INTRO: Comedy sequels are very difficult to pull off successfully. Often, the humor that worked so well the first time around can feel forced or lacking in a follow-up. Sometimes you just can’t recapture the magic. But sometimes a sequel manages to become a classic in its own right. And sometimes a film that features an electrified cat, a kidnapping, an unstable man with a chainsaw, and raw sewage being pumped into a storm drain can become a beloved holiday staple, a film that families make sure to watch together every December. The film we’re talking about is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – a comedy sequel that deserves to be Revisited regularly.
SET-UP: A decade before Christmas Vacation reached theatres, during the Chicago blizzard of 1979, John Hughes wrote a short story for the National Lampoon comedy magazine. Titled Vacation ‘58, that story told of a family’s hilariously disastrous road trip to a famous theme park, from the perspective of a young son. National Lampoon publisher Matty Simmons thought Vacation ‘58 could serve as the basis for a fun movie, so he pitched the idea to Hollywood studios. And ended up selling it to Warner Bros. Hughes wrote the screenplay for the film that was released in the summer of 1983 under the title National Lampoon’s Vacation. Once he was done with his draft, the film’s director Harold Ramis and star Chevy Chase then did a rewrite that shifted the perspective. Instead of the young son being the lead, the lead would now be Chase’s character. The father. Clark W. Griswold. Hughes would later complain that this shift in perspective would turn the Vacation movies into nothing more than “Chevy Chase vehicles”… but audiences enjoyed it.
National Lampoon’s Vacation was such a big hit, Warner Bros. wanted another sequel. Fast. European Vacation, which would follow the Griswold family on a tour of London, Stonehenge, Paris, West Germany, and Rome, was greenlit for a summer 1985 release. Amy Heckerling was hired to direct, Robert Klane wrote the script – and shared credit with Hughes, even though Hughes would want you to know he didn’t actually write anything for that sequel. Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo were brought back to reprise the role of Clark and his wife Ellen – but new actors were brought in to play their teenage children Rusty and Audrey. Dana Barron, who played Audrey in the first Vacation, was told that she would be back for the sequel. But when the first Rusty, Anthony Michael Hall, proved to be too busy to join European Vacation, the decision was made to recast both kids. Jason Lively and Dana Hill became the new Rusty and Audrey, and looked somewhat similar to their predecessors.
As mentioned before, comedy sequels are very difficult to do. European Vacation is one of those comedy sequels that wasn’t received nearly as well as the first film. But while it wasn’t as highly revered, it was a financial success. So the door was open for another sequel to be made. And Matty Simmons knew what the story should be. It was a story that had already been written by Hughes and published in the pages of National Lampoon. It was called Christmas ‘59, and was about the family from Vacation ‘58 having a hectic holiday at home. Warner Bros. waited a little longer to move forward on a third Vacation, but they eventually agreed with Simmons that they should make Christmas Vacation. And this time they really wanted Hughes to be involved.
By this time, Hughes was known as a highly respected and successful comedy director. Since the release of the first Vacation, he had already directed Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Planes, Trains & Automobiles; and She’s Having a Baby. Next up for him was Uncle Buck. He was doing just fine on his own, he didn’t need to take part in another Vacation movie. He wasn’t into the ideas of sequelizing his work anyway. But Warner Bros. was desperate for him to work on Christmas Vacation – and he agreed to do so, because he felt Christmas ‘59 was an idea worthy of bringing to the screen. Even if he would have to drop a prominent character from the story because they had already been included in Sixteen Candles under the name Long Duk Dong.
The set-up is very simple: the Griswolds have decided to host the family Christmas celebration at their home this year. Relatives are going to be coming in from across the country to spend the holidays with them… and Clark is determined to make this the perfect Christmas for everybody. This proves to be quite a challenge, as everything that could possibly go wrong during the days leading up to Christmas does seem to go wrong. And while Clark is dealing with all of this at home, he also has trouble at work. He has been counting on receiving the bonus check his company sends out every year. He’s going to be putting in a swimming pool, and has already paid the down payment. But if he doesn’t receive the bonus check, he’s not going to be able to give his family that pool. Clark doesn’t know that his boss has decided to send his employees something other than the bonus check this year. This adds even more stress and insanity to the situation at the Griswold home. Which is already becoming a madhouse.
