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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 2003)
TO GA ! TO GA ! TO GA ! JOHN BAUGUESS LIFT OFF JOHN BAUGUESS LANDING C ottage Grove was home to an uncon- ventional parade in November 1977, as Universal Pictures wound down its five-week filming of Animal House, much of which was shot on and around the UO campus in Eugene. UO classrooms stood in for the movie’s Faber College, and the Sigma Nu fraternity house on 11th Avenue, since replaced by office build- ings, became the temporary frat house for www.eugeneweekly.com Events Schedule actor John Belushi and his brothers. The parade day’s mad glory will be cel- ebrated this Saturday, Aug. 30, in down- town Cottage Grove. Tourists and locals are invited to take part in the Animal House Look-a-Like and Toga contests in the morning; a parade with floats and the Get-A-Life Marching Band at high noon; reserve seat showings of the movie mid- afternoon; and a Toga Party and musical EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 28, 2003 11 UNIVERSAL PICTURES Animal House Redux Grove signing autographs, wearing a light entertainment that afternoon and night. brown, fringed dress; moccasins; a head- For details, visit www.animalhousecele- band; darker makeup and braided hair. She bration.com/ was out there the next day, too, “standing Shooting for Animal House took place around in regular 1964 clothes,” Belove Oct. 24 through Nov. 30, 1977. The studio said. “Landis told me I was too recogniza- hired more than 4,000 extras from the area ble as a Delta girl, so I wore a different for two days work, although some extras costume every day. I tried to get a speak- also wangled stints on crew and stretched ing part every day,” she said. out the work. Besides college students, Although she had a non-speaking part, especially fraternity or sorority types, Belove still enjoys having been in the very ordinary residents of Cottage Grove took first shot of the movie. “When Flounder part in the movie’s raucous parade (Stephen Furst) and Pinto (Tom Hulce) go sequences. in the fraternity house for the first time, I Local photographer John Bauguess was run up to Flounder and take his hat off his on hand to capture the excitement when head,” she said. “Later Flounder gave me the locals were told to run for their lives as his beanie, autographed with ‘I hope to co- a berserk deathmobile from the parade star with you again soon.’” Like others roared up the sidewalk after them. He who went Animal House-crazy that fall, remembers that Cottage Grove’s down- Belove went to the movie’s premiere in town was so perfect that the movie people L.A. “Landis recognized me and had me hung overhead parade banners but didn’t stand up as a Eugene person,” she said. need to change main street storefronts and signs to reflect the ambience of small- ew town 1962. Bauguess also had a EXTRA MAIDA BELOVE IN A memorable encounter ‘60S OUTFIT FROM GOODWILL with John Belushi. “He’d had a bad day with stunts,” Bauguess said. “He’d jumped off the platform onto the cushioned pad several times, and he had been kicked in the lip acci- dentally by an extra in another scene. Shooting was done for the day, and people had left the set. Belushi was sitting by himself in a chair. I was across the street from him, with my cam- era, and as I started to cross the street he yelled, ‘Lighten up’ to me. I took my camera and left.” On Saturday, about 15 of Bauguess’s photo- graphs will be on dis- play in a storefront win- dow. Like the photo- graphs shown here, BLUTO (JOHN BELUSHI). these pictures have never been published. Oregon magazine (now defunct) had asked him to take pictures, but when he called the staff he was told, “We got some already.” Bauguess said he was so mad he hit a wall and broke his hand. Ouch! Extra Maida Belove was present for the food fight scene in the EMU Fishbowl in November 1977, where she and others were told to go to Cottage Animal House Cottage Grove Grove the next day for the parade. She skimmed through the script and saw that Indians were to be in the parade. “I decided I wanted to be in the 7 AM - 10:30 AM: Breakfast Coiner Park, $4. 10:30 AM: A.H. Look-a-Like and Toga parade,” Belove said, “so I went to a cos- Contest, Community Center tume shop in Creswell the next morning. I HIGH NOON: Parade thought I would just drop by the set in my 2 PM AND 5 PM: Movie showing 2 PM: Power Pep Band Indian costume and be available. But 2:30 PM: Toga Party begins when director John Landis and assistant 3 PM: Patty McCulla & Dave Clark Band director Cliff Coleman spied me in cos- 5 PM: Blue Light Special tume, they asked, ‘Maida, what are you 6:30 PM: The Blues Brothers doing? It’s East Indian, not American 8 PM: Otis Day & the Knights Indian,’” she said. She laughed. 10 PM: The Kingsmen (“Louie Louie”) Belove spent that first day in Cottage JIM STIAK BY LOIS WADSWORTH
