110 Fun Facts About Christmas Vacation Movie

Who played Rusty Griswold in Christmas Vacation?

Johnny Galecki played Rusty; the Griswold kids were recast in every Vacation film, with Anthony Michael Hall, Jason Lively and Ethan Embry taking the role in the 1983, 1985 and 1997 films.

In Christmas Vacation, which animal leaps out of the replacement Christmas tree and sends the family running?

Squirrel: Aunt Bethany hears it squeaking first, then Eddie's dog chases it through the house and both are unleashed on Margo when Clark opens the front door.

What does Clark Griswold primarily plan to use his anticipated Christmas bonus for?

A swimming pool: Clark has already put down a deposit he cannot cover without the bonus, which is why the envelope from work sours his Christmas Eve.

What is Cousin Eddie's dog called?

Snots: 'Pretty name,' is all Clark can manage, and Eddie explains that the dog was named for his sinus condition.

In Christmas Vacation, what has the dotty Aunt Bethany wrapped up as a present, which Clark works out by shaking the box?

Her cat: Ellen explains that Bethany has little money, so she wraps up things from around the house, and a second, leaking parcel turns out to be her Jell-O mold.

In Christmas Vacation, what does Clark's boss send instead of the expected cash bonus?

A Jelly of the Month Club membership, which Cousin Eddie calls 'the gift that keeps on giving the whole year'. Clark's response is a rant of more than twenty insults, followed by a kidnapping.

What is the surname of Clark Griswold's boss in Christmas Vacation, the man who quietly cancels the bonuses and ends up kidnapped?

Mr. Shirley, Frank Shirley, whom Cousin Eddie kidnaps and delivers to the Griswold living room. After a dressing-down he reinstates everyone's bonuses, plus twenty percent for Clark.

Clark's furious rant about his boss in Christmas Vacation runs through twenty-odd insults and ends with a demand for what?

'The Tylenol!', as in 'Where's the Tylenol?', after calling his boss everything from four-flushing to worm-headed. The headache is understandable.

In Christmas Vacation, what is Uncle Lewis lighting when he burns the Griswolds' tree to a crisp?

A cigar: Lewis had ordered Clark to fetch his stogies, and when Clark wails over the charred remains, Lewis shrugs that at least the tree is out of its misery.

What is the surname of Todd and Margo, Clark Griswold's yuppie neighbours?

Chester: Todd and Margo Chester come home to a broken window, a wrecked stereo and a soaked floor, and can only stare next door at the Griswold house.

Asked to say grace at the Christmas Eve dinner in Christmas Vacation, what does Aunt Bethany recite while everyone bows their heads?

The Pledge of Allegiance, after first assuming they mean a woman named Grace, who she says died thirty years ago. The family dutifully joins in, hands folded.

Clark takes a chainsaw to which wobbly part of the house?

The newel post, the upright at the foot of the staircase, which he saws clean off and announces, deadpan, 'Fixed the newel post.' It is about the only thing in the house he fixes all movie.

After the explosion outside, Aunt Bethany launches into which patriotic song?

'The Star-Spangled Banner', as the flaming plastic Santa and sleigh sail overhead like the rockets' red glare. Everyone, including the SWAT team sent for the kidnapping, stands and sings.

What is Cousin Eddie wearing when he drains his RV's toilet into the Griswolds' storm drain?

A bathrobe: Clark watches from the window and warns that the drain could fill with gas, pitying whoever lights a match within ten yards of it. On Christmas Eve, somebody does.

In his tirade about the missing bonus, Clark wants his boss brought to the house with what on his head?

A big ribbon on his head: Cousin Eddie takes the wish literally and returns with the boss in his pyjamas, a dog chain tied around his wrists and ankles.

Christmas Vacation grew out of which John Hughes short story, first published in National Lampoon magazine?

"Christmas '59": Hughes said the studio begged him for another sequel and he agreed only because he had this story to build on, just as "Vacation '58" had become the 1983 original.

Who directed Christmas Vacation after Chris Columbus quit over a clash with Chevy Chase?

