What Is Christmas Vacation On
Christmas vacation is one of the most popular holidays in the United States. While this is usually the case amongst the college students, employees also celebrate with a lot of excitement and joy. The sense of celebration carried over to Christmas vacation makes this one of the festive times of the year. Many planned their vacation months in advance and look forward to it every single day. The anticipation may sometimes border on asphyxiation but there’s nothing like Christmas vacation at all.
Christmas Vacation is a 1989 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It is the fourth installment in National Lampoon’s Vacation film series and
Christmas Vacation is the 1989 Christmas film starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo. It’s an American Christmas comedy film that became instant classic with its portrayal of a dysfunctional family having endless issues. The movie also received favorable responses from critics.
The classic Christmas Vacation is inarguably one of the quintessential holiday movies. It’s a movie everyone has seen on television at some point during the holidays and one many people watch over again each year. The movie follows the Griswold family as they prepare for another family vacation.
What Is Christmas Vacation On
If you’re like me, Christmas takes on a whole new meaning once you have your own kids. It becomes more about the family and enjoying each other’s company. That being said, we still make sure to keep ourselves busy with traditions and movies that bring us together as a family. Now that I am in charge of my children’s education, one of the things I teach them is to find the morals and lessons in the stories we read. With Christmas Vacation, there is a lot to be learned from Clark Griswold’s struggle this holiday season.
On December 1, 1989, a new chapter of Griswold family dysfunction was unleashed upon the world when National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation made its debut in movie theaters and an instant holiday classic was born. Here are some things you might not know about everyone’s favorite Christmas comedy.
1. The movie is based on a short story.
Like the 1983 original, Christmas Vacation is based on a short story, “Christmas ’59,” written by John Hughes for National Lampoon in December 1980. Its literary predecessor is paid tribute to when Clark is trapped in the attic and pulls out a box of old home movies, including one labeled “Christmas ’59.” (Eagle-eyed viewers might notice that when Clark is watching the film, it actually says “Christmas 1955.”)
2. Clark Griswold grew up in Samantha Stevens’s house.
If Clark’s childhood home featured in those old movies looks familiar, that’s because it’s the same house featured on Bewitched as well as The New Gidget. Except it’s not a house at all; it’s part of the Warner Bros. back lot, located on what is known as Blondie Street. The rest of the Griswolds’s neighborhood is on a studio back lot as well. And if the home of their snooty neighbors, Todd and Margo, looks familiar, that’s because it’s where Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and his family lived in Lethal Weapon.
3. John Hughes wasn’t a fan of sequels.
Though many of Hughes’s films have spawned sequels, the man himself was not a fan of retreads. “The only sequels I was involved in were under duress,” Hughes once stated in an interview. Though he’s credited as a writer on European Vacation, he said that was only because he had created the characters. “But the studio came to me and begged for another [Vacation movie], and I only agreed because I had a good story to base it on. But those movies have become little more than Chevy Chase vehicles at this stage. I didn’t even know about Vegas Vacation until I read about it in the trades! Ever since it came out, people have been coming up to me with disappointed looks on their faces, asking ‘What were you thinking?’ ‘I had nothing to do with it! I swear!’”
4. It’s one of only two Christmas movies released in 1989.
Though the holiday season is usually packed with Christmas-themed movies, Christmas Vacation was one of only two that were released in 1989. The other was John Hancock’s Prancer. Johnny Galecki, a.k.a. Rusty Griswold, starred in both.
5. Audrey is (miraculously) older than Rusty.
Warner Bros.
In both the original Vacation and European Vacation, Rusty is believed to be the older of the two Griswold children. In Christmas Vacation, Rusty somehow morphs into Audrey’s younger brother.
6. The film has ties to It’s A Wonderful Life.
In addition to footage from the Frank Capra classic actually appearing in the film, Christmas Vacation has another fun tie to It’s a Wonderful Life: Frank Capra’s grandson, Frank Capra III, is Christmas Vacation’s assistant director.
7. The cast of Christmas Vacation was pretty impressive.
Warner Home Video
In addition to featuring future stars Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis (who scored a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination three years later for her role in Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear), star Beverly D’Angelo was most impressed with the older actors who came along for the Christmas Vacation ride. “I attribute that to Jeremiah Chechik and his direction in bringing in E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, and Diane Ladd,” she noted. “That was really a special cast.”
8. In a way, Stanley Kubrick is to thank for Christmas Vacation.
Christmas Vacation marked the directorial debut of Jeremiah Chechik, who began his career as a fashion photographer for Vogue then moved into commercial directing. “I had made these commercials that became quite iconic here in the U.S.,” Chechik told Den of Geek in 2011. “They were very dark and sexy and sort of a little bit ahead of their time in terms of style. And what happened was they gained the notice of [Stanley] Kubrick, who had mentioned them as his favorite American filmmaking, ironically, in a New York Times article.” It didn’t take long for Chechik’s phone to start ringing and for studios to start sending him scripts. “And the script that really piqued my interest was Christmas Vacation,” he said. “And the reason is I had never done any comedy—ever.”