Trivia / National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

• Defictionalization: In the film, people drink eggnog from the bowl in Walley World moose cups. You can buy them.
• Deleted Scene: A short scene was cut of Clark and the family trudging back to the owner of the Christmas tree farm only to learn they were supposed to bring their own equipment for cutting down a tree, but the owner lends him a shovel. This does explain how Clark got the tree out of the ground, but presumably it was removed because it added nothing to the joke and the implication that Clark simply committed on the spot to dig up the tree with his bare hands is both funnier and perfectly in-character for him. Despite never being included with any version of the movie, a still of the scene is included on the back of several home video releases.
• Edited for Syndication: The version that airs on ABC Family / Freeform makes the expected changes, such as cutting out / bleeping harsher language and trimming scenes for time, but one of the more awkward edits is when Clark was asking his dad how he managed to be so good at raising a family, to which the latter responds "I had a little help [from Jack Daniels]", making it now seem like Clark is laughing at nothing.
• He Also Did: Mae Questel, best known as the original voice for both Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, plays Aunt Bethany.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The house front from Bewitched and The New Gidget appeared in the home movie that Clark was watching in the attic.
• The Other Darrin: Russ and Audrey are played by different actors, as per usual.
• Prop Recycling: The old Dodge pickup, which tailgated Clark and the family in the opening scenes, was previously used as Kurt Russell's work truck in Overboard.
• The Red Stapler: Quite a few items from the movie (like the Walley World eggnog glasses) are popular Christmas items, and Clark's Blackhawks jersey (seen in the "Shitter was full!" scene) is popular with Chicago Blackhawks fans. It's not uncommon to see the occasional white Hawks jersey customized with Clark's name and "00" number on the back.
• Self-Adaptation: John Hughes adapted his short story Christmas '59, which was published in the December 1980 issue of National Lampoon magazine.
• Throw It In!:
  • After failing to get the Christmas lights to work one last time, Clark Griswold takes his frustration out on the plastic decorations in the front yard. Chevy Chase actually broke his pinky finger while punching Santa Claus, and resorted to kicking and clubbing the decorations after that. The film kept rolling and the take was used.
  • Beverly D'Angelo improvised grabbing Chevy Chase's crotch when the SWAT team holds up the house. She later said she did it on only one take, on the off chance it could make the film's final cut, which is what happened.
• What Could Have Been:
  • According to an article on the making of Home Alone in Chicago Magazine, Chris Columbus states that he was the original director of this movie. Although he filmed some second-unit establishing shots (which he claims are still in the finished film), he left after two meetings with Chevy Chase and told John Hughes, "There's no way I can do this movie. I know I need to work, but I can't do it with this guy." Similarly, Hughes briefly considered directing the film himself, but he was still busy with post-production on Uncle Buck and was unable to do so.
  • Lewis and Bethany were based on George Burns and Gracie Allen, and it was hoped George Burns would play Lewis.
  • Lindsey Buckingham was offered the opportunity to write the theme for the movie, but declined because he didn't want to be known as a soundtrack musician.
  • Chase noticed the script lacked a father-son talk like the prior movies, and suggested that he and Galecki improvise one. Galecki, still new and starstruck with Chase, turned him down.
• You Look Familiar: Clark's boss is played by Brian Doyle-Murray, who appeared in National Lampoon's Vacation as a hotel clerk.

---