History Film / NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation

* BlackComedyPetDeath: One of the recurring jokes throughout the movie is all the difficulty Clark has with getting the electricity for all the Christmas decorations working right. At one point, a cat gets into the wiring and manages to incinerate itself. Clark finds her body under a chair.
* BlatantLies: While Clark was talking to his boss, Mr. Shirley, the boss tired of talking with Clark and explained that he was on a very important call. He then picked up the phone and told the secretary to get him on the phone with anyone.

* PlayingGertrude: Diane Ladd, who plays Clark Griswold's mother, Nora, is actually less than eight years older than Creator/ChevyChase. In fact, Chase is closer in age to Ladd than he is to Beverly D'Angelo.

-->'''SWAT Commander''': That's pretty low, mister! If I had a rubber hose, I would beat you into a...

* DisproportionateRetribution: Thanks to a RhetoricalRequestBlunder, Eddie [[spoiler:kidnaps Clark's boss, Frank, for not giving Clark a Christmas bonus so expected that every employee considered it part of their salary]]. Of course, when [[spoiler:said bonus was cut out, that meant Clark was bankrupt. Clark actually admits that businesses aren't ''legally'' required to give bonuses, but cutting them ''without telling the employees in advance'' is [[TheGildedAge 1900's]] robber baron ''bullshit'']].

-->'''Margo''': I hope he falls and breaks his neck.\\
'''Todd''': Oh, I'm sure he'll fall, but I don't think we're lucky enough to have him break his neck.

-->'''Clark:''' ''[[CloudCuckooLander She wrapped up her damned cat!]]''

%%** Not to mention, [[spoiler: Aunt Bethany's cat...]]

-->'''SWAT Member''': That's pretty low, mister! If I had a rubber hose, I would beat you into a...

-->'''Clark''': Ahh... hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people. And I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! HALLELUJAH, and HOLY SHIT! [[BreathlessNonSequitur Where's the Tylenol]]?

%%* SexySecretary: Mary. See MsFanservice above.

--> '''Cousin Eddie''': If that thing had [[CatsHaveNineLives nine lives]]...she just spent them all.

* TheHardHat: Eddie mentions he once had a metal plate in his head, but would forget who he was whenever his wife turned on the microwave, so it was replaced with plastic. Inverted in that he doesn't use Clark's non-stick spray when going tobogganing because he doubts the strength of the plastic.

* RantInducingSlight: When Clark's in-laws are getting ready to leave after the myriad screw-ups, Clark snaps.
-->'''Clark:''' Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving! Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas! Noooo, no! We're all in this together! This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here! We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fuckin' Kaye! And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse!\\
'''Art:''' You're goofy.\\
'''Clark:''' [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry Don't piss me off, Art.]]

%%** Played staight with Margo.

Released in 1989, this third installment in the ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' film series was directed by Jeremiah Chechik and cowritten by Creator/JohnHughes. Creator/ChevyChase and Creator/BeverlyDAngelo once again star as Clark and Ellen Griswold, with Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/JohnnyGalecki appearing this time out as Audrey and Rusty respectively.

Clark has decided to host nearly his entire extended family at his house for the holiday season, including his parents (John Randolph and Creator/DianeLadd), his in-laws (E. G. Marshall and Creator/DorisRoberts), his crotchety Uncle Lewis (Creator/WilliamHickey) and senile Aunt Bethany (Mae Questel, in her final role), and his possibly-inbred cousin-in-law Eddie (Creator/RandyQuaid). Meanwhile, he's counting on a large Christmas bonus from his boss (Creator/BrianDoyleMurray) to help pay for his surprise present for the family: a backyard swimming pool. As can be expected, everything [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]] in the most [[HilarityEnsues hilarious manner possible]].

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The film makes fairly decent points about Clark's boss cancelling the Christmas bonuses without telling anyone being a really jerk move. Omitted are any points where it would be an extremely ''foolish'' business move as well. Upon arriving back in the office after getting back from Christmas, the company would be experiencing a massive amount of people searching for other jobs, embezzlement, and other forms of sabotage, and that's possibly ''with'' even giving advanced notice (if the company isn't experiencing an economic downturn, and there are no indications that it is, arbitrarily removing bonuses signals ominous signs about future prospects). Deliberately letting employees find out the hard way their salary was unexpectedly cut would have probably led to... bad things for a business. Possibly downplayed by the fact that the film itself seems to be [[LampshadeHanging aware of this]], with everyone, ''even the Boss' wife'', CallingTheOldManOut on his idiotic, selfish decision.
* AssholeVictim: Todd and Margo. They may be innocent victims of the wild swinging misfortunes of Clark Griswald, but so are they so materialistic, superficial, and insufferably self absorbed to be unsympathetic victims of the Griswald's fortunes in turn.

** The flammable sewer gas.
** Clark's remark about the tree drying up.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Ruby Sue comments that Rocky's "shittin' bricks" about the upcoming Christmas holiday, and amends it to "shittin' ''rocks''" when Clark reminds her not to talk that way.
** Earlier in the film when Rusty tells Clark that the Christmas tree is so big it would not be able to fit in the front yard, Clark remarks that it's being put in the room, not the front yard (though Clark seemed to understand the size issue and did not care).

* DistractedByTheSexy: Clark is so fixated on the sexy brunette sales clerk showing him her panties that he fails to notice his son is standing right next to him.
** Also later on when he daydreams about her skinny-dipping in the family's new pool and is too distracted to notice that Ruby-Sue has come up on him until she speak out.

-->"Is this the airport, Clark? Is your house on fire, Clark? Is Rusty still in the navy? I just love riding in cars."

* DoubleTake: "Can't see the line, can you, Russ?"

