Animal House: Who Were Those Guys? Quiz

Answer: Larry "Pinto" Kroger

In a movie such as this, one of the cliched characters that is a must is the young innocent... and that's Larry to a tee. Larry is wholesome, desperately wants to be pledged to a fraternity. He's a virgin and is simply bursting at the seams to have his first sexual encounter.

That sexual encounter ends up being Larry's memorable moment in the film. When he finally gets a young girl into the bedroom, he's horrified to find out that she's only thirteen years old, just before she passes out, half naked, in drunken stupor. A devil appears on Larry's shoulder, encouraging him to have his way with her. An angel then appears on his other shoulder admonishing him. The film cuts to the next scene and Larry is wheeling the young lady home in a shopping trolley, with the audience having to make up their own minds as to what may have happened.

Larry, played by Tom Hulce, is too nice to wind up being the editor of "National Lampoon", the magazine that produced this film. The clues in the film then, would most likely have been his affable charm and that desire to continually try new things.

Answer: Robert "Hoov" Hoover

Amongst the crew of the Deltas, Hoover is without doubt, the most straightlaced. Like all of them, he enjoys a great prank and definitely likes to party but he's also a bit "old-maidish", looking to keep things in line. Played by James Widdoes, he proves himself to be a great negotiator. An affable character, he treats everyone with respect, including Dean Wormer, who hates every one of the Deltas. Hoover is President of Delta Tau Chi and, unlike every other Delta, is keen to stay in college.

Whilst Hoover is the one who latches the chain from the utility pole to one of the floats in the homecoming parade, his best moment on screen comes when he is swearing in the new pledges to the team, Pinto and Flounder...
Hoover: "I (state your name)."
Pinto and Flounder: "I, state your name."

Considering his great negotiating skills, it is of little surprise that at the epilogue, we discover that Hoover had become a public defendant. John Landis, who had completed a 2003 mockumentary about what happened to the Fabre crew later, goes a little further to confirm that he is an assistant district attorney and that he boasts how his legal advice was sought in the O.J. Simpson murder trial.

Answer: Greg Marmalard

Greg Marmalard is the obnoxious president of the Omega fraternity and an arch enemy of the Delta house. He's also Chairman of Faber's Pan-Hellenic Council, which makes him one of Dean Wormers trusted allies and results in him being recruited into the Dean's schemes to have the Deltas expelled.

He is extremely smug and is saving himself for marriage, much to his girlfriend's (Mandy Pepperidge) disgust. Mandy is tipped over the edge by this and winds up sleeping with Otter but Greg is so focused on his revenge on the Delta house that he doesn't even notice.

Played by James Daughton, Greg's most significant scene is his passion for bootlicking, especially to Dean Wormer.
Dean Vernon Wormer: "Greg, what is the worst fraternity on this campus?"
Greg Marmalard: "Well. that would be hard to say, sir. They're each outstanding in their own way."
Dean Vernon Wormer: "Cut the horse***, son. I've got their disciplinary files right here. Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the varsity swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode."
Greg Marmalard: "You're talking about Delta, sir."
Dean Vernon Wormer: "Of course I'm talking about Delta, you TWERP!"

Answer: Eric "Otter" Stratton

It is difficult to make one's mind up as to where Eric Stratton sits on the scale between being a "good" guy or a "bad" guy. He's a member of Delta House so he's on the side of the "good" guys, but he is such a rogue. Otter is a pretty boy, and he has a way with women. He manages to sleep with two in this film, one to his detriment as it winds up leading to a bashing in motel room at the hands of Greg Marmalard, and (here's the cringe worthy part) almost wormed his way into another by lying to a girl who was in mourning at the death of her boyfriend.

Otter has a number of memorable moments in this film but the two standouts would be, firstly, his rant at the disciplinary hearing where, knowing that he was going to lose, he still manages to wind up accusing the college of being un-American. The other is when he has delusion of eloquence and attempts to seduce Marian Wormer, the Dean's wife, in the vegetable aisle of the supermarket with a cucumber.

Played by Tim Matheson, he becomes a successful gynecologist in Beverly Hills. In an interview in a 2003 mockumentary, he claims to have "grown up a bit" since his college days. At this point a very attractive "patient" in skimpy underwear calls out to say she's ready for her examination now... he cuts the interview short.

Answer: Kent "Flounder" Dorfman

Kent is overweight and he's a dork. In addition, he has next to zero social skills. It's ironic, then, that he does winds up being a sensitivity trainer. In fact, he goes higher. In a 2003 mockumentary created by this film's director, John Landis, we discover that Kent is the executive director of Encounter Groups of Cleveland Inc.

Kent's lack of social skills means that he struggles to make friends, is teased a lot and he becomes the whipping boy for the college's bully, Doug Neidermeyer. When his picture is shown for an endorsement into Delta House, he is booed, and cans get thrown at his picture. He only gets accepted thanks to a recommendation from Otter and the fact that he's a Delta House legacy.

Aside from getting roped into a prank by Bluto and D-Day, his most memorable moment is when he becomes the butt of Dean Wormer's iconic sledge "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son." Kent was played in the film by Stephen Furst.