Jeremiah S. Chechik, a director of moody commercials, was sent the script by the studio after another film he was planning there stalled, and made it his first feature.

Which actor, a campground clerk in Vacation, plays Clark's boss in Christmas Vacation?

Brian Doyle-Murray plays the boss who scraps the Christmas bonuses, then restores them, conceding that a healthy bottom line means little if it hurts the people he depends on.

How many lights does Clark string on the outside of the house?

25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights, by Clark's count 250 strands of 100 bulbs each, which stay dark through a drum-roll ceremony until Ellen works out what is wrong.

What are the names of Cousin Eddie's two children who arrive in the RV?

Ruby Sue and Rocky arrive unannounced in the RV, which Eddie first claims to have borrowed; he later admits he sold the house and the family now lives in it.

How is Cousin Eddie related to the Griswolds in Christmas Vacation?

Ellen's cousin's husband: Eddie is married to Catherine, which is why Clark, pleading for him before the boss, calls Eddie his 'cousin-in-law, whose heart is bigger than his brain'.

In Christmas Vacation, what ruins the Griswolds' Christmas Eve dinner before the night gets even worse?

The turkey is overcooked: the bird looks perfect until Clark cuts into it and it deflates with a hiss, and Catherine tearfully apologises for roasting it too long.

What does Clark gather the family to recite after his father's talk?

"The Night Before Christmas": calmed by his father's admission that their own holidays were always a mess, Clark starts to recite it, only for Eddie to walk in with the kidnapped boss.

Whose call brings a SWAT team storming into the Griswold house?

Helen Shirley, Frank's wife, who reported her husband kidnapped; the SWAT team crashes through the windows, and Frank then declines to press charges after reinstating the bonuses.

What does Uncle Lewis say the distant light really is, correcting Clark's 'Christmas Star'?

A sewage treatment plant: Lewis scoffs that it 'ain't the frigging Christmas star', then drops a lit match into the storm drain, with explosive results.

Who plays Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation, returning to the role from the original 1983 Vacation?

Randy Quaid was one of only four actors to reprise a role, with Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and Miriam Flynn; the Griswold children were played by new faces yet again.

Which actress played Clark's mother Nora despite being less than a decade older than Chevy Chase?

Diane Ladd, under eight years Chase's senior, plays Nora, who assures Clark after his lights fail that she can picture them in her mind and it's breathtaking.

Waiting in the cold for Clark's light display in Christmas Vacation, Ellen's father says he is freezing off his what?

Baguettes: 'I'm freezing my baguettes off,' he grumbles as he tells Clark to hurry, moments before the drum roll that ends with every bulb staying dark.

Which actress, the best-known voice of Betty Boop, played Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation?

Mae Questel won a Bronx talent contest at 17 by imitating the singer Helen Kane, and that boop-oop-a-doop act got her hired for the cartoons in 1931.

Christmas Vacation's snowy tree hunt was filmed around which Colorado ski town?

Breckenridge, in Summit County, supplied the real snow from late March 1989; the production then moved to California, where the Griswolds' street was dressed with fake snow.

Which composer, famous for the Twin Peaks theme, wrote the score for Christmas Vacation?

Angelo Badalamenti scored the film shortly before Twin Peaks made his name, and his own music for the animated opening was replaced late on by a pop title song.

Who sings 'Christmas Vacation', the title song that opens the 1989 film?

Mavis Staples, of the Staple Singers, sings it over an animated opening in which a hapless cartoon Santa takes a battering while delivering the Griswolds' presents.

Which film beat Christmas Vacation to the top of the box office on its opening weekend?

Back to the Future Part II held the top spot in its second weekend, but Christmas Vacation had the last laugh, climbing to number one two weekends later.

Chasing a pickup in Christmas Vacation, Clark first garbles his taunt into 'Eat my' what?

Rubber: 'Burn some dust here. Eat my rubber,' Clark crows, and Rusty patiently explains that he means 'burn rubber' and 'eat my dust'.

In 2020, Chase and D'Angelo reprised Clark and Ellen Griswold in a commercial for which car?

