European Vacation With Chevy Chase

So my brothers and I were talking. We were talking about Europe and vacations and Chevy Chase. Then we realized that the three topics are all the same thing. They could all be wrapped into one bundle like a burrito (Which is a type of food similar to well, you know…). Because, as you may know (Or maybe you don’t? Who knows really, in this crazy world?) Chevy Chase is known for doing European Vacations as a movie series.

Chevy Chase’s European Vacation is a 1985 American comedy film produced by Paramount Pictures. It is the third installment in National Lampoon’s Vacation film series, and features Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reprising their roles from the first two films, while Randy Quaid and Dana Barron appear briefly reprising their roles as Griswold children Audrey and Rusty respectively. The film was directed by Amy Heckerling.

The European Vacation is set in Europe, this film is about a family, but not just any family. The Griswolds are an average American family who set off on a vacation to Europe. With hilarious accidents, hilarious thrills and hilarious challenges alike, Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo have worked together to bring you a hilarious film. In this comedy film, Chevy Chase plays the role of an over-protective father who takes his family on a vacation to Europe – but his vacation plans are spoiled by a series of mishaps, including falling into the canal in Venice, and being attacked by baboons in Naples. In the meantime, his wife (Faye Dunaway) tries to punish him for all the mishaps he caused on the trip.

European Vacation With Chevy Chase

• The First Movie’s Ending Was Changed Because Test Audiences Hated ItPhoto: National Lampoon’s Vacation / Warner Bros.When it came time to test National Lampoon’s Vacation, preview audiences went wild. The only thing they didn’t like was the ending, which they overwhelmingly hated. The original conclusion featured the Griswolds storming Roy Walley’s home after discovering Walley World is closed, then forcing him to entertain them by singing and dancing.Because of the poor reaction, a new ending was shot four months after formal production wrapped. The update, which finds Clark compelling a security guard to let his family ride the rides at gunpoint, went over much better with audiences.Interestingly, Vacation‘s original ending was re-purposed for Christmas Vacation, where Cousin Eddie kidnaps Clark’s boss and drags him to the Griswold home.
• The Griswolds’ Car May Have Helped Kill The Station Wagon MarketPhoto: National Lampoon’s Vacation / Warner Bros.The Griswolds’ chariot on their first adventure, the Queen Wagon Family Truckster, was a modified 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire. It’s clear in Vacation that this car is for squares, as it’s not the first choice of Clark, a notorious square, and the design elements all amplify elements in commercial station wagons, from the faux wood paneling to the boxy, inelegant design. Maybe it’s no coincidence, then, that station wagon sales declined over the ensuing decades, all but vanishing from modern roads?That’s what automotive writer Pete Bigelow speculates, pointing to the fact that Vacation hit theaters in 1983, the very same year Chrysler rolled out the first minivan for American drivers, hastening the wagon’s demise. Of course, many other factors were at play, but Clark’s unease with his new ride certainly fit with consumers’ changing tastes in the ’80s.
• Anthony Michael Hall Got Busted Trying To Peep On His Movie MomPhoto: National Lampoon’s Vacation / Warner Bros.Anthony Michael Hall, who originated the role of faithful son Rusty Griswold, got into trouble on set for inappropriate behavior. In a Maxim magazine oral history, producer Matty Simmons revealed he caught Hall trying to peep on his on-screen mother, Beverly D’Angelo, during her nude scene.Simmons recounted, “I grabbed him by the shoulder and said, ‘Get the hell out of here!'” He was angry the young star would try to violate the privacy of a fellow cast member.Years later, Hall didn’t deny the allegation, saying, “I was totally trying to sneak a peek… Was I conflicted that she was playing my mom? You know what? At times I was.” 

• Imogene Coca Was Terrified Of Being In A CarPhoto: National Lampoon’s Vacation / Warner Bros.Comedy legend Imogene Coca played the cranky Aunt Edna in the original Vacation. While she was game for the movie’s R-rated humor, she wasn’t happy about having to film scenes inside a moving vehicle – Coca was terrified of car travel.That’s because she and her husband got into a car accident in 1973 as they drove home from a dinner theater performance in Florida. Her husband only sustained a minor injury to his leg. Coca wasn’t as lucky, fracturing an ankle, breaking her cheekbone, and suffering a cut up her leg. A piece of the rearview mirror also went into her eye.According to the bonus features on the 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, this subsequent phobia caused a lot of anxiety during scenes where she had to sit in the backseat of the Griswold Family Truckster. 
• Amy Heckerling Loathed Working With Chevy Chase On ‘European Vacation’Photo: National Lampoon’s European Vacation / Warner Bros.Amy Heckerling – the director of Fast Times at Ridgemont High and, later, Clueless – signed on to direct National Lampoon’s European Vacation after original director Harold Ramis opted out of the sequel. Her experience making the movie was not entirely happy, as she and the film’s star didn’t see eye-to-eye during the production. She told Flavorwire that working with Chevy Chase “was not a marriage made in heaven.”In fact, Heckerling apparently disliked Chase so much she was ready to bolt from the set at any moment. “I couldn’t go on the set unless I knew I had in my hand a physical ticket to New York so that I could just go at any time,” the director said. “I had to hold it in my hand, so I knew that I had a way out.”