Story
Clark Griswold (Chevvy Chase) is getting ready for Christmas, which he wants to make perfect for his wife Ellen (Beverely D’Angelo) and children Audrey (Julette Lewis) and Rusty (Johnny Galecki).
Unfortunately, nothing goes according to plan. First, they crash the car bringing home the Christmas tree, then the Christmas lights fail to work, which makes Clark extremely angry. Next, the grandparents all come to stay, resulting in Audrey having to share a bed with her brother. Then Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and family arrive in their RV with their Rottweiler. To cap it off, Uncle Lewis (William Hickey) and his wife Bethany (Mae Questel) arrive. Lewis manages to set the Christmas tree alight with his cigar, causing an explosion with a gas leak and completely wrecking the house.
With everything in disarray, Clark realises Christmas isn’t about the gifts, the tree or the turkey, but about the magic of the Christmas spirit.
Themes
Christmas; extended family dynamics
Violence
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has a lot of violence. For example:
- In the opening credits, a cartoon Santa gets electrocuted, sets his pants on fire, gets hit by bricks and is chased by a rolling Santa head.
- A large utility vehicle tailgates Clark’s car with all the family inside. The cars overtake and pursue each other. Clark gives the other driver the middle finger. Then a large truck starts to tailgate as well. Clark pulls out in front of a snow plough and is forced off the road, crashing into the snow. No-one is hurt.
- The Christmas tree comes crashing down, smashing a window and furniture.
- Clark’s neighbour says she hopes Clark falls off the ladder and breaks his neck.
- The ladder tips while Clark is on it. He starts to fall backwards but he’s saved by a tree.
- Clark slips off the roof and hangs on to the gutters, which then come crashing down. A piece of roof timber flies into the neighbour’s window.
- Clark steps on a timber floorboard, which crashes up into his face. He also gets hit in the head by the attic ladder.
- Clark goes sliding down a mountain slope on a ski pan. He crashes through a shed, crosses a busy motorway and crashes into a building.
- A cat eats through some wires and gets electrocuted. A burnt cat shape is seen on the carpet.
- A squirrel jumps out of a tree and runs through the house, creating havoc. The dog chases the squirrel, everyone screams, Grandmother faints, and all the Christmas decorations in the house get smashed. Clark says he’ll smack the squirrel with a hammer.
- The neighbour tells her husband to slog Clark in the face. When he won’t, she goes next door and the squirrel jumps on her face. The dog then jumps on the squirrel. The neighbour punches her husband in the face.
- The police surround Clark’s house with rifles. They break in through the windows and the roof.
Sexual references
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has some sexual references. For example:
- A female sales assistant wears a sexy dress and shows a lot of cleavage. She behaves seductively towards Clark, and he calls her ‘nipply’. She asks if there’s something she can take out for him. Clark tells her he’s divorced and that his wife doesn’t wear underwear. The sales assistant then models some sexy underwear and pulls her skirt up, showing the top of her thigh.
- Audrey says she has nightmares about what her brother does in bed on his own.
- Eddie says he and his wife could use a little private time together.
- Eddie drinks and wears a singlet and revealing bathing pants.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation shows some use of substances. For example:
- Several characters drink a lot of wine. One of the grandmothers gets a bit drunk. Eddie is constantly drinking.
- Several characters smoke, including cigars.
- Clark’s father tells him he had a lot of help from ‘Jack Daniels’.
Nudity and sexual activity
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- The neighbours are kissing passionately in bed when they’re disturbed by Clark’s Christmas lights and music, which come on suddenly.
- Clark imagines seeing the sales assistant slowly removing her bathing costume. She’s seen partially naked from behind.
- Clark and Ellen kiss passionately.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: Purina dog chow and Wal-Mart Ol’ Roy.
Coarse language
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has a lot of coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is a slapstick comedy about everything going wrong at Christmas. As a result, the characters realise that Christmas isn’t about all the trimmings but about magic and spirit.
There’s a lot of coarse language and sexual references in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, which makes it unsuitable for children under 13 years. It’s best suited to teenagers aged 14 years and above.
The main message from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is that Christmas doesn’t have to be perfect. Rather, it’s enough to have family together despite the chaos.
Values in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation that you could reinforce with your children include a positive outlook, determination, kindness, forgiveness and patience.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of irresponsible adult behaviour. A lot of slapstick stunts show Clark behaving in a manner that doesn’t take safety into account, but he doesn’t come to any harm. In reality this wouldn’t happen.