In addition to writing Christmas Vacation, Hughes also wanted to produce it. So Simmons, who had produced the previous two Vacationmovies, was pushed back into executive producer position on this one. Once the script was ready, Hughes sent it to the person he wanted to direct the film: Chris Columbus. Columbus had gotten his start as a writer, scripting classics like Gremlins and The Goonies. He made his feature directing debut with the comedy Adventures in Babysitting – which takes its characters on a journey through Hughes’ beloved Chicago. The script for Christmas Vacation arrived at Columbus’s door at just the right time, as he was hurting from the box office failure of his second feature, Heartbreak Hotel. Getting the chance to direct a Christmas comedy was a dream come true for Columbus, so he signed on. Then he had a meeting with Chevy Chase… and his enthusiasm for the project took a heavy blow. Speaking with Chicago magazine, Columbus said, “To be completely honest, Chevy treated me like dirt.” But despite that issue, he stayed on the project and went to work shooting second unit. Some of the establishing shots of downtown Chicago that were captured by Columbus ended up in the finished film. But he didn’t end up directing the movie. His second meeting with Chase was even worse than the first one. After that meeting, Columbus called Hughes and said, “There’s no way I can do this movie. I know I need to work, but I can’t do it with this guy.” Hughes let Columbus drop out of Christmas Vacation, no problem. A couple weeks later, another script written by Hughes was delivered to Columbus. It was another Christmas comedy. Home Alone. Columbus signed on for that one, and had a major hit at the box office in the last months of 1990.
Christmas Vacation had a December 1989 release date it needed to meet, so there was a scramble to find another director. Hughes considered taking the helm himself, but he was too busy working on Uncle Buck. Chase suggested George Roy Hill, who he had just worked with on the comedy Funny Farm. He felt that Hill, whose credits included Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Slap Shot, and The World According to Garp, was the best director he had ever worked with. But Hill was also in his late sixties, so when Funny Farm received a lukewarm reception he was ready to retire. And he never did direct another film. So the choice moved on from a filmmaker at the end of his career to one who had never directed a movie. Jeremiah Chechik, who had caught Warner Bros’ attention with his work on commercials and music videos. Chechik was glad to make his feature directorial debut with Christmas Vacation.
Chase and D’Angelo were locked in to return as Clark and Ellen. And while Columbus had issues with Chase, it was D’Angelo that Chechik found difficult to work with. He told Rolling Stone, “During the filming, Beverly and I really fought like hell. But when we did the DVD commentary, we had the greatest time together ever. Who knows how this all works?” With the leads already on board, Chechik had to build a supporting cast around them. Several characters are family members we hadn’t met before: Ellen’s father Art and mother Frances, Clark’s father Clark Senior and mother Nora. The idea was to fill these roles with strong character actors who had soulful natures combined with a quirkiness. And a great ensemble was formed: E.G. Marshall and Doris Roberts as Ellen’s parents, John Randolph and Diane Ladd as Clark’s parents. None of these characters have a great deal to do in the film, but they are present for much of its running time, and they all get laughs along the way. Clark Senior also has a nice heart-to-heart moment with his son when things appear to have fallen apart. Ladd is actually very close in age to Chase; they would be more likely to have passed each other in the halls at school than be mother and son. But Ladd aged herself up for an audition with old lady fashion choices and baby powder in her hair. She feared that being cast as an elderly woman could be the end of her career, but ended up making more in residuals from Christmas Vacation than from anything else she has ever worked on.
