What You Never Knew about Christmas Vacation 

Here’s another: Clark’s Christmas bonus he gets at the end wouldn’t even come close to the expenses needed to repair the house.

Another fun detail: it ends in the last few hours of Christmas eve, making it one of the few Christmas movies that never actually gets to Christmas.

Some people have "It's a Wonderful Life", "Grinch", "Christmas Carol"....but I've got "Christmas Vacation" as my personal fave. Thumbs up!

Whenever Clark and Ellen do the dishes , they don't actually get clean. Ellen throws the food in the trash hands the dish over to Clark. He wipes it off with a towel and puts it back in the cupboard .

Christmas Vacation drew some inspiration from a John Hughes short story called Christmas '59. My family reads this story every Christmas Eve and it's hilarious. When Clark is trapped in the attic, he takes out a reel with a sticker that says "Xmas 59" on it.

One of my favorite little things in the scene with Clark and Eddie in the store is the fact that Eddie makes a point about how he's so poor that he can't get Christmas presents for his children, and yet, he can afford ALL that dog food for his dog...

*ᶦ ᶰᵉᵛᵉʳ ᵏᶰᵉʷ ᵗʰᵃᵗ*

this movie has been a tradition to watch every year for my family and yet we missed half of the things on this list

I love this damn movie to death. Makes me laugh every time. I love it when Ellen grabs Clarks balls when theyre frozen. So funny. XD LOL "Hallelujah! Holy shit!"

My family and I quote this movie all year round and when Christmas comes around, we watch it more than any other Christmas movie

Here's one little thing ye missed: Clark improvised the "Hallelujah, Holy Sh!t" part of his line at the end of his rant. He was literally so impressed he managed to say the line he let that extra dialouge slip.

The movie turns 30 today! My dad loved the vacation movies We watched this constantly on vhs I didn’t realize how funny and heartwarming it was The father in law who’s been mean to Clark this whole time really does bring new meaning now given the situation when he stands up for him against Clark’s boss

One thing I noticed just the other day watching it is the scene where they finally get the lights working and Clark's having a sentimental moment with his mom... but Ellen is standing between the two of them and Clark is basically squeezing her as he embraces his Mom without even knowing she's in the middle of them. Don't know how I never noticed it before but it cracked me up this viewing. Just a great Christmas movie all around with so many clever jokes both visual and audible.

The turtle neck piece is called a Dickie. It really says more about how he can't dress himself then how cheap he is.

I thought I'd do a prank/homage where give my teachers "jelly of the month club" cards

Never dates or gets old somehow. We always watch it every year!

I think Mr Shirley (Clark's boss) does get his name right once - after the SWAT team show up and he tells them not to press charges Shirley politely introduces his wife to "Clark Griswold and his family".

My family loves watching this every year to the point where we just say one line, everyone knows the entire scene. Also, I noticed that in the beginning when he "points out a deer" for his family, they all just look away so he can flip off the drivers of the truck

This series gives my family a bad name. Literally everyone who learns our last name is like, "Wait, like from the National Lampoon Movies?"

WRONG! That ceiling is there. It's called a Coffered ceiling, beams and recessed panels. They show it in several shots.

I love when Ellen throws her moose mug onto the lawn in frustration after Clark goes outside with the chainsaw

I actually love this more than Vacation lol

True fact when clark (chevy chase) was kicking the reinder santa lights in the front yard he broke his pinky toe and had to keep acting it out

Technically, that cat killed itself when it ate the wiring.

The ending with the swat team coming to the house to arrest Clark is actually a recycled plot from the original ending of the first movie. In the first movie, instead of going back to Wally World after buying the gun, Clark actually goes to Roy Wally's house in Beverly Hills and demands Roy Wally entertain them because they went through hell to come to LA all the way from Chicago. Roy Wally and his business associates start to dance and sing for the Griswalds. A swat team shows up and cuffs Clark, Clark apologizes to Roy Wally and tells Ellen and the kids that he's sorry he went crazy but it was for them because he loves them with all his heart. They all hug him goodbye but then the girl in the red convertible shows up and is revealed to be Roy's daughter! She convinces Roy to drop the charges. Roy then tells the Griswalds that he's taking them back to the amusement park and is going to open it up special for them, making the Griswalds happy. Then they're on the airplane to go home but find out they got on the wrong plane because it's going to Atlanta! That ending was not used because the test audiences didn't like it. They laughed through most of the movie but when it got to Clark going after Roy Walley, the audience fell dead silent. The main reason why the test audiences didn't like it is because they never got to see the Griswalds actually at Walley World after they went through so much hell to get there. It's unknown if the ending still exists but Chevy Chase does possess a copy of the movie where the original ending was used.

