Claim: Donald Sutherland is an actor in movies.

National Lampoon 's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film from Universal Pictures . It was produced by Ivan Reitman and Matty Simmons , directed by John Landis , and stars John Belushi , Tim Matheson , John Vernon , Verna Bloom , Thomas Hulce , and Donald Sutherland . The film , a direct spin-off from National Lampoon , is about a misfit group of fraternity members who challenge the authority of the dean of Faber College .   The screenplay was adapted by Douglas Kenney , Chris Miller , and Harold Ramis from stories written by Miller and published in National Lampoon . The stories were based on Ramis 's experience in the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity at Washington University in St. Louis , as well as Miller 's Alpha Delta Phi experiences at Ivy League Dartmouth College in New Hampshire , and producer Reitman 's Delta Upsilon experiences at McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario .   Of the younger lead actors , only the 28-year-old Belushi was an established star , but even he had not yet appeared in a film , having gained fame mainly from his Saturday Night Live television appearances , which was starting its third season in autumn 1977 . Several of the actors who were cast as college students , including Hulce , Karen Allen , and Kevin Bacon , were just beginning their film careers , although Matheson had appeared as one of the vigilante cops in the second Dirty Harry film , Magnum Force , released in 1973 .   Upon its initial release , Animal House received generally mixed reviews from critics , but Time and Roger Ebert proclaimed it one of the year 's best . Filmed for only $ 2.8 million , it is one of the most profitable movies in history , garnering an estimated gross of more than $ 141 million in the form of theatrical rentals and home video , not including merchandising .   The film , along with 1977 's The Kentucky Fried Movie , also directed by Landis , was largely responsible for defining and launching the gross out film genre , which became one of Hollywood 's staples . , it was considered by many fans and critics as one of the greatest comedy films ever made . In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed Animal House `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry . It was No. 1 on Bravo 's `` 100 Funniest Movies '' . It was No. 36 on AFI 's `` 100 Years ... 100 Laughs '' list of the 100 best American comedies . In 2008 Empire magazine selected it as one of `` The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time . ''