What food did Belushi spit out when he was a zit? - National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) Discussion

[–] jstang411 14 years ago

You can watch for yourself.

http://www.traileraddict.com/clip/animal-house/im-a-zit

I'd always thought it was mashed potatoes, but that doesn't explain how he puts it in his mouth. Egg works for that.

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[–] jfboyer 14 years ago

I did watch for myself as I posted above. We looked at the movie and even froze the scene when he was holding the food before he put it in his mouth. But just by looking, you cannot tell what it is.

I was asking if there was ever a definitive answer by someone who was there or associated with that scene who knows exactly what it was. There are lots of guesses and opinions as to what it is, but that is all that I could find - guesses and opinions.

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[–] jstang411 14 years ago

Sorry if I don't have the definitive answer, but clearly it is not mashed potatoes unless they were frozen. So we can start from there.

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[–] jfboyer 14 years ago

I agree that it isn't mashed potatoes unless they were in some strange/stuck together/round shape when he picked it up off the plate. I had always thought that it was potatoes, but it really does not look like it is.

The thing that comes to mind when we watched it carefully is some kind of cheese ball. But that doesn't make much sense as that would not be the kind of food served in a college cafeteria.

It really does not look like a hard boiled egg going in and it looks even less like an egg when coming out.

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[–] killerorca 13 years ago

Back in the day when they made mashed potatoes the lunch lady or cafeteria worker would use an ice cream scoop to put the right amount of serving into the small bowls. Being that these were not real potatoes, but of the instant variety, they often stuck together when sitting out for any period of time. If you remember these "mashed potatoes" you could pick them up in an intact ball (think KFC mashed potatoes without the gravy). In my opinion, he spits out mashed potatoes. Just an opinion though.

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[–] CardinalsBaseball 10 years ago

It was mashed potatoes. Your description summed it up well.

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[–] Irishdrummer007 12 years ago

I always thought it was powered donut or snowball.

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[–] johnston.scot 14 years ago

I always assumed mashed potatoes, though not based on anything approaching close examination.

If you want a definitive answer, this doesn't provide it, but does provide a lead:
http://www.animalhousecelebration.org/my_story.htm

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[–] Willus_A 14 years ago

I've had the type of instant mashed potatoes that would have been used in a cafeteria like that one. They are more prone to stay in a ball like that than real mashed potatoes. That's especially true when they were "mass produced" like they would have been in a cafeteria like that. They use a scoop to put them onto each plate. That would give them that exact shape.
So my vote is with instant mashed potatoes.

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-Basil Fawlty

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[–] SyKosis 14 years ago

If you ever ate at a college dining hall you'll recognize those mashed potatoes, scooped out into a ball with an ice cream scoop.

Even the original script said Bluto put mashed potatoes in his mouth.

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[–] deutschrock_girl 8 years ago

yes

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[–] jstang411 14 years ago

I've had the type of instant mashed potatoes that would have been used in a cafeteria like that one. They are more prone to stay in a ball like that than real mashed potatoes. That's especially true when they were "mass produced" like they would have been in a cafeteria like that. They use a scoop to put them onto each plate. That would give them that exact shape.
So my vote is with instant mashed potatoes

But would he be able to take the instant mash and hold it like an egg with a few fingers? Speaking of eggs....how about egg salad?

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[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gabby_bm 14 years ago

Time and again and in every rewatching, I will go to my grave believing that's a piece of cauliflower...before it becomes a zit.

Pausing the clip http://www.traileraddict.com/clip/animal-house/im-a-zit at 0:52 and at 0:53 you can see distinct lines indicative of that particular vegetable.

I think I shall never pee on life as lovely as a tree

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[–] rediguana 12 years ago

I always thought it was cottage cheese.

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[–] gabby_bm 12 years ago

I think it was my sister who said it was cauliflower and that just stuck in my head, refusing to accept any other explanation until reading Belushi himself
saying it was mashed potatoes. (quote provided later in this thread here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/board/thread/171570160?d=183223105 &p=1#183223105 )

So I guess we both stand corrected

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[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jstang411 12 years ago

Who can argue with KobiyashiMauru on such a subject?.......lol

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[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jstang411 12 years ago

LOL....you have left the prosecutors befuddled.

