National Lampoon's Vacation

Clark Griswald has planned a vacation with his family to wally world, but unfortunatly his trip does not go to plan and the trip has a few hilarious problems on the way.

Revealing mistake: In the film's first scene, as Clark and Russ Griswold make a left hand turn to pull into the used car lot in Chicago, the upper quarter of the screen shows mountains and palm trees in the background, which is an impossibility for Chicago. I believe the nearest mountain range to Chicago is in Arkansas and the nearest palm trees reside in Louisiana. (This scene was filmed in California, which explains the mountains and palm trees, BUT nonetheless a mistake.)

More mistakes in National Lampoon's Vacation

Cousin Vicki: I'm going steady, and I French kiss.
Audrey Griswold: So? Everybody does that.
Cousin Vicki: Yeah, but Daddy says I'm the best at it.

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Trivia: The script was based on writer John Hughes short story called "Vacation 58" which was based on a real life trip he took as a child with his parents in 1958.

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Question: In all the Vacation movies, the children are played by different actors. What is the reason behind this? Is it simply a joke?

Answer: According to the commentary from "Christmas Vacation" this is an inside joke referencing the fact that Clark is away from home so much with work, he hardly even recognizes them anymore. "European Vacation" could not obtain the same kids who played in the original Vacation, namely Anthony Michael Hall, and tried to cast kids whom looked close. Thus the joke began. No doubt the actors' aging between movies also plays a part.

Jazetopher

Answer: Ironically in 2003, Dana Barron (the original Audrey in the first film) returned as Audrey Griswald in "Christmas Vacation 2: Eddie's Island Adventure" although this film did not contain Chevy Chase, Beverly D' Angelo or a Rusty actor (Rusty not in this film).

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