In the sledding scene, Clark announces he is going for an amateur saucer sled land speed record. Just before he takes off, he says "Remember kids, don't try this at home. I am a professional."

There's something so wonderfully "Midwestern" about Christmas Vacation, and I love it.

I love how Doug's use of the word fuck in this video is every bit as emotional as when Clark used it (in the progressive tense) during his iconic breakdown... only for different reasons!

I love Christmas vacation

clark's boss kinda reminds me of mr burns

Watched this movie every year for 25 years straight lol

You know what, 1 REALLY is a powerful moment I never noticed and adds to the movie and character a lot! Some of the ones you mentioned I definitely noticed....but man what a great find in the father in law standing up to show support. All along, he's really supportive of Clark and just likes to bust his chops and give him tough love. I love it!

This is one of the few movies I can watch over and over again.

Who else wants him to bring this series back?

That thing under Cousin Eddie's shirt is called a "dickey"(sp). It's supposed to look like you're wearing a turtleneck. Unfortunately his sweater is to light of a color, so it shows the whole thing.

Am I the only one that sang the Santa Christ lyrics during the credits?

I have a good one. When Clark is helping the grandmother who played Olive Oil and Betty Boop into the house she was supposed to say “don’t let me go Clark”. She forgot her line and said “Don’t throw me down Clark” and they just went with it. They kept it in because it was so funny 😂😂

God I love this movie!

If Jack Nicholson played Clark, it would have become a horror movie

I watch this movie each Christmas at least 3-4 times per year since I was 3 (18 years, as I am 21 now), and I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed over half this stuff. This is easily one of my favorite Christmas movies.

I've seen the movie nearing 100 times, and I found most of these points obvious, except number 1. Thank you for pointing this out; what a beautiful emotional resolve to Clark and his F-i-L's relationship.

In the movie when he cuts off the banister piece, it reappears when the family runs up the stairs from the squirell

18 days left... THATS 18 DAYS TO MANY!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

this is the first time I actually noticed most of these before he said them. I'm proud of myself

watch this with my mom and stepdad every year. gonna notice these things this year

Just finished watching it. And I noticed that the first door they open on the Christmas calendar is nr 14. If you start counting from 14 and end at 25 you'll get 12. So the 14th is the first day of Christmas

Nothing in the history of recorded cinema has EVER been funnier than Clark falling through that attic trap door!

My mom and I always noticed Eddie destroying the light bulbs with the dog food, gets us every time XDD Not to mention he buys enough dog food to feed an entire pound!

I gotta wonder if Doug actually loves Christmas this much, or if he's just playing it up for the camera.

I can't get excited for Christmas cause my god damn exams are coming up :(

The only one I never picked up on was art being the first to support Clark at the end against his boss.

I saw that movie every year since i was 1!!!!!!!!!

A lot of things I already knew but hearing the #1 again really made me smile. Nice list!

I'd like to see a list of the most essential Christmas movies or specials to watch. I usually just spend each year promising myself to watch something Christmas related only to blow it off every time. If I knew what was really worth my time, it'd probably be alot easier to get back into that "Christmas Spirit".

Because it's CHRISTMAAAAAAAAAS!

This is my favorite Christmas movie. I'm kind of surprised I was allowed to watch it when it came out when I was 11 or 12.....I didn't see it in theaters and not sure when it came out on TV.....and had previously thought it came out in '88 and I'd seen it at ten. Anyway, I LOVE this movie! And, it's my favorite Griswold movie because in all the others, they're just stupid people. In this one, they're fairly normal but stupid things happen to them. 😁😊❤

I love this movie & you Nostalgia Critic

Wow, I hadn't noticed the father-in-law stood up first. Thanks!

"I don't look my best , I'm not shaven or anything". - Implying the beard isn't sexy as fuck -

Ever notice that the car in front of Clark's house is a 54 light blue convertible, from the song, Santa Baby.

Hooray for Christmas and Christmas movies/specials! This one is very high on my favorites. ;)

So it's Eddie's fault that the tree caught fire. Never put two and two together, thanks.