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[–] blktoptrvl 12 years ago

I vote cottage cheese ball.

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[–] whjones79-1 12 years ago

I DVR'd this thing the other day. There is indeed mashed potatoes on Bluto's plate. It's there from when the scene starts. (There is a goof there if you can find it).

Later when his tray is full he tops it off with a cottage cheese ball with lettuce garnish. You can still see the mashed potatoes at the bottom of the pile. There is a distinct color difference between the two. The cottage cheese is much lighter in color. He uses the cottage as the zit. I paused/ffed it again and again. It's cottage cheese.

K/H D

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[–] snelling 12 years ago

It's white rice in a sticky ball. I have known this for 30 years.

"It's like I'm talking to my Aunt Sylvia here!"

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[–] whjones79-1 12 years ago

Barbara Strisand! Not even close. DVR the thing.

K/H D

Are you better off now than you were $5 Trillion $DOLLARS$ ago?!?!?!?

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[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LetsPoddy 11 years ago

I always thought it was cottage cheese, too.

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[–] ta421sbtrhalf 14 years ago

It is mashed potatoes, and yes you can pick them up and put them in your mouth like that. Instant mashed potatoes that have been sitting for a couple of hours are stiff and will stick together in one mass.

People on ludes should not drive!

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[–] gabby_bm 14 years ago

Instant mashed potatoes were invented in 1962. I highly doubt it was so instantly successful to make it to Faber College's cafeteria the same year.

However, upon re-watching the clip, I noticed they 're-arranged' the plates on his tray so the hamburger/mashed potato plate was on top rather than buried as originally staged (and why I thought it wouldn't be the mashed potatoes as one pile was smashed with an apple while the other was generally buried).

So, considering how the tray was re-staged and his excursion through the food line, I will stand corrected and state that he takes mashed potatoes off the plate for his zit impression.

NOW...whether that's what actually went in his mouth to spew at the others, I can't say. I find it suspicious that NONE of it stuck to their hair, skin or clothing, and it now and then still looks like a chunk of cauliflower that goes into his mouth.

I will have to conduct experiments at dinner tomorrow.

I refuse to change my position just because you use logic

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[–] ta421sbtrhalf 14 years ago

I never noticed him chewing, only this weird motion of his mouth to moisten the potatoes. He would have to chew quite a bit to get cauliflower to spew out of his mouth and hit everyone like it did. The only place I can think of off hand that would have those sticky instant potatoes is KFC without the gravy.

I must try it too. Dinner tonight will consist of KFC mashed potatoes and cauliflower.

People on ludes should not drive!

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[–] gabby_bm 14 years ago

might I recommend dinner OUT tonight?

I refuse to change my position just because you use logic

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[–] ta421sbtrhalf 14 years ago

The back yard will do. The dogs will clean up anything that lands on the ground and I can hose off the hubby and kid.

People on ludes should not drive!

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[–] jstang411 14 years ago

Instant mashed potatoes were invented in 1962. I highly doubt it was so instantly successful to make it to Faber College's cafeteria the same year.

Awesome research and point, including that what it supposed to be isn't necessarily what comes out of his mouth. that might just be a plot hole though.

On another watch, it looks like that what he puts in his mouth appears to come from a side plate rather than the larger one where he picks the hamburger up from.

That would gell with it being a discrete side instead of one added in with the burger, which would indicate he probably picked it up from the cold section of the cafeteria line.

And that would go to what seems to be the distant second explanation to mashed taters on the web -- a cottage cheese ball.

Be interested to see what the practical research shows.

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[–] ta421sbtrhalf 14 years ago

Ugh, i just had my daily snack of pineapple and cottage cheese.

People on ludes should not drive!

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

"Instant mashed potatoes were invented in 1962. I highly doubt it was so instantly successful to make it to Faber College's cafeteria the same year."

It's a movie. They sometimes don't get things exactly right when it comes to historical details like that. I also don't think it's all that hard to believe a cafeteria would start serving them the year they came out.

