I have such fond memories watching Vacation growing up, whereby I had to add it here to Friday’s Finest. It remains one of my favourite comedies although it has been a long time since I have seen it. But I don’t really need to since I remember every scene by heart. My kids are big fans of the rebooted Vacation 2015 movie which I also enjoyed but call it nostalgia or what-have-you, nothing can supersede the original National Lampoon’s Vacation.
Many of the antics of Clark Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) reminded me a lot from my own Dad. Like how he tries his darndest to be the ‘bestest’ of Dads: flex the pecs which he doesn’t have and sit down and have a ‘kumbaya’ big – man pep talk with his son. And he may look clumsy and awkward, but his intentions are well meaning, and you can’t help but warm to him.
Having it all planned down to the last detail, well-meaning American paterfamilias Clark Griswold and his supportive wife Ellen take their two teenagers, Rusty and Audrey, on a cross-country trip from the suburbs of Chicago all the way to sunny California’s Walley World amusement park. However, anything that could go wrong does, and before long Ellen’s cousin Catherine and her husband Eddie enter the picture and Clark is on the verge of blowing a gasket. Roy Walley’s wonderful park seems farther and farther away, and although the prospect of a clandestine meeting with the alluring blonde in the fast 1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi sounds tempting, Clark must do the right thing and find the promised land. How hard can it be to have the perfect vacation?
The film was a box-office hit, earning more than $60 million in the U.S. with an estimated budget of $15 million, and received positive reviews from critics. As a result of its success, five sequels have been produced. What is so impressive is filming only lasted 55 days despite the mass of places they visited. To avoid legal troubles, all of the names associated with Disneyland were altered to sound-alikes. Marty Moose is reminiscent of Mickey Mouse and similarly Roy Walley’s appearance bears similarities to that of Walt Disney.
It has a great soundtrack. One song Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones I took an immediate liking to.
References:
1. National Lampoon’s Vacation – Wikipedia
2. National Lampoon’s Vacation – IMDB
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I have noted the title and shall seek it out!
Super Bruce. Thanks for reading as always.
I also liked Lindsey Buckingham’s song Holiday Road on this one. The movie is great…just great. Matt, sorry I vanished yesterday…work picked up.
Yeh, that song is pretty cool. I thought you might have seen it and enjoyed it. Have you seen the new reboot? I was pleasantly surprised by it and Chase and D’Angelo make a cameo. No worries about yesterday. I started getting carried away anyhow..hehe. Oh, by the way the Serbian twins threw out a ‘Hi’ to you. lol
No I haven’t seen it yet. That is cool that they at least make a cameo.
No it was me Matt…I just dropped off in work for the longest. I was working from home and worked late last night.