Ford Mustang Mach-E: the ad restages the lighting ceremony, and this time the house stays dark until Ellen goes inside and plugs in the electric car.

The 2003 TV spin-off Christmas Vacation 2 carried what subtitle?

Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure: the 2003 NBC movie maroons Eddie's family on a desert island; Chase and D'Angelo sit it out, while Dana Barron returns as Audrey.

Clark promises the happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with whom?

Danny Kaye: as the family tries to walk out on Christmas Eve, Clark vows to have 'the hap-hap-happiest Christmas' since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny Kaye, his co-star in the 1954 musical White Christmas.

What does Clark watch while trapped in the freezing attic?

Old family home movies: shut in by accident, Clark wraps up in a fur cape and turban from a trunk, projects reels of his childhood on the attic wall and weeps.

Which entry in the Griswold film series is the only one rated PG?

Vegas Vacation (1997) is the series' lone PG film; the 1983 and 2015 films are R and European and Christmas Vacation are PG-13. It was also the first made without John Hughes or the National Lampoon name.

What pet name does Ellen call Clark?

Sparky is what Ellen calls him when she warns that he sets standards no family event can live up to, and again in the film's last exchange: 'Merry Christmas, Sparky.'

Chevy Chase played Clark Griswold in how many Vacation films, from the 1983 original to the 2015 reboot?

Five: Vacation (1983), European Vacation, Christmas Vacation, Vegas Vacation and a cameo in the 2015 Vacation. The 2003 TV movie about Cousin Eddie did without him.

Arriving at the Griswold house on Christmas Eve, what does Aunt Bethany ask Clark about it?

Whether it is on fire: 'No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights,' Clark replies, and her next question is whether this is the airport.

Finally granting Clark his bonus plus 20 percent, the boss in Christmas Vacation calls him by what wrong name?

Carl: 'So, Carl, whatever you got last year, add 20 percent,' says the boss, and a stunned Clark promptly faints.

Which appliance used to set off the metal plate in Cousin Eddie's head?

Microwave: every time Catherine revved it up he would wet himself and forget who he was for half an hour, so the VA swapped the plate for a plastic one.

In which week of release did Christmas Vacation finally reach No. 1 at the US box office?

It stayed at No. 1 the following weekend too, and ended as the highest-grossing Vacation film until 2015.

Broke and living in his RV in Christmas Vacation, Cousin Eddie wishes he had back the money he sent to whom?

A TV preacher: Eddie confesses he had to sell the house, the barn and the ten acres, and wishes he and Catherine had never mailed off that money.

On which street does Clark's rant say his boss lives with 'all the other rich people'?

Melody Lane: Clark wants his boss brought 'from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people' to the Griswold living room.

Asked if he is Santa Claus, Clark mutters that he cannot even afford to be what?

An elf: 'Are you sure you ain't Santy Claus?' Eddie's young daughter asks, and Clark, broke until his bonus arrives, says he is sure, then mutters the rest to himself.

Which script did Hughes hand to Chris Columbus after Columbus left Christmas Vacation?

Home Alone: Columbus quit after two bruising meetings with Chevy Chase, and the script Hughes sent him soon afterwards went on to spend twelve straight weeks at number one in the US.

Who played Mary, the lingerie-counter clerk Clark babbles at while shopping?

Nicolette Scorsese plays Mary, who gets her name into the scene when a flustered Clark says it is the season to be merry and she answers, 'That's my name.'

What product is Clark developing at work that his boss wants to mention in a trade speech?

A non-nutritive cereal varnish: Clark explains that the semi-permeable coating seals each flake so the milk cannot soak in, which is why it is nicknamed the crunch enhancer.

What tool does Clark use to fix the lights to the house?

A staple gun: Clark works along the roofline firing staples through the cords, at one point stapling his own shirt sleeve to the house.

Eddie says his dog has 'a little' of which breed in him?

Mississippi leg hound: Eddie explains the dog's habit of humping legs with 'he's got a little Mississippi leg hound in him' and advises letting him finish.

Where was the set of the Griswold house and street located?

Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank: though set in snowy suburban Chicago, the Griswolds' street was a California backlot dressed with cotton batting and sawdust to look snowbound.

