National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) on Netflix
For Clark Griswold, a good old fashioned Christmas means driving Ellen, Audrey and Rusty to the country for the largest tree he can find. Cousin Eddie's family arrives unannounced.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb7.5/10249,019 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes72%
Trailer
Plot summary
Clark Griswold wants his family to have a good old fashioned Christmas, so he drives Ellen, Audrey and Rusty to the country to find the largest tree they can, and they uproot it because nobody brought tools. His parents and Ellen's parents arrive and bicker, while Clark, undeterred, covers the house with 25,000 lights and the neighbors Todd and Margo Chester complain about the damage to their home. Ellen's cousin Catherine and her husband Eddie Johnson turn up unannounced in an RV with their children, Ruby Sue and Rocky, and their Rottweiler Snots. Clark is counting on his yearly bonus from his boss Frank Shirley to pay for a swimming pool.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Leonardo DiCaprio was among the actors Johnny Galecki beat out for the role of Rusty Griswold, with casting team member Heidi Levitt later saying DiCaprio was not "goofy enough" for the character.
- The scene with the squirrel in the Griswold house used a trained squirrel that died of a heart attack before it could be filmed, so the crew hired an untrained animal at the last minute; the scene took three days to shoot.
- Chris Columbus was set to direct but left after a personality clash with Chevy Chase and was replaced by Jeremiah S. Chechik; John Hughes then gave Columbus the script for Home Alone.
- Diane Ladd, only six years older than Chevy Chase, auditioned to play his mother Nora in a dress that had belonged to Shelley Winters' mother, and won the part over June Allyson and Alice Ghostley.
- Model Christie Brinkley declined to reprise the role she had originated in National Lampoon's Vacation, following the advice of her late father, who disliked the idea of her becoming typecast; Nicolette Scorsese filled the role.
- Christmas Vacation is the only film in the Vacation series without Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road"; in its place is a song called "Christmas Vacation", with music by Barry Mann, lyrics by Cynthia Weil and Mavis Staples singing.
- No official soundtrack album was ever released for the film; a 1999 bootleg billed as a "10th Anniversary Limited Edition" was advertised as 20,000 Warner Bros. and RedDotNet CDs pressed for Six Flags Magic Mountain staff, of which only 7,000 supposedly sold.
