson’s contacted her about trying to save the house from being demolished . She was on-location in Washington state and was unable to help, and it was demolished . However, pieces of the house were saved, and ended up in her possession in 2012 . In 2017, she was asked to create a movie set from the various pieces for The Oregon Film Museum’s fundraiser, and she recreated the front porch . In 2018, the Cottage Grove Hysterical Society, planning for the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Animal House, used it as a backdrop at Bohemian Park for the concert starring Otis Day and The Kingsmen . Watch for it again in 2021 .