Written and produced by The National Lampoon, Animal House became a genre-defining comedy. At the time, the National Lampoon had also hosted a radio hour with an ensemble that featured Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Harold Ramis, among others. Originally, producer Ivan Reitman wanted Chevy Chase to play Otter, and Bill Murray to play Boon. The part of D-Day was written specifically for Dan Ackroyd and incorporated his affinity for motorcycles. In the end, only Belushi would do the film, shooting in Oregon where filming took place during the week and flying back to New York on weekends to do Saturday Night Live. Chevy Chase would make the film Foul Play instead. Although, later he would portray Ty Webb in Caddyshack; though not officially a National Lampoon film, it featured many of the former staff. Both Ackroyd and Murray would find success on Saturday Night Live. All three have had successful careers. While I could see them doing a great job in Animal House, it's difficult to imagine anyone other than Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, and Bruce McGill playing those roles. I'm not sure there's an alternate 1985 version where the trajectories of anyone's career path is affected too much. Although, things could have gone this way:
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