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[–] FilmBuff (6691) 4 years ago

It's obviously potatoes. I think potato salad makes sense, too. If you watch the scene leading up to that moment where Belushi is filling his tray with food. He has two hamburgers, and next to each is a rounded scoop of either potato salad or mashed potatoes. When you watch him put the food into his mouth, and then spit it out, it's pretty clear it's potatoes. I'd say 80% likely mashed, 20% likely potato salad.

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[–] ryuheikitamura 14 years ago

I'm sorry but if you've ever have the mashed potatoes that they currently serve in school lunches it's entirely possible that they are in fact mashed potatoes. There was one time in high school that my friend actually picked up a wad of mashed potatoes that they served and stuck it underneath the table and it stayed there for a little while, so I mean maybe they prepared it the same way as they did in the film.

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[–] tonybny 13 years ago

It's cottage cheese, served from an ice-cream scooper that provided the round shape.

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[–] JR541 13 years ago

They do serve mashed potatoes that way too though.

He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?

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[–] Simpy7772000 13 years ago

Looking At It, I've Always thought this was a scoop of Ice-Cream, but i don't know afterreading this board.

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[–] stevenackerman69 13 years ago

It was mashed potatoes.

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[–] cpuller-642-329716 13 years ago

mashed potatoes would work best but what he puts in his mouth doesnt look like mashed potatoes.

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[–] Smush Master 13 years ago

If you watch him, when he's in the cafeteria line loading his tray up, it is ball of cottage cheese.

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[–] Elephants_Gerald 13 years ago

I always thought it was a wad of rolled up napkins, and or a wad of wax paper that a burger, or sandwich was in. He puts it in his mouth, moistens it up, and "pop!"

PS. The shot of him eating green jello with his hands, is 10 times better than this "zit popping" scene.

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[–] whjones79-1 13 years ago

I recogezed it a Cottage Cheese right away. (first time I saw it) I'm surprised it's even an issue. There was never a doubt here.

K/H D

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[–] lynnielove10 13 years ago

It was Cottage Cheese, they put something in it to hold together.

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[–] gabby_bm 13 years ago

I would think cottage cheese would stick to the targets more effectively. Mashed potatoes might stick, but could just as easily "roll off" them with much more ease than the cottage cheese.

at 1:45-1:46 pause and enlarge. This is in no way cottage cheese. Looking at where he removes this from the tray, it is not from the fruit dish, but a plate. He grabs it with his fingertips and holds it upright, resting on his fingertips (try that with cottage cheese from the dish)
http://movieclips.com/FhUkf-animal-house-movie-blutos-a-zit/

That is definitely not cottage cheese. But part of me still thinks it might be a chunk of caulifower, considering how little of it lands and sticks to the targets.

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[–] whjones79-1 13 years ago

Someone hasn't been to a cafeteria that serves cottage cheese.

It's pretty easy actually (even back in the early 60's). Use a large icecream scoop and squeeze out the excess liquids.....It wasn't mashed potatoes.

K/H D

Reality TV + US Navy Seals = "Extreme Home Takeover"!!!

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[–] gabby_bm 13 years ago

SNL Season 4 Episode 1

mayor Koch gives Belushi some sort of award in the opening:

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/78/78amono.phtml

John Belushi: Not now, Koch! You know, I didn't have to come back here. You know, I could've stayed in Hollywood, you know, everyone told me, "Stay and make movies! You know? You don't have to go back there, where ya have to clean up after your own dog!" You know? And making films is so much easier. You know, they say, uh, "Are you ready, John?" Uh ... "No, I'm not ready right now." "Okay. Uh, ten minutes?" I said, "Okay, maybe ten minutes." "Would you like some more iced tea, John?" "Yeah, okay, I'll have some iced tea. Yeah, I'll be ready in a second." You know?! I could have stayed in Hollywood, taken all those big offers, had a house on Mulholland Drive, but nooooooooooooooo! [Applause.] I gotta stay here, come back to New York City, and work for these late night TV wages! Four hundred and fifty bucks A SHOW! That's how much we get! You know how much they get on Laverne and Shirley?! Lenny and Squiggy get five grand a show!

Mayor Ed Koch: John! I wish you would just accept the certificate.

