National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Other mistake: When Clarke and Eddy are drinking eggnog by the tree, and Snots is drinking the tree water, look at the tree's trunk. It's a birch tree not a pine.

Visible crew/equipment: When Ellen opens the door after Clark falls from the tree, there's a strange white thing visible for a few frames at the upper left of the door. Might be the hand of a crew member opening the door.

Dr Wilson

Revealing mistake: When Clark and Eddie push the chair to see what happened, the burned cat is only visible in closeups. There's also a blue object next to the couch that look like an iron that is creating the smoke effect.

Continuity mistake: When Clark's neighbours return home, the man says to Clark, "Where do you think you're going to put a tree that big?" The trunk is very large, bigger then Clark's feet. Clark replies, "Bend over and I'll show you." Then Clark cuts the tree trunk - it is very thin and easy for him to cut.

Audio problem: During dinner on Christmas Eve there is a shot of the cat chewing on Christmas lights. The sound of the cat chewing is a fraction of a second off.

manthabeat

Plot hole: When cousin Eddie kidnaps Mr. Shirley, Shirley's wife immediately calls the police. She describes Eddie as 'brutish and huge' or something similar, and wearing a 'blue leisure suit'. She also mentions that she got the license plate number of the vehicle. But how did the SWAT Team know to go to the Griswold's house to find Mr. Shirley? Eddie's RV is not registered in the Griswold's name so the plate numbers would not be much help in finding the culprit.

Continuity mistake: During Clark's rant, the shot goes from seeing him from behind the whole family to a frontal view of the family looking at him in shock. In the first, they are standing in line with the entrance to the room. You can even see Eddie's shadow on the wall as he's very close and slightly behind it. Also, on the other side, Audrey's arms are going down to her side and she's a little behind Art. In the next shot, there is no wall and Audrey is in front of Art. Her arms are also crossed.

Factual error: Even though this movie takes place at Christmas and there is lots of snow around the outside of the house, you can tell this was filmed during the summertime due to the short shadows in some outside scenes. At Christmas time, shadows are longer all day long.

Continuity mistake: When Clark is stapling the lights to the roof, his leg is tangled in the sting of lights causing him to lose his balance and slide of the roof. As he slides/falls grabbing the gutter the string of lights around his leg disappears.

Factual error: The family is reacting to where Clark went flying down on his saucer, ending up in a Wal-Mart. With the speed and length of the trip, he would've been out of sight in seconds. There was no way that they could see him from where they were.

Continuity mistake: After Eddie's arrival Clark is on the lawn with "Snots." Clark's left had is shown as he is there alone with the dog trying to get his attention and his glove and wedding ring have both disappeared.

Other mistake: When the lights don't work, Clark punches Santa and knocks the antlers off the reindeer. When the lights come on and the family comes out, the antlers are back on their heads.

Continuity mistake: When the grandfather is sleeping in the top of the bunk bed, there's a cheesecake poster on the ceiling. When Clark falls through the attic floor onto the bunk bed, it's not there.

Brian Katcher

Continuity mistake: The first time Clark fails with the lights, Ellen's mother says she hopes the kids see what a waste of resources it is. During this scene the level of her martini changes.

manthabeat

Continuity mistake: When Clark is looking at his "bonus check", he's holding both the envelope and "check" together in both hands. In the next shot he's only holding the "check" in both hands and the envelope is no longer under it.

Bishop73

Continuity mistake: When Clark falls over while on the ladder, after ripping his sleeve off, his hands keep changing position on the ladder. When he first starts to fall, his right hand is gripping the side and in the next shot both hands are gripping the rung. In the next shot both hands are on the side of the ladder until the shot after he pushes himself away from the tree and they go back to being on the rung for a shot.

Bishop73

Continuity mistake: When Clark is talking to the pretty saleswoman and she says "well, you do have your coat on", he tilts his head down and to his right. In the next shot his head is to his left and he moves it to the right.

Bishop73

Revealing mistake: When the SWAT team arrive at the house, a member of the team runs towards the house and dives in the snow. However, instead of falling in the snow as you would expect, the white fabric on the floor bunches up.

Todd: Hey, Griswold. Where do you think you're gonna put a tree that big?
Clark: Bend over and I'll show you.
Todd: You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that, Griswold.
Clark: I wasn't talking to you.

More quotes from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Trivia: Clark Griswold in the attic watching old movies dressed in a woman's turban and gloves to keep warm is not only funny but a reference to the Norma Desmond character from "Sunset Boulevard", who watches her old films to remember her Hollywood glory days.

Scott215

More trivia for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Question: Was there a deleted scene where Cathrine and Ellen were talking while making the turkey in the kitchen and/or doing something resulting in the bird being "overdone" totally and showing up in the scene at dinner causing the turkey to literally explode in a cloud of dust when carved by Clark? It just seems there was a scene missing there!

Answer: YES! You are 100% correct about the deleted turkey-cooking scene! Both my husband and I remember this scene. It was Catherine and Eddie that cooked the turkey to thank Clark and his family for being hospitable. They had never cooked a turkey before and they thought cooking it at a low temperature for a LONG time would be ideal. It looked great, but completely dehydrated. THIS is why Catherine is so upset when the turkey pops open and steams - she ruined the turkey for everyone.

Answer: There was never a scene as described in the film, nor was there anything in any of the special features. Also, there is no mention of it in any of the commentary.

I remember the scene with Catherine and Eddie in the kitchen, putting the turkey in the oven. Catherine said she thought they were putting it in too early.

Answer: I have a DVD with the exploding turkey scene It's a classic.

Answer: I also remember vividly the scene where Catherine is cooking the turkey and have been trying to get a copy of the film where that scene is not deleted. Also checked with my wife, she recalls it too. I think we might have seen it on a very early VHS or LaserDisc version.

More questions & answers from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

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