Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the night's main event.
(Applause) >> It's spring break and
what better way to celebrate the absolute absence of higher learning and
common decency than with a frat house classic, Old School.
Well probably the movie, Spring Breakers,
I mean you're not really going to beat that.
But since Old school just had it's 15th anniversary,
maybe we throw these old guys a bone. >> Say yes.
Yes. >> So take good notes for the quiz,
because here are seven things you didn't know about Old School.
Probably.
(Sound) >> Frank,
just pace yourself. >> Copy that.
>> Old School at the time of release was
seen as a new school take on classics like Animal House.
But its inspiration was a bit more contemporary.
Old School was originally intended to be a comedy version
of Fight Club. >> What?
>> And the evidence of this is
pretty clear.
Writer Director Todd Phillips and Scott Armstrong spent two months at
Executive Producer Ivan Reitman's house working on a script about a down
on his luck worker bee who's persuaded by a confident friend to start a cult for
men with the intention of improving their lives through shenanigans.
With Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn filling in for
the narrator and Tyler Durban respectively, I guess that makes
Will Ferrell Robert Paulson? >> Great.
>> Yeah, checks out.
(Sound) Old School is chock-full of great comedic
talent on the rise, from lesser knowns like Rod Corddry and
Matt Walsh, to the just about to hit super stardom, Will Ferrell.
Though it might surprise you to know that the studio was not so
confident in the comedic abilities of Vince Vaughn.
He made huge comedic waves seven years prior with Swingers, but
had since moved on to more serious roles which the suits were more familiar with.
Luckily, Todd Phillips convinced them otherwise, and
they squeezed him into the cast at the last minute.
So last minute, in fact, that they couldn't start rolling on this wedding
scene until he signed his contract.
Which is boom, a bonus thing and a segway.
(Sound) After Old School, Vince Vaughn went even farther with his comedy career,
becoming a member of what the critics dubbed, The Frat Pack.
But geographically speaking, he didn't go very far at all.
Just two years later for Wedding Crashers,
he was back at the same altar in the same church, this time with Owen Wilson.
Yeah, and Will Ferrell makes a cameo there too, not exactly stretching their wings,
but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
(Sound) Speaking of cameos, director Todd Phillips
pops into play less than punctual pervert. >> I'm here for
the gangbang. >> But what you might not know,
is this character affectionately referred to as Mr.
Creepy is a recurring character in Todd Phillips movies.
He first shows up in Road Trip and
then pops up whenever a sleazy sex weirdo is needed, which seems to be pretty often.
And if you think about it, Mr. Creepy is basically the Stan Lee of
the Todd Phillips verse, except more lecherous.
As if that were even possible.
(Sound).
>> Ow! >> Will Ferrell was
the clear breakout performance in Old School.
And many of his scenes have become the stuff of comedy legend.
>> Tell anyone about this I'll (Bleep)
kill you. >> However,
one of his best scenes wasn't originally written with him in mind.
This rhythmic gymnastics routine was actually meant for Luke Wilson,
who straight up refused to do it after a long day of shooting.
You can actually see his look of exhaustion on the sidelines.
So Ferrell stepped in and whipped up this magic in motion to save the day.
And for all the credit given to comedians for
improvised lines, not enough is said about improvised choreography.
Am I right? Moving on.
>> (Inaudible) We're going streaking!
Yeah! >> But without a doubt,
Ferrell's streaking is maybe his biggest stand out scene in the movie.
(Sound) Literally.
According to the cast and crew, the big cat, as Ferrell became known on set,
declined to wear what they call a marble bag during his nude scenes.
So this shot of him running down the street, all Ferrell.
And if you were able to look past those buns and
notice that he has great running form, you just spotted a boom bonus thing.
Will Ferrell is actually a marathon runner.
And later that year he ran the Boston Marathon and
made the cover of Runner's World.
Looking good big cat, looking real good. >> Honey, you think KFC's still open?
(Sound) >> Let's end where the production ended,
at Mitch-a-Palooza.
This massive house party was actually the last scene they shot and
should have been a quick shoot.
But it ended up taking much longer than expected.
The trouble was that the party headliner Snoop Dog was having a little trouble
getting out of his trailer.
So it was Vince Vaughn who stepped in and MC'd for the better part of an hour and
a half to keep the 300 extras lively and ready for Snoop.
Though we can't say for sure why he was reluctant to leave his trailer,
it might have been that he was only appearing in Old School as
a favor to Todd Philips for being cast as Huggy Bear in Starsky and Hutch.
But it's a good thing he did.
Who knows if he would've gotten another chance to see
Will Ferrell's penis. >> Snoop!
Snoop-a-loop, Snoop.
No, what's going on. >> Well that's it for us.
Hit the thumbs up for extra credit and let us know in the comments what
your favorite frat house movie is and we might just do an episode.
Maybe the things you didn't know just about the tasty hoots in
Revenge of the Nerds.
(Laugh) >> I mean, whatever you want to see next.
I have no personal preference one way or the other.
Thanks for watching and subscribe to Cinefix for more truish things about
movies and sometimes marble bags right here on Things You Didn't Know.
(Music)