ROBINSON’S RAMBLINGS

True or False?

EXAMINING THE ROOT BEHIND THREE COLUMBIA LEGENDS.

It’s a safe bet that somewhere on Mizzou’s campus this year students will hold a toga party to celebrate the university’s reputation as the inspiration for the classic movie “Animal House.” The claim to the origins of “Animal House” may be one of Mizzou’s most enduring legends.

One alumnus blogs a whole litany of local fraternity pranks, claiming that “Animal House” learned this behavior at Ol' Mizzou. But the pranks are universal, mostly involving livestock and motorcycles and food fights.

As much as some Mizzou lovers want the legend to be true, the real story may cause an agony of defeat, because this Mizzou legend almost happened.

Here’s the story: The “Animal House” antics are based on composites. One writer recalled his experiences at Dartmouth. Another writer brought his experiences from a campus in Missouri. (But not Mizzou.)

According to IMDb, the University of Missouri actually rebuffed the ultimate “Animal House” connection: “The movie was set to be filmed at the University of Missouri until the president of the school read the script and refused permission. It was filmed at and around the University of Oregon in Eugene instead. The University of Oregon reluctantly allowed its campus to be used and gave the crew 30 days to complete filming. This meant that the cast and crew faced six-day work weeks and completed shooting with only two days to spare.”

Also from IMDb: “Harold Ramis who co-wrote the film, based some of the pranks on his college experiences at Washington University in St. Louis, specifically when Otter and Boone are hitting golf balls at the ROTC.”

The “Animal House” mythology holds a firm grip on many budding collegiate minds. But on the toga party scale, Mizzou would finish some distance behind the Missouri School of Mines (now Missouri University of Science and Technology). Each spring during St. Patrick’s Day weekend, students would roll green paint on Rolla’s Pine Street and throw honored captives into a giant portable pool named Alice that was filled with garbage and slop.

Those days are gone, mostly, as the University of Missouri System does its best to despoil campus pranks. But old legends die hard in the minds of truly devoted believers.

As an impressionable young high

BY JOHN DRAKE ROBINSON · PHOTO BY L.G. PATTERSON

school senior, I heard a rumor that Playboy magazine didn’t list Mizzou as a top party school because, “You don’t rank professionals with amateurs.” It turns out that may be the most repeated fake news on nearly every college campus.

The University of Missouri has never been ranked as one of the nation's top 10 party schools, according to Mizzou's Wellness Resource Center.

A 2022 study by Niche.com scores 1,612 schools on a myriad of subjects, including extracurricular pursuits. Mizzou ranks No. 42 among top party schools, No. 7 in the Southeastern Conference. KU ranks No. 34 among top party schools.

Party on! Other CoMo myths and legends have more basis in fact: • Columbians helped designate the mudbug as the Missouri state crustacean. Well, this is true, sort of. Back in the '80s, a local band called the Mudbugs toured the state, touting the tasty little critter, which lives in every Missouri county. But it wasn't until 2007 that Jenna Elfrink's elementary class in Reeds Spring, Missouri, nominated the crayfish as our state invertebrate. Only three other states have a state crustacean.

Louisiana also picked the crayfish. • The “Organizer of the Heavens” went to Mizzou. True. But it's not your wedding planner. Harlow Shapley, also called the Modern Day

Copernicus, graduated from Mizzou, and went on to prove that Columbia is nowhere near the center of the universe. Bummer. Harlow made a discovery that shook the foundations of belief unlike anything since

Copernicus. Harlow’s study of the speed of light illuminated the theory that Earth and its solar system are nowhere near the center of the universe, and the universe is much bigger than anybody thought.

John Drake Robinson is a former director of the Missouri Division of Tourism and has driven every mile of highway in the state. Read more of his rants at johndrakerobinson.com/blog/.