National Lampoon's Vacation (film series)
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National Lampoon's Vacation is a series of comedy films under the National Lampoon name. The series primarily features the misadventures of the Griswold family whose attempts to enjoy vacations and holidays are plagued with continual disasters and strangely ridiculous predicaments.
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Films
National Lampoon's Vacation
National Lampoon's Vacation is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall. The film features numerous others, such as comedians John Candy and Imogene Coca, supermodel Christie Brinkley and future 30 Rock regular Jane Krakowski, in smaller roles.
The screenplay was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon Magazine, Vacation '58 (the screenplay changes the year to 1983). The original story is (reportedly) a fictionalized account of his own family's ill-fated trip to Disneyland (changed to "Walley World" for the film) when Hughes was a boy. The success of the movie helped launch his screenwriting career.
The film was a significant box-office hit, earning over $61 million in the United States with an estimated budget of $15 million. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted National Lampoon's Vacation the 46th greatest comedy film of all time. It is widely considered to be the best film in National Lampoon's series of Vacation films, and continues to be a popular film and a staple on cable television channels. It also currently garners a 94% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. <ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/national_lampoons_vacation/</ref> A "Wally World Water Park" opened in Canada several years after the release of the movie.
National Lampoon's European Vacation
National Lampoon's European Vacation (originally given the working title Vacation '2' Europe) is a 1985 comedy film. The second film in National Lampoon's Vacation film series, it was directed by Amy Heckerling and stars Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo. Dana Hill and Jason Lively replace Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall as Griswold children Audrey and Rusty. After Hall declined to reprise his role (he decided to star in Weird Science instead), producers decided to recast both children.
This was the only Vacation film that did not feature Randy Quaid's "Cousin Eddie" character. In the opening "Pig in a Poke" sequence, the family's name is shown as "Griswald", though in every other instance and film it is spelled "Griswold".
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a 1989 Christmas comedy film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It is the third installment in the National Lampoon's Vacation film series. The title song of the same name was written for the movie by the husband-wife song writing team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, performed by Mavis Staples.
Vegas Vacation
Vegas Vacation (sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation) is a 1997 comedy film. It is the fourth film in the Vacation film series centering around the fictitious Griswold family, following National Lampoon's Vacation, National Lampoon's European Vacation, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Chevy Chase reprises his starring role as Clark W. Griswold, the patriarch of the family.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure is an American made-for-TV comedy movie. It premiered December 20, 2003 on NBC. It is the sequel to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, although it is more of a spin-off than a direct chapter in the National Lampoon Vacation series of movies, because the main stars (Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo) from the original films do not appear.
It stars Randy Quaid and Miriam Flynn, reprising their roles as Cousin Eddie and Catherine. It was a direct to video 2003 release.
