National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

[Coddfish]

Title: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation



Film Genre(s): Comedy

Original American Release Date: December 1, 1989

Time: 97 Minutes

Director: Jeremiah Chechik

Distributing Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, Doris Roberts, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Quick Plot Recap: It's Christmas time in the Griswold household, as Clark and the family are trying to plan a huge celebration with the rest of their clan. You would think that this would go off without a hitch. But of course, in true Vacation fashion, things never go right for them, as they have to go through numerous setbacks from a tree that can't fit into the living room, to a house lit with so many Christmas lights that it causes brownouts in their neighbourhood. And of course, they also have to cater to some of their weird family members like Aunt Bethany, Uncle Lewis and Cousin Eddie.


Random Trivia:

- Based on the short story Christmas '59 by John Hughes.

- The assistant director of the film, Frank Capra III, is better known as the grandson of director Frank Capra, who was responsible for the Christmas classic, It's A Wonderful Life (1946).

- This is the only Vacation film to not play Holiday Road by Lindsey Buckingham.

- In one scene, where Clark goes into the attic, he finds a gift that says "Happy Mother's Day 1983, Love Clark". The original Vacation was released in that year.


Original Theatrical Trailer:
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - YouTube


Trivia, poster and information on the film are from Wikipedia and the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).

Information pages used for this post:

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

File:NationalLampoonsChristmasVacationPoster.JPG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christmas Vacation (1989) - IMDb

Christmas Vacation (1989) - Release dates

Christmas Vacation (1989) - Trivia - IMDb

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I love this movie.

An Xmas tradition at our houseold is to watch the movie again. Every year I find something new. And just this morning, I discovered after some casual conversation with my wife, that I missed the "WallyWorld" mugs used in this movie (a leftover from the 1st).

I love the neighbours too. Julia Louis Dryfuss is fabulous as the rich stuck up (and rather unfortunate) neighbour of Clark.

[Coddfish]

You and me both, Doug! This is still one of my favourite Xmas movies to watch during the holidays!


There are just so many good and funny little scenes in this, like when Clark goes out to cut the tree with a chainsaw, while wearing a hockey mask.

"Hey Griswold! Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?"

"Bend over and I'll show ya!"

"You got a lot of nerve to talk to me like that, Griswold..."

"I wasn't talking to you!"

*laugh*


Or when we see Cousin Eddie emptying his RV's toilet, and the neighbours see him!

"Merry Christmas! Shitter was full!"


And of course, we can't forget the infamous rant that Clark gives about his boss. "Where's the Tylenol?"


*laugh* Oh my! There are too many things to mention from this film, but those are just some of the bits and pieces that I like!

And yes, I couldn't get over Julia Louis Dreyfus in this. I couldn't believe how well Elaine could play such a snob in this one! I did feel bad for her when her door was kicked in by the SWAT team, though!

Oh, I need to dig this one out, when I get home!