* FromTheMouthsOfBabes:
** "Sorry. Shittin' rocks."
** From the same scene: "Sometimes I think all that Santa crap is just bull. If he was so real, how come we didn't get squat last year? We didn't do nothin' wrong, and we ''still'' got the shaft."

* HappilyMarried: Although Clark does have an EroticDream about Mary (the sales clerk at the lingerie store), he and Ellen seem to love each other very much.

** Not to mention, [[spoiler: Aunt Bethany's cat...]]

** Played staight with Margo.

* TheScrooge: Clark's MeanBoss, Mr. Shirley, who suspends Clark's Christmas bonus in lieu of a membership to a Jelly-of-the-Month club. Clark points out during his rant that if Mr. Shirley wants to do that it's fine by him, but he could have ''at least'' given his employees some prior warning so they could figure out what to do now that they lacked that.
** Notably however (and much like Scrooge) when forced to face the consequences of his decisions by Clark, he sincerely acknowledges he made 'a bad call', reinstates the bonus on the spot and does not press charges against Clark after the SWAT team arrive.

* SexySecretary: Mary. See MsFanservice above.

* SlasherSmile: Clark, in the last act.

Read more at: https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=947&t=32422

--> '''Cousin Eddie'''" If that thing had [[CatsHaveNineLives nine lives]]...she just spent them all.

* ThatPoorCat: Aunt Bethany's kitty electrocutes itself chewing on a Christmas light cord.

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The film makes fairly decent points about Clark's boss cancelling the Christmas bonuses without telling anyone being a really jerk move. Omitted are any points where it would be an extremely ''foolish'' business move as well. Upon arriving back in the office after getting back from Christmas, the company would be experiencing a massive amount of people searching for other jobs, embezzlement, and other forms of sabotage, and that's possibly ''with'' even giving advanced notice (if the company isn't experiencing an economic downturn, and there are no indications that it is, arbitrarily removing bonuses signals ominous signs about future prospects). Deliberately letting employees find out the hard way their salary was unexpectedly cut would have probably led to... bad things for a business.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: When the movie was released in the UK, the middle word in "Danny FUCKIN' Kaye!" was changed to "DANCIN'" to get a PG rating. The Blu Ray is uncensored, but is still rated PG; while standards change, [[[[https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification the guidelines at the time still only allowed "mild bad language" in a PG release]].

-->'''Clark''': Ahh... hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people. And I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! HALLELUJAH, and HOLY SHIT! [[BreathlessNonSequitir Where's the Tylenol]]?

* HeroicBSOD: Clark goes through a very memorable one.

-->'''Clark''': Ahh... hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people. And I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! HALLELUJAH, and HOLY SHIT! [[BreathlessNonSequitor Where's the Tylenol]]?

-->'''Clark''': Ahh... hey! If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I'd like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people. And I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is! HALLELUJAH, and HOLY SHIT! Where's the Tylenol?

** Notably however (and much like Scrooge) when forced to face the consequences of his decisions by Clark, he sincerely acknowledges he made 'a bad call', reinstates the bonus on the spot and does not press charges against Rusty after the SWAT team arrive.

* SillyPrayer: Aunt Bethany, Clark's aunt who is senile, instead of doing the usual Christmas dinner prayer, instead does the Pledge of Allegiance.

* FromBadToWorse[=/=]GoneHorriblyWrong: The whole movie is the family's holiday doing this.

* CoolUncle: Despite his exasperation towards his cousin, Clark bonds with Eddie's daughter, Ruby Sue, largely out of sympathy for being in a family that's too poor to get her Christmas presents.

* ProductPlacement: Ol' Roy dog food. And Clark's little misfortune with the sled and the super-grease ends with him crashing with a trash disposal in a UsefulNotes/Walmart parking lot.

* ProductPlacement: Ol' Roy dog food. And Clark's little misfortune with the sled and the super-grease ends with him crashing with a trash disposal on parking lot of a Wal-Mart.

->''"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving! Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas! No, no! We're all in this together! This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here! We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny [[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]] Kaye! And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse!"''

* TheScrooge: Clark's MeanBoss, Mr. Shirley, who suspends Clark's Christmas bonus in lieu of a membership to a Jelly-of-the-Month club. Notably, however, this one has a wife, who vocally expresses disgust at his miserliness once she learns what he's done. Clark points out during his rant that if Mr. Shirley wants to do that it's fine by him, but he could have ''at least'' given his employees some prior warning so they could figure out what to do now that they lacked that.

* TheScrooge: Clark's MeanBoss, Mr. Shirley, who suspends Clark's Christmas bonus in lieu of a membership to a Jelly-of-the-Month club. Notably, however, this one has a wife, who vocally expresses disgust at his miserliness once she learns what he's done. Clark points out during his rant that if Mr. Shirley wants to do that it's fine by him, but he could have ''at least'' given his employees some prior warning so they could figure out what to do now that they lacked that.
* TheGrinch:The snooty {{Yuppie}} neighbors, Todd and Margo, eschew a Christmas tree -- and, apparently, the holiday itself -- on the grounds that it's "dirty and messy and corny and clichéd".

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: When the movie was released in the UK, the middle word in "Danny FUCKIN' Kaye!" was changed to "DANCIN'" to get a PG rating. The Blu Ray is uncensored, but is still rated PG; while standards change, [[[[https://www.bbfc.co.uk/about-classification the guidelines at the time still only allowed "mild bad language" in a PG release]].

Released in 1989, this third installment in the ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' film series was directed by Jeremiah Chechik and cowritten by Creator/JohnHughes. Creator/ChevyChase and Beverly D'Angelo once again star as Clark and Ellen Griswold, with Creator/JulietteLewis and Creator/JohnnyGalecki appearing this time out as Audrey and Rusty respectively.