What does the Griswold wagon end up wedged under on the way to find a tree?

A logging truck: after a road duel with two rednecks in a pickup, Clark's wagon slides beneath a trailer of logs and pops out the far side, the family screaming.

What do Clark and Eddie drink from the moose-head mugs?

Eggnog: Eddie drains his moose mug while claiming the RV is only borrowed from a buddy, 'He took my house, I took the RV', a story he later admits is not quite true.

Which company created the film's animated opening title sequence?

Kroyer Films, Bill Kroyer's studio, animated the opening titles, in which a cartoon Santa crash-lands on the Griswold roof under the theme song.

Shopping with Cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation, Clark asks how which line of business is going?

Live bait: 'I can't complain,' says Eddie, before confessing that things are not going well at all and that the RV he called borrowed is really the family's home.

Which Lindsey Buckingham song features in every big-screen Vacation film except Christmas Vacation?

'Holiday Road', Buckingham's 1983 theme, turns up in every other Griswold film, but Christmas Vacation replaced it with a specially written title song.

Which duo, writers of 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'', wrote the title song for Christmas Vacation?

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, married Brill Building veterans, supplied the song late on, replacing the score first laid over the animated opening to give the film some pop appeal.

Clark Sr. says he survived his own imperfect Christmases with a lot of help from whom?

Jack Daniels: when Clark asks how his father got through Christmases that were never perfect either, Clark Sr. admits 'I had a lot of help from Jack Daniels'.

Which Hawaiian-themed Christmas song by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters plays in Christmas Vacation?

'Mele Kalikimaka', Crosby's 1950 recording with the Andrews Sisters, scores Clark's sun-drenched backyard daydream starring the lingerie clerk.

Whose recording of "Here Comes Santa Claus" plays during the climax of Christmas Vacation?

Gene Autry's version, a song the singing cowboy co-wrote in 1947, plays as a SWAT team storms the Griswold house to rescue the kidnapped boss.

What does Clark spray on the saucer sled before his record-breaking run?

A kitchen lubricant: Clark boasts that his company's new silicon-based spray is 500 times more slippery than cooking oil, then finds out the hard way that he was right.

When Ellen says the tree is too big, Clark insists it is just what?

Full: 'It's not big, it's just full,' Clark insists out in the snowy field; back home he cuts the ropes and the branches burst out through the living-room windows.

What does Cousin Eddie say cured his daughter's crossed eyes?

A mule kick: Eddie explains that falling in a well crossed the girl's eyes in the first place, and the mule simply put them back to normal.

What breed is Cousin Eddie's dog?

A Rottweiler: Eddie's big black-and-tan dog slobbers under the dinner table and drinks the water from the Christmas tree stand.

Why do the Griswolds uproot their huge Christmas tree instead of cutting it down?

They forgot to bring any tools, so the whole family hauls it out roots and all. The tree then does not fit in the living room, and smashes the windows when its ropes are cut.

Flustered at the lingerie counter, Clark says it is a bit what out?

Nipply: 'It's a bit nipply out... I mean nippy,' Clark stammers to the lingerie clerk Mary, then digs himself deeper by asking what he just said.

Which retailer's 2012 holiday ads reunited Chase and D'Angelo as Clark and Ellen Griswold?

Old Navy: its 2012 holiday campaign reunited Chase and D'Angelo as Clark and Ellen alongside several actors who had played the Griswold kids over the years.

Who plays Audrey Griswold in Christmas Vacation?

Juliette Lewis plays Audrey Griswold, a role that had gone to Dana Barron in 1983 and Dana Hill in 1985, since the Griswold children were recast for every film.

Who plays Ellen's mother, Frances?

Doris Roberts plays Frances, who answers Clark's failed lighting ceremony by telling the children what a silly waste of resources it was.

Who tells Clark that 'the little lights are not twinkling'?

Art: with the whole house finally ablaze and the family full of praise, Ellen's father offers the lone complaint, and Clark replies, 'I know, Art, and thanks for noticing.'