Great video! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

I just watched this movie last night.

My sister and I started a tradition while we lived with at home, we watched Christmas Vacation every day of christmas vacation. Helped get through the hours until christmas.

I absolutely love this movie actually. this is the only national lampoon do like but I still love it

I noticed most of these, but it's still very hilarious.

That speech chevy gives when hes pissed is epic

As soon as he said Bill Murrays brother I couldn't stop seeing the likeness, can't believe I never knew or saw it before

HAVE A MERRY GODDAMN CHRISTMAS! HALLELUJAH, HOLY SHIT! Wheres the tylonal...

video on Monday?? YES THANK YOU FOR NOT MAKING ME WAIT A WHOLE WEEK FOR FILLER!

The commentary for the movie talks about the turkey sceene, they were told to each give their own way of getting around the dry turkey, so it's fun watching the different types, one is swirling it in the water, one is chewing it excessively, etc

having seen this movie 4695673472342121 times, I've noticed all of these things EXCEPT #1; I never really thought about that moment before. bravo!

I had noticed everything but #1. Gives me something to bring up with the family this next Christmas.

I actually noticed all of these except number 1. And my head just about exploded when you pointed that out. How did I miss that?!

The Big Bang theory is geek black face. Now THAT is something I haven't heard. It's true, but I've never heard it like that.

So many cameos. It's amazing.

My family has a tradition where on Black Friday we put up the Christmas decorations, and at the end of the day we all watch this movie. After all these years, it is still just as funny.

I don't mind these being pointed out, but I feel like one of the reasons this movie is such a classic is because the filmmakers purposely highlighted these points. I'll give exception to the Vegas Tshirt, but the rest are jokes people are supposed to get ... I thought

Clark's boss does call him by the right name the last time he ever talks to him in the film. Eddie is the actor who played in Independence Day and Clark's dad played Roseanne's dad in the tv series. After Clark destroys and kicks the sled and deer, once the lights turn on they miraculously come back to life and appear to be in 100% perfect condition in the next scene. Almost all of the snow in the movie is fake. The outside house is fake and most of the snow is stylophone. Next time you watch the film you will notice that you never see any of people's breaths even though they are outside in the cold air and you should be seeing it due to the low temperatures. Great freaking movie though love it to pieces!

Everything in this video. I already knew. Good job.

More Fun Facts: • One of Clark’s pajamas are dinosaur pajamas. • Rusty watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” on T.V.

Did anyone notice when he's counting down. He forgot to put the number 5 on the list.

The movie was based on a short film called Christmas 1959 and when Clark pulls a film out in the attic it is labeled xmas 59

Another absolute classic :-)

A lot of these I knew about. There were only 8 of them that I didn't notice.

theres a part where eddy says "go get the rubber sheets and the gerbils"

Is it some sort of tradition to have a new kid play the son in every one of the movies?

Even more enjoyable this with the Clothed Capshuns on, and ways of perplexed speaking they are. ;)

Oh Chevy Chase...back when male comedians had hair on their balls. That and they didn't need to rely on "oh look so random/ironic/how dumb I am" cliches to be funny, unlike old school comedians who had a real craft that could reach as low as subtle, to as far as slapstick, while maintaining actual combined acting chops to really flesh out characters so they seem plausible. They brought the character to life, actor into the character.

I always liked how the police cars that show up have red and green flashing lights instead of red and blue.

Even though Christmas is right in corner, in case I don't comment you in time, I like to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS DOUG, you and family have a Wonderful Christmas.

I NEVER KNEW THAT!! HAHAHAA most of them I did know I love this movie since I was a kid!

Probably the biggest for me is in the "Clark watches old home videos" portion. At one point you can see someone in a Navy uniform if you look closely. Much later, the senile aunt asks "Is Rusty still in the Navy?". This is especially genius since this line occurs after the video segment, so you need to watch the movie at least twice to catch it.

love these ☺

Not only does Clark's boss never get his name right but he literally calls him "greaseball" when he comes to give him a gift.

I love ❤️ it when he goes crazy on Christmas lol

I'm glad they re-uploaded this so you could actually, you know, find it.

Last time I came this early, the youtube comment section criticized me for making an unoriginal joke.

After Christmas, PLEASE do Top 11 Sitcoms. I had a blast watching Third Rock.