The movie also introduces viewers to Clark’s grumpy, cigar-smoking uncle Lewis and Lewis’s senile wife Bethany. A woman who shows up for Christmas with her cat and a Jell-O dish wrapped up as presents. The inspiration for these characters was the legendary comedy duo of George Burns and his wife Gracie Allen. Allen passed way in 1964, but there was some hope Burns – who was known to enjoy cigars in his day – might take the role of Uncle Lewis. When he chose not to, the roles were filled by William Hickey, who had recently received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Prizzi’s Honor, and Mae Questel, whose career went back to the ‘30s. She had provided the voices of cartoon characters Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. This was the final role for Questel, who was almost twenty years older than Hickey. But that age difference doesn’t come across on the screen.
Since Rusty and Audrey had been recast for European Vacation, it was decided that they would be recast again for Christmas Vacation. And while you could kind of buy that Lively and Hill were playing the same characters in European Vacation as Hall and Barron had played in the first Vacation, there is no continuity with the characters this time. Previously Rusty had been blonde and taller than his dark haired sister. For Christmas Vacation, Juliette Lewis was cast as Audrey, who has blonde hair and is taller than her dark haired brother Rusty, played by Johnny Galecki. They’re nothing like the previous Rusty and Audrey – but Lewis and Galecki are good actors, so they come off well in the movie. Just try to keep Hall, Lively, Barron, and Hill out of your mind.
Vacation cast member Brian Doyle-Murray returns for Christmas Vacation in a different role, now playing Clark’s boss Frank Shirley. Sam McMurray appears as one of Clark’s co-workers, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Nicholas Guest play neighbors who are not fans of the Griswolds, and Nicolette Scorsese plays a lingerie clerk who catches Clark’s attention. And Randy Quaid and Miriam Flynn were brought back as their Vacation characters – Ellen’s cousin Eddie and his wife Catherine. Who show up at the Griswolds’ house unexpectedly, with their kids Ruby Sue and Rocky, played by Ellen Hamilton Latzen and Cody Burger. Plus their dog Snots. Things go off the rails at the Griswold household for a variety of reasons, but Eddie is responsible for a good deal of the insanity. And for some of the funniest moments in the movie.
REVIEW: Christmas Vacation began filming in March of 1989, with the first ten days of production taking place in snow-coated Colorado. Scenes filmed there include the Griswolds’ trek out into the countryside to acquire a Christmas tree. And the scene where Clark speeds down a snowy hill in a sled that has been coated with cooking spray. Chase was really scared while filming that scene, as the sled he was on did pick up a lot of speed as he went down the hill. The actors described conditions in Colorado as “brutally cold” – but filming the scenes in actual snowy, cold weather gives the film the necessary atmosphere of a Midwestern Christmas.
The crew then did an impressive job of creating a Midwestern Christmas on the Warner Bros. backlot in the Los Angeles area. That’s where the Griswold house is located, right next door to the house where the Murtaughs live in the Lethal Weapon franchise. Chase said the toilet used for the bomb scene in Lethal Weapon 2 was still in the house’s front yard when they arrived to start working on Christmas Vacation. Filling the backlot with fake snow, the filmmakers were able to match it with the look of the scenes shot in Colorado. The movie feels like it takes place during a chilly December, even though it was largely filmed during a warm Los Angeles spring.
And while enveloping the viewer in its cozy, comforting holiday atmosphere, the movie also delivers some great laughs. Hughes scripted some hilarious dialogue for the characters, and Chechik also worked in some great sight gags. Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid both give genius comedic performances, with most of the supporting cast getting the chance to provide chuckles as well. The movie really lends itself to multiple rewatches, as you can catch new humorous moments from viewing to viewing – and the comedy is so well-crafted and effective, it remains funny each time you see it. Even if you’ve watched it every Christmas for over thirty years.
