Today we will be Flashing back to Dec. 1,1989. It was Friday, under the sign of Sagittarius and Once again, suburban family man Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) gets all a-dither about a family holiday. As is his sentimental nature, he puts too much emphasis on the production of it. He wants nothing less than a “fun, old-fashioned, family Christmas.” On this very same day, “National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” premiered in theaters.
“Although it was released in 1989, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has remained a holiday classic. I mean, at my house, the Christmas season hasn’t begun until we’ve watched it!
It seems like plenty of other people tend to agree, too. It became an instant holiday favorite, and one of the highest-grossing films in the franchise. THE MOVIE HAD A HUGE BUDGET, PARTICULARLY FOR A COMEDY. A $27 million budget, to be exact. Which was particularly high considering that the film had no special effects a la Ghostbusters (which was made for $30 million). But it had no trouble making its budget back; the film’s final domestic gross was $71,319,526.
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation was Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik (as Jeremiah Chechik) with the participation of many stars. These Stars included; Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, and Juliette Lewis. Here are some interesting facts about these Stars courtesy of Biography.
Miriam Flynn was so devoted to playing the memorable Cousin Catherine that she revived the role in 2003’s made-for-TV “Christmas Vacation” sequel alongside Quaid. Outside the “Vacation” series, Flynn also has appeared in a number of TV series, and has done voice work for animated programs like “ChalkZone” and “The Land Before Time.” Warner Bros./ Adam Taylor/ABC/Getty Images
Doris Roberts was another cast member who’s career preceded her when she walked onto the set of “Christmas Vacation.” After working on Broadway and starring in TV series like “Soap” and “Remington Steele,” Roberts played a Griswold in-law long before she became the overbearing mother on “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Warner Bros./ Angela Weiss/Getty Images.
Facts about the Film
The following Facts were taken from a Great Article written by “Christmas Past Media”. https://christmaspast.media/behind-the-scenes-of-national-lampoons-christmas-vacation/
More Facts about the Film
- There were absolutely no rehearsals prior to shooting the movie. Majority of Chevy Chase’s lines were ad libbed.
- Originally, the production company had a trained squirrel to run rampant for the scene. Unfortunately, the trained squirrel died before they got to shoot the film. They squirrel we seen causing chaos is an untrained, wild squirrel which made the scene quite comical.
- Four of the leading actors in the film are all Saturday Night Live alumni. Those actors are Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, and Brian Doyle-Murray.
- Since its released in 1989, the film has become a holiday, cult classic film for many movie lovers. Roger Ebert, a renowned film critic, initially hated the film when it was released and gave it a two-star review.
- The directors of the film originally wanted to cut out the scene where the cat gets electrocuted out of fear about animal cruelty complaints. When they did a screen test, audience members thought it was a funny scene, so they ended up keeping it in the film.
- Back in 1989, there were only two Christmas themed films released that year. It was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and the John Hancock film, Prancer. Johnny Galecki, the actor who plays Rusty Griswold, starred in both films that year.
- 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.
- THE MOVIE HAD A HUGE BUDGET, PARTICULARLY FOR A COMEDY. A $27 million budget, to be exact. Which was particularly high considering that the film had no special effects a la Ghostbusters (which was made for $30 million). But it had no trouble making its budget back; the film’s final domestic gross was $71,319,526.
- EDDIE’S SON, ROCKY, DOESN’T SPEAK IN THE FILM. Nope, not a word.
- Christmas Vacation marked the final film of Mae Questel, who began her career as the voice of Betty Boop in 1931. She passed away at the age of 89 in January of 1998.
- COUSIN CATHERINE HAS A LOONEY TUNES CONNECTION. Turns out Aunt Bethany isn’t the only voice actress in the family. Miriam Flynn, who played Eddie’s adoring wife in four Vacation pictures, voiced Taz’s mother on the animated Warner Bros. series Taz-Mania. She’s also lent her vocal talents to The Land Before Time franchise and she portrayed Maa the elderly sheep in Babe.
- BEVERLY D’ANGELO IMPROVISED A RISQUE SIGHT GAG FOR THE SWAT TEAM SEGMENT. Take a good look at the Griswold clan after one of the SWAT leaders yells, “Freeze!” During the mayhem, Ellen plants her right hand firmly on Clark’s crotch—and keeps it there. “I did that spur of the moment and told Chevy, just to see if anyone on set noticed,” D’Angelo told Rolling Stone. “But we did a couple takes and no one mentioned it.”
- MR. SHIRLEY (A.K.A. CLARK’S BOSS) IS BILL MURRAY’S BROTHER. Brian Doyle-Murray and National Lampoon go way back. Not only did Doyle-Murray appear in two of the Vacation movies (look for him in the original flick’s Kamp Komfort scene), but he also made frequent appearances on The National Lampoon Radio Hour. And oh yeah—he’s Bill Murray’s older brother.
- ALL THE PRESENTS ON MR. SHIRLEY’S OFFICE DESK—INCLUDING CLARK’S—LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME. Sure they’re wrapped differently, but size- and shape-wise, the gifts are identical. Go re-watch the movie if you don’t believe us.
The following Facts were taken from a very in-depth Article written by Ranker. https://www.ranker.com/list/christmas-vacation-behind-the-scenes/natalie-jonah
Most Interesting Fact of all is, The movie was based on a short story John Hueys ahd written about a Christms he had in 1959.
“Before “Christmas Vacation,” before the John Hughes teen angst classics like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller, etc….Prior to becoming a successful filmmaker, John Hughes was a writer at the satirical magazine The Havard Lampoon. (Harvard Lampoon morphed into the National Lampoon when the publication went, well, national.)
While at the Lampoon, Hughes wrote a short story in 1980 called “Christmas ’59.” The story is loosely-based on his own childhood memories of a family Christmas in 1959. (OH. I should probably mention that it follows the publication in 1979 of another short story called “Vacation ’58” which formed the basis for National Lampoon’s Vacation. (Another classic 80’s comedy. John Hughes was a talented dude.)
Thanks to the archives of the Mighty Internet, we can all look back and read for ourselves John Hughes’ Christmas ’59 and see where it all began…..click on the link below to read and share the story. Enjoy”. (Brain Stem Bob) http://web.archive.org/web/20010223220801/www.nationallampoon.com/flashbacks/xmas59/xmas59.html
Now it’s time to watch the Movie!
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As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), and children, as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.
Genre: Comedy
Actor: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik
Country: United States
Duration: 97 min
Quality: HD
Release: 1989
To watch this Great Christmas Classic you can click the link. https://ww5.0123movie.net/movie/national-lampoons-christmas-vacation-7149.html
If clicking the link above is not the right method for you then it is also available to stream via the following services.
If you would like to own the DVD for yourself
Here are some added Quotes and a video with some additional Facts.
10 Amazing Facts About Christmas Vacation
I hope you have enjoyed learning and watching. I know I had a good time collecting all the facts about this Great Christmas Classic. If you found this Post to be Entertaining and even a tad bit Educational, please feel free to, Comment, Like, Share, and even Subscribe to my Blog. I have enjoyed sharing this Classic with you and hope to see you back again real soon.
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