Answer: Barbara Sue "Babs" Jansen

Babs is a cheerleader at Faber and is a part of the Omega Theta Pi fraternity. Her role in the film is only small but her impact is significant. Played by Martha Smith, she has her sights set on Greg Marmalard, but Greg is going out with Mandy Pepperidge. This doesn't sit well with Babs, who gets quite jealous. She uncovers Mandy's cheating with Otter, informs Greg who then sets up a trap for Otter at a motel room. Otter cops a severe beating from the likes of Greg, Neidermeyer and Chip Diller (Kevin Bacon in his first film role).

As her role is limited, her memorable moments on screen boil down to a couple of great quotes; The first one is aimed at Bluto in the college cafeteria, "That boy is a P-I-G pig", which becomes a precursor to the food fight scene and the second is a steamy lover's lane scene with Greg (who's cheating now) Marmalard where she pines, "Greg, honey, is it supposed to be this soft?"

As chaos breaks out at the climax of the big parade, Babs has her outfit torn off and is left in her underwear. At this point we are informed that she has scored a job at Universal Studios. The mockumentary that John Landis created in 2003 indicates that she is good in her role and has had a big hand in putting together the school reunion gig.

Answer: Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Portrayed by Mike Metcalf, Niedermeyer is a loose cannon with a hair trigger temper to boot. He doesn't just hate the Delta house, he hates everyone... it's just that the Deltas manage to fan his hate flame a little harder... He is head of the ROTC (Reserves Officers Training Corp) on the campus and is totally obsessed with military precision. A simple pledge pin triggers his temper during one of the group's drills. He totally bullies Flounder and Pinto, to a lesser extent.

But here's the madness in the man... he carries live ammunition on his person and is prepared to use it. Exhibit A, when Flounder sprays him with a water bottle, he loads up a Springfield rifle and is preparing to shoot at Flounder with no regard as to who may be injured. Exhibit B, when the Deltas run amok at the homecoming parade, he seems to be the only one who isn't caught off-guard, but, once again, he grabs a rifle and is prepared to use it again. The man in his sights is, once again, Flounder and, the one thing that saves Flounder from being the only Delta to die is that a large hand on a passing float scoops Niedermeyer away.

The revelation, in the epilogue, that he is shot by his own troops in Vietnam comes as no surprise.

Answer: Donald "Boon" Schoenstein

Boon, played by Peter Riegert, is Otter's best friend and the pair are almost inseparable in the movie. He is, however, a man at the crossroads, torn between his loyalty to his Delta mates and their ideas of a good time and the depth of his relationship with his girlfriend Katy, played by Karen Allen. Boon is built on sarcasm and a degree of smugness, but Katy calls him, both, a loser and a man-child. She winds up seeking solace in the arms of the English professor, Dave Jennings, played by Donald Sutherland.

Despite being one of the supposed "cool" guys, Boon is also a bit of a wimp and, rather than stick up for the women, he's the first to make himself scarce when they're being terrorized at the Dexter Lake Club. However, his shining moment was his golf game with Otter (who nearly steals the scene with his incredibly loud plaid pants), while watching Neidermeyer wailing into Pinto and Flounder as they work their way through a military drill.

Boon's inability to commit wholeheartedly comes back to haunt him in later life. He marries Katy, has a son called Otis, divorces Katy, marries her again, divorces her (again) and then marries her for a third time.

Answer: Daniel "D-Day" Simpson Day

D-Day is the resident daredevil biker at the Delta House, with his most memorable moment being his arrival at the toga party, where he crashes through the front door riding his motor bike, riding it up the stairs and then playing the "William Tell Overture" on his throat. In an interview thirty years later Bruce McGill, who'd played D-Day, revealed that he was still able to perform that feat.

He does not have a grade point average as all of his subjects are recorded as incomplete. This doesn't mean that he's not clever, in fact he proves that he does have skills, both as a mechanic and with metalwork. As a driver, though, he appears bent on destruction, memorably shouting "ramming speed" as he charges toward the homecoming parade.

D-Day's future is recorded in the film's epilogue as "whereabouts unknown" as he is pictured driving away in a stolen police car. John Landis, in his 2003 mockumentary records that rumours abounded about his location, ranging from being in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal to somewhere in the Yukon.

Answer: John "Bluto" Blutarsky

Bluto is only a supporting member of this cast, but he steals the entire movie. Mention characters from the film and he is likely to be the one that every remembers the most. He is a rather unhinged senior, in his seventh year, with a Grade Point Average of 0.0, whose greatest gift appears to be having fun and creating havoc.

He appears to be without any fitness or gymnastic prowess but his ability to elude the crew from Omega during the food fight scene and his skills at the climax appear to belie this. Almost every scene in which Bluto appears could be deemed memorable, but to this author, the high point was his appearance on the stairs where Stephen Bishop is playing guitar and serenading a group of females with a painful rendition of an old folk song. Bluto stops, listens, then takes the guitar and smashes it across the wall. He then looks at the singer and, matter-of- factly says "Sorry". An honourable mention should also go to his attempt to rouse the Delta House with his inspirational call "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?"

At the climax of the movie, Bluto swoops down and sweeps Mandy Pepperidge (Mary Louise Weller) off her feet. We are then informed that Bluto makes it all the way to the White House as Senator Blutarsky and Mandy is cited as Mrs Blutarsky.