Trivia / National Lampoon's European Vacation

• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • The opening title sequence showing the character's passports was Chevy Chase's idea. He insisted that his name be shown first, in case the movie did well.
  • Ellen calls Clark "Sparky" in all four Vacation movies. In the DVD Commentary, Chase said that the nickname was Beverly D'Angelo's idea, and she still affectionately calls him Sparky.
• B-Team Sequel: Neither Harold Ramis nor John Hughes had any involvement with the film. Ramis was busy with Ghostbusters (1984), while Hughes had no idea the film had even been made, much less that he was credited as its co-writer,^note (Robert Klane was its primary writer, but director Amy Heckerling did some on-set rewrites and tried to claim credit as co-writer; the WGA refused Heckerling credit, but did award credit to Hughes, since Klane had incorporated some unused material from Hughes' screenplay for the first film) until he saw a TV spot.
• California Doubling: The scenes in Germany were actually filmed in Brixen, a German-speaking town in Italy.
• Creator Backlash: Chevy Chase was unhappy with the final product, and later described it, along with Caddyshack II and Nothing but Trouble, as one of his least favourites among his own films.
• The Danza: In Germany, Rusty makes out with a girl, played by Claudia Neidig, who says her name is Claudia.
• Dawson Casting: Despite Audrey being 14/15 in the film, Dana Hill was in fact 21 when the film was made.
• Hostility on the Set: According to Chevy Chase, he and Amy Heckerling did not get along during filming. Heckerling once said she disliked him so much that she refused to step on set unless she had a plane ticket to NYC in her hand so that she could leave anytime she wanted.
• The Other Darrin: Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron, who played Rusty and Audrey in the original vacation, are replaced by Jason Lively and Dana Hill. When Hall was busy with Weird Science, the studio decided to recast both kids, thus Barron wasn't asked to return.
• Refitted for Sequel: Screenwriter Robert Klane was asked to incorporate unused elements from John Hughes' script for the first film, resulting in Hughes being awarded a writing credit by the WGA.
• Throw It In!: As they're checking into a hotel, Clark accidentally refers to both Rusty and Audrey as his "daughters". This was a mistake on Chevy Chase's part, but was left in because it was so Clark Griswald-ish. If you watch closely, Chase has an Oh, Crap! expression afterward, but then shrugs it off and continues the scene.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Rowan Atkinson was considered for the role of the hotel manager. The role went to his Not the Nine O'Clock News co-star Mel Smith. Their NTNOCN castmate Griff Rhys-Jones was considered for the role of the man in the bathroom, which went instead to Robbie Coltrane.
  • Gérard Depardieu was considered for the role of the cafe waiter.
  • Rik Mayall was first considered for the role of the bike rider as both Chevy Chase and Amy Heckerling were fans of The Young Ones. But Warner Bros. executives wouldn't allow him to be cast as he wasn't very well known in the US. John Cleese was also considered for the role.
  • Chase and Eric Idle became friends after filming wrapped up. Shortly after the release of European Vacation, Idle and Chase began work on a screenplay for a follow-up called National Lampoon's Australian Vacation. Aside from a few shark-related gags, neither could come up with much, and the project was shelved.

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