Clark offers to drive Eddie out to the middle of nowhere and do what?

Leave him for dead: 'Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?' Clark asks Eddie through a fixed host's smile, offering it like a refill.

Eddie warns Clark not to fall in love with the RV because his family leaves when?

Next month: 'Don't you go falling in love with it now, because we're taking it with us when we leave here next month,' Eddie warns Clark about the RV parked out front.

Who asks Clark where he is going to put a tree that big?

Todd: 'Hey, Griswold, where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?' he calls as the family unloads it, and Clark tells him to bend over and he will show him.

Told things could get worse, Clark says they are at the threshold of what?

Hell: 'We're at the threshold of hell,' Clark snaps when Ellen suggests everyone go home before things get worse.

On the tree hunt, Ellen tells Clark that Audrey is frozen from where down?

The waist: 'Clark, Audrey's frozen from the waist down,' Ellen reports in the snowy field, and Clark answers, 'That's all part of the experience, honey.'

Aunt Bethany asks whether Rusty is still in which branch of the military?

The Navy: 'Is Rusty still in the Navy?' Aunt Bethany asks about the teenage boy standing in front of her, one of several signs she has lost the thread.

Clark says waking with his head sewn to what would be no bigger surprise than Eddie?

The carpet: 'If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am right now,' Clark tells Eddie as the RV pulls up unannounced.

Clark insists on having what kind of family Christmas?

Fun and old-fashioned: 'Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas,' Clark declares, reviving the phrase he used on the drive to fetch the tree.

Clark claims an airline pilot spotted Santa's sleigh on its way in from where?

New York City: Clark announces the sighting at Christmas Eve dinner to thrill the children, and it is the grown-up Eddie who asks, 'You serious, Clark?'

Scared by Clark's driving, Ellen says she does not want to spend the holidays how?

Dead: 'I don't want to spend the holidays dead,' Ellen tells Clark as he duels a pickup on the icy highway on the way to find a tree.

As both sets of grandparents arrive in Christmas Vacation, Clark says he will be where 'for the season'?

Outside: Clark offers to park the cars and see to the luggage, adding that he will be 'outside for the season', as the bickering in-laws pour in, well before Eddie turns up.

As his boss's entourage files past in Christmas Vacation, Clark's muttered 'Merry Christmas' greetings end with which holiday wish?

Happy Hanukkah: snubbed in the corridor by the boss, Clark mutters 'Merry Christmas' at each passing suit, slips in three ruder suggestions and signs off with it.

Out of work for seven years, Cousin Eddie is said to be holding out for what?

A management position: it is Ellen who passes on Catherine's explanation, after Clark marvels that Eddie could not find a job in seven years.

Christmas Vacation's Audrey actress was Oscar-nominated two years later for which De Niro thriller?

Cape Fear: Christmas Vacation's teenage Audrey played the daughter stalked by De Niro's ex-convict, and at 18 was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Audrey is appalled that she has to share a bed with whom?

Her brother: with the house full of relatives Audrey must bunk with Rusty, and she asks her mother, 'Do you know how sick and twisted that is?'

Which SNL alum plays Margo, the yuppie neighbour, in Christmas Vacation?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, on SNL from 1982 to 1985 and a year away from Seinfeld, plays Margo, who tells her husband that if he is not man enough to confront Clark, she is.

What effect do Clark's exterior lights have once he finally gets them working?

A citywide power shortage: after a failed drum-roll ceremony the display finally fires up, dimming the town and blinding the neighbours inside their own house.

Cousin Eddie's young son arrives at the Griswolds' in Christmas Vacation with which unexplained ailment?

A lip fungus that nobody has managed to identify is the boy's lot, while his sister is described as formerly cross-eyed. Both children arrive doubting that Santa Claus exists.

In Christmas Vacation, when Clark offers to buy presents for Cousin Eddie's children, what does Eddie promptly produce?

An alphabetized list covering the whole family appears at once, moments after he has politely declined the offer. Clark had just scolded him for not finding work.

Which future 30 Rock star made her film debut as Cousin Eddie's daughter Vicki in the 1983 Vacation?

