National Lampoon's Vacation, sometimes referred to as Vacation, is a 1983 Technicolor comedy
film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid,
Dana Barron, and Anthony Michael Hall.
John Candy, Imogene Coca, Christie Brinkley, and Jane Krakowski appear in supporting roles.
The screenplay was written by John Hughes, based on his short story "Vacation '58" which
appeared in National Lampoon.
The original story is a fictionalized account of his own family's ill-fated trip to Disneyland
when Hughes was a boy.
The success of the film helped advance his screenwriting career.
The film was a box-office hit, earning more than $61 million in the US with an estimated
budget of $15 million.
In 2000, readers of Total Film voted it the 46th greatest comedy film of all time.
It is widely considered to be the best film in the Vacation series, and continues to be
a cult film and a staple on cable television.
It also currently holds a 94% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Plot
Clark Griswold, wanting to spend more time with his wife Ellen and children Rusty and
Audrey, decides to lead the family on a cross-country expedition from the Chicago area to the Los
Angeles amusement park Walley World, billed as "America's Favorite Family Fun Park".
Ellen wants to fly, but Clark insists on driving, so he can bond with his family.
In preparation, he has ordered a new "sports wagon" for the trip, but the dealer claims
the sports wagon will not be ready for six weeks.
Clark is forced to accept a Wagon Queen Family Truckster, an outsized station wagon.
As the family travels, they run into numerous mishaps, such as being tagged by vandals in
a rundown area of St. Louis, while Clark is tempted numerous times by an attractive young
woman driving a flashy red Ferrari 308 GTS.
They stop in Kansas to visit Ellen's cousin Catherine and her husband Eddie, who foist
Aunt Edna and her dog Dinky on the Griswolds, asking them to drop her off at her son's home
in Phoenix.
After stopping at a campground in Colorado for the night, Clark forgets to untie Dinky
from the bumper before leaving, killing the dog.
While Ellen and Clark argue, they become stranded in the desert, and Clark eventually finds
a mechanic that scams him out of the rest of his cash to fix the car.
Frustrated, they stop at the Grand Canyon; when Clark cannot convince a hotel clerk to
take a check, he takes cash from the cash register and leaves the check.
Leaving the Canyon, they find that Aunt Edna died in her sleep.
When they reach Normy's home, they discover he is out of town, and leave Edna's body in
the backyard.
Despite all the events and the begging of Ellen and the kids, Clark is more determined
to get to Walley World.
They finally arrive the next day to find the park closed for repairs.
Clark, slipping into madness realizing that all his efforts have been for nothing, buys
a realistic-looking BB gun pistol and demands a park security guard named Russ Lasky to
take them through the park at gunpoint; Ellen and kids follow him, attempting to placate
their husband and father.
Eventually a SWAT team arrives along with park owner Roy Walley.
Roy understands Clark's impassioned epitome of the American Vacation, bringing back memories
of his own childhood years ago.
Roy does not file charges against the Griswolds and lets the family and the SWAT team enjoy
the park as his guests.
The ending credits show various pictures of the Griswold's vacation, including how they
got home, on a plane.
Cast Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold Imogene Coca as Aunt Edna
Anthony Michael Hall as Russell "Rusty" Griswold Dana Barron as Audrey Griswold
Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie Christie Brinkley as the Girl in Red Ferrari
John Candy as Russ Lasky Eddie Bracken as Roy Walley
Brian Doyle-Murray as Kamp Komfort Clerk Miriam Flynn as Cousin Catherine
James Keach as Motorcycle Cop Eugene Levy as Ed the Car Salesman
Frank McRae as Grover Jane Krakowski as Cousin Vicki
John P. Navin, Jr. as Cousin Dale Nathan Cook as Man Giving Directions
Mickey Jones as Mechanic John Diehl as Assistant Mechanic
Michael Talbott as Cowboy Production
Walley World In John Hughes' original short story, the
theme park was Disneyland.
Because of this, all of the names were altered to soundalikes.
Walt Disney's Disneyland became Walley World, itself a good-natured parody of the Anaheim
location.
The name of the mascot, Marty Moose, is reminiscent of Disney's Mickey Mouse.
Wagon Queen Family Truckster The Wagon Queen Family Truckster station wagon
was created specifically for the film.
The Truckster is based on a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire station wagon and heavily modified.
The car was designed by George Barris, and lampooned American cars of the late 1970s.
The Truckster features a pea green paint scheme; fake wood paneling; eight headlights, four
on each side in a rectangular cluster; a grille area largely covered by bodywork having only
two small openings close to the bumper.
Music The film's music was composed by Ralph Burns,
featuring original songs by Lindsey Buckingham.
A soundtrack album was released in 1983.
While it did not chart, Buckingham's single "Holiday Road" reached number 82 on the Billboard
Hot 100.
"Holiday Road" – Lindsey Buckingham "Mister Blue" – The Fleetwoods
"Blitzkrieg Bop" – Ramones "Deep River Blues" – Ralph Burns
"Summer Hearts" – Nicolette Larson "Little Boy Sweet" – June Pointer
"The Trip" – Ralph Burns "He's So Dull" – Vanity 6
"Christie's Song" – Ralph Burns "Dancin' Across the USA" – Lindsey Buckingham
Sequels National Lampoon's Vacation spawned a number
of sequels: National Lampoon's European Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Vegas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure
Hotel Hell Vacation Vacation
With the exception of Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure, each sequel
saw Chase and D'Angelo reprise their roles as Clark and Ellen Griswold, enduring their
unique and unenviable brand of vacation misadventure in various locales.
However, the children Rusty and Audrey are played by a different set of actors in each
film.
In July 2013, Barron explained that because Hall was committed to shooting Weird Science,
European Vacation Director Amy Heckerling requested both Griswold children be recast.
This fact is joked about early in Vegas Vacation: when we first see the kids again, Clark tells
them that he "hardly recognizes" them anymore.
The various actors were Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron in Vacation, Jason Lively
and Dana Hill in European Vacation, Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis in Christmas Vacation,
and Ethan Embry and Marisol Nichols in Vegas Vacation.
Barron again plays Audrey in Christmas Vacation 2, but Rusty, like his parents, could not
make it for Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure, an NBC TV movie.
However, Flynn and Quaid reprise their roles as cousins Catherine and Eddie, as they did
in each film aside from European Vacation.
Christie Brinkley reprised her role as The girl in the red Ferrari in Vegas Vacation
and later spoofed it in a 2008 DirecTV commercial inter-spliced with footage from Vacation,
recreating the famous swimming pool scene.
Each sequel also manages to reference Walley World in some way.
In July 2012, it was announced that Ed Helms would star as Rusty Griswold in the upcoming
film, New Vacation.
The new version of the vacation adventures will follow Rusty, who now has his own family
misadventures on the road.
John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will write and direct the film.
It is currently unknown if Chevy Chase or Beverly D'Angelo will reprise their roles
in the new film or if any of the other cast members from past films will appear.
The remake was postponed indefinitely due to creative differences.
Legacy HomeAway, Inc. hired Chevy Chase and Beverly
D'Angelo to reprise their roles once again in an advertisement campaign to be aired during
Super Bowl XLIV.
References Notes
External links
National Lampoon's Vacation at the Internet Movie Database
National Lampoon's Vacation at AllMovie National Lampoon's Vacation at the TCM Movie
Database National Lampoon's Vacation at the American
Film Institute Catalog National Lampoon's Vacation at Rotten Tomatoes
National Lampoon's Vacation at the 80s Movie Gateway
"Vacation '58" by John Hughes