National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film from Universal Pictures, produced by Ivan Reitman and Matty Simmons, directed by John Landis, and starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hulce, and Donald Sutherland. The film, a direct spin-off from National Lampoon magazine, is about a misfit group of fraternity members who challenge the authority of the dean of Faber College.