Jane Krakowski was 14 when Cousin Vicki became her first feature role. On 30 Rock she earned four Emmy nominations as the self-absorbed actress Jenna Maroney.

Randy Quaid, the Cousin Eddie of Christmas Vacation, plays an Amish man named Ishmael in which Farrelly brothers comedy?

Kingpin casts him as a gifted bowler whose Amish community frowns on the hobby, managed by Woody Harrelson's one-handed former prodigy.

Randy Quaid, Christmas Vacation's Cousin Eddie, plays the rancher who hires two young herders in which 2005 drama?

Brokeback Mountain cast him as Joe Aguirre, the boss who later refuses one of the men work. He afterwards sued the producers, saying the film had been sold to him as a low-budget art-house project.

On the road west to Walley World in the 1983 Vacation, the Griswolds visit Cousin Eddie in which state?

Kansas is home in the first film: the family pulls into the small town of Coolidge and leaves with cranky Aunt Edna and her dog as extra passengers.

In the 1983 Vacation, Cousin Eddie's young daughter Daisy Mabel is said to have been born without what?

A tongue is missing from birth for Daisy Mabel, a part played by Violet, the daughter of the film's own director.

In Vegas Vacation, where does Cousin Eddie keep the cash he offers Clark to win back his losses?

Buried in his yard is where the desert-dwelling cousin banks, and he offers it to repay the Griswolds' past kindness. Clark promptly gambles that away too.

In Christmas Vacation, Cousin Eddie explains that his older son missed the trip because he has what job?

Carnival worker is the older boy's new line, while the older daughter is away in rehab for alcoholism. Only two of the younger children come along in the RV.

Shipwrecked in Christmas Vacation 2, Cousin Eddie accidentally kills which animal and serves it for Christmas dinner?

A wild boar confronts him, and he tumbles from a branch onto it with his homemade spear. The roast earns him his teenage son's respect for the first time.

The Griswold family of Christmas Vacation first set off for Walley World from the suburbs of which city?

Chicago is home for the Griswolds, and a favorite of their creator: John Hughes spent his teenage years in its suburbs and set most of his films in and around the city.

When Clark Griswold slips off the roof hanging lights in Christmas Vacation, what smashes through his neighbors' window?

A large icicle shoots out of the rain gutter he grabs on the way down and sails into the house next door. Rusty is his only helper on the job.

Which relative shuts the attic door on Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation, leaving him trapped for hours?

His mother-in-law, feeling a chill, finds the attic door open and shuts it without a second thought. He had crept up there to hide a Christmas present.

The veteran voice actress who plays Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation spoke for which cartoon leading lady for decades?

Olive Oyl was hers from 1933 in the Popeye shorts, and she was still voicing the part in the early 1960s. The dotty aunt was her final screen role.

Clark Griswold's runaway saucer sled in Christmas Vacation finally stops in the parking lot of which store?

Walmart is where the ride ends, after he has shot down the hill and across a busy street.

The actor who plays Clark Griswold's miserly boss in Christmas Vacation co-wrote which 1980 comedy?

Caddyshack grew out of his own memories of working as a caddie at a country club, and he appears in it as Lou Loomis, who runs the caddie shack.

Which supermodel, the temptress in the Ferrari in the 1983 Vacation, turned down a return for Christmas Vacation?

Christie Brinkley said no on the advice of her father, who disliked the idea of her being typecast. She did climb back into a red Ferrari for Vegas Vacation.

Stuck in the attic in Christmas Vacation, Clark Griswold keeps warm in a fur cape, women's gloves and which headwear?

A turban from a trunk of old clothes completes the outfit. He is stuck for hours because the family drives off on a shopping trip without hearing his shouts.

In Vegas Vacation, Clark Griswold is finally granted a bonus by his employer for developing which product?

A food preservative of unusually high quality earns him the reward, which he spends on a family trip to Las Vegas to renew his wedding vows.

Christmas Vacation's Ellen Griswold actress played which idol of Loretta Lynn in the 1980 film Coal Miner's Daughter?

Patsy Cline earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and she sang the star's songs herself on the film's soundtrack.