John Landis had not had any major film successes when he was tapped to direct National Lampoon's Animal House. A high school dropout from Hollywood, he did not relate to the subject matter on a personal level, but quickly took up his leadership role with gusto. In fact, many of the film's writers and developers resented his territorial relationship to the material, and there was some tension on set at the start of filming. Eventually, he won everyone over and it was a happy collaboration on what would become one of the most iconic films about college ever made.
One of the contentions between Landis and the writers was their insistence on casting actors from Saturday Night Live. While Harold Ramis, Doug Kenney, and Chris Miller wanted Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd to star alongside John Belushi, Landis disagreed. According to an article in Page Six, "Landis wasn’t interested in having an entire cast of Saturday Night Live members."
On set, Landis was a strict taskmaster, and did not allow real booze or any drugs at work, in spite of the indulgent subject matter. Parties took place after filming, and a strong bond developed between everyone involved in the film. Landis said in an interview about the film, "It’s a very romantic film. I think it captures a time of youth, that time when you’re entering college. It’s the first time you’re out of the house, and you have all this freedom. People look back on that time fondly, and we did it right.”