John Belushi: [calmer] Okay. I'm sorry, Mayor. I'll accept your thing here. [takes paper and carelessly stuffs it in his jacket pocket] Uh, look, uh, I-I-I'm sorry, you know, I mean, this isn't the place to talk about how Universal screwed me. You know? So... It's just that I live here, I pay taxes, you know, I sweated out the Beame years, you know. [TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Abe Beame was mayor before Koch] I'm, uh, I'm not saying that I'm the-the greatest actor, you know, uh, in the world. Or that Anima-Animal House is the greatest film in the world but, you know, it's a good film. Very good film. [straightens his tie] I do some very cute things in that movie. You know, like, uh, the thing with the Jell-O in the cafeteria line, remember that? Huh?

Mayor Ed Koch: I'm afraid I don't, John.

John Belushi: Well, it was just before the mashed potato thing. You remember that? Huh?

Mayor Ed Koch: No, John. Regrettably, I haven't seen the flick.

John Belushi: [upset again] You HAVEN'T seen the movie?! [gestures to the pocket with his certificate] You give me this?! Are you kidding?!

Mayor Ed Koch: I've been very busy.

John Belushi himself states that it is mashed potatoes. I really don't see any room for any of us to quibble any longer. It shoots down my cauliflower theory and any cottage cheese theory as well. The very mouth that created the "zit" is the very mouth that verifies, on national television, TO THE MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, that it was mashed potatoes. I don't think we can get any more accurate than that.

I think we can put this one to bed.

"Atlas Shrugged"- See it soon --See it again!

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[–] jstang411 13 years ago

Dude -- exceptional digging for that source....you should get your own award from Koch.

Settles for me what it supposed to be, but still does leave open what actually was spit out (which we all know in movies can be two different things).

So we'll see whether this is actually put to bed or not, but nonetheless really well done.

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[–] gabby_bm 13 years ago

Thanks. I've made it a personal crusade of mine due to my bitter resentment of cottage cheese.

For me, it is put to rest. If Landis, Babs, Greg or Chip want to expand on the props in some later interview, I'll consider revising my assessment. After all, Bacon, Daughton and Smith were the ones who ended up wearing it.

But frankly, I can't see anything being a more solid testimony than a statement made by John "Bluto" Belushi himself- just weeks after the film's release

"Atlas Shrugged"- See it soon --See it again!

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[–] jstang411 13 years ago

I've made it a personal crusade of mine due to my bitter resentment of cottage cheese.

LMAO (I'd do one of those cute icon things for emphasis but...not my style).

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[–] ta421sbtrhalf 13 years ago

to Gabby BM:

GREAT WORK!!!

People on ludes should not drive!

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[–] LetsPoddy 11 years ago

I took a look at the clip and paused it as he picked up the plate to put on his tray.

Look carefully, you will see a piece of canned peach in the bowl next to it.

Typical fruit item to serve with cottage cheese. Plus what's in the bowl really does "look" like it's cottage cheese. Not smooth, texture is rough.

I also noticed he already had a scoop of something white next to the hamburgers(?) already on his tray. It looks like a scoop of mashed potatoes but that's an odd combination.

When he picks up the "white ball" at the table and holds it in his hands and puts it into his mouth, it can't possibly be cottage cheese because it's too firm.

I stopped it again as he's getting ready to pick it up. He picks it up from upper part of tray ... not from plates with either of the hamburgers(?) and mashed potato(?) scoops.

I have the movie on right now. I noticed when Mandy is talking to Otter at table (before Belushi comes over) you can see on her plate she has cottage cheese and a piece of peach sitting in front of it (closest to camera).

BUT ... when paused again while he's putting it into his mouth, it looks like a piece of cauliflower.

It's entirely possible what he picks up and puts in his mouth isn't what he spits out. They could have used a piece of cauliflower for him to pick up and then in the next cut had him spit out cottage cheese or mashed potatoes.

I think the actual situation is that it was "supposed" to be perceived as being cottage cheese but other foods were actually used.

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[–] jstang411 11 years ago

I'd gone a bit of the way on that one, but you did it like three step better. Whatever actually came out of his mouth, what went in by the story was cottage cheese. Take note all you instamash folks.....the war has been won by LetsPoddy!

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