Things do go over-the-top at the Griswold house, but at their core the best Vacation movies work so well because they’re relatable. When Hughes wrote about the disastrous family road trip of the first Vacation, you could tell he was drawing from personal experiences. And the same can be said for the hectic family holiday depicted in Christmas Vacation. Maybe a SWAT team never busted into the Hughes home because a dimwitted cousin took dad’s boss hostage. Maybe the sewer never exploded because that same cousin pumped his RV waste into it. Maybe a cat never got fried by biting into the tree lights. But Hughes clearly knew what it was like to try to make the holidays pleasant for a house full of relatives. Chances are, there are people in Christmas Vacation who will remind you of some of your own family members. And you might be able to relate to the scenes showing the acquisition of a Christmas tree. Or those depicting how much trouble it can be to keep a pine tree in your living room. The scene of sledding down a snowy hill. The family dinner scene. The dog getting into the trash. The scenes showing Clark’s struggle to decorate the house and keep all of those Christmas lights lit up.
Clark does go overboard with the decorations, wrapping the Griswold house in twenty-five thousand lights. This causes him a lot of grief. There’s one moment where he gets so frustrated with the lights, he vents by beating the hell out of a display of Santa and his reindeer. Chase was so committed to this moment, he broke his pinky finger while beating up these decorations but kept going until Chechik cut.
If you have fond memories of childhood Christmases, the movie will really tug on your heartstrings when Clark finds himself trapped in the attic and decides to pass the time by watching old home movies. Chechik puts the Ray Charles song “That Spirit of Christmas” on the soundtrack to try to make you get teary-eyed along with Clark. Then quickly shifts back to the laughs when Clark’s beautiful moment is interrupted.
There are some great Christmas songs on the film’s soundtrack. In addition to Ray Charles, we get “Mele Kalikimaka” by Bing Crosby and “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Gene Autry. There’s also a nice score, composed by Angelo Badalamenti, who Chechik hired specifically because you wouldn’t expect the Blue Velvet and Nightmare on Elm Street 3 composer to be hired for a Christmas score. And there’s an original theme song, performed by Mavis Staples, that plays over the film’s animated title sequence. A sequence the studio didn’t want to pay for, but Chechik convinced them to by presenting an awful alternative of credits accompanied by a purposely bad song choice.
Chechik also faced resistance from Warner Bros. when it came to the scene where Aunt Bethany’s cat gets zapped by the Christmas lights. The studio didn’t even want him to film that moment, but he would always tell them to check with Hughes about it. Then he would call Hughes to tell him he needed to be prepared to defend the cat scene. The scene was filmed – and Warner Bros. asked that it be removed before the first test screening. Matty Simmons begged them to at least let the first test audience see the scene. So they let it stay in. After the screening, the test audience scored the cat scene as their favorite scene in the movie. That ended the discussion of whether or not it should be cut.
LEGACY/NOW: Christmas Vacation reached theatres on December 1st, 1989 – and didn’t open at number one because Back to the Future Part II, which was released the previous week, was still in the top spot. It didn’t reach number one in its second week, either. Because Danny DeVito’s dark comedy The War of the Roses was released that week, and movie-goers wanted to see its reunion of Romancing the Stone duo Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. But Christmas Vacation finally reached number one in its third week, and remained at the top for its fourth week. Made on a budget of twenty-five million dollars, the movie ended up earning over seventy-four million at the domestic box office. Exceeding the sixty-one million made by the first Vacation and the forty-nine million made by European Vacation.
The critical response was surprisingly subdued. There weren’t many reviewers naming it an instant holiday classic, but it quickly earned that reputation. And for decades now, it has continued to be regarded as one of the best Christmas movies ever made. Through the days of cable, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD, and streaming, fans have been making sure to take in a viewing of Christmas Vacation every December since 1989. The Vacation franchise has also continued since then. There was another sequel, Vegas Vacation, released in 1997, a Cousin Eddie spin-off, a reboot that centered on an adult Rusty Griswold. Some of these were financially successful, but none were as positively received as Christmas Vacation was. It’s not easy to become a treasured classic. But Christmas Vacation pulled it off. Just like Clark Griswold managed to give his family an enjoyable holiday, despite everything that went wrong.
