It’s a holiday classic that’s become quintessential viewing every holiday season, but at the time Warner Bros. wasn’t even sure they wanted another Vacation movie. After the lukewarm response to European Vacation, the studio spent several years dragging their feet on the prospect of a second sequel.

After they realized that 1989 had a surprising lack of holiday-themed movies from their competitors, they finally came around on the idea of getting the Griswold clan back together for Christmas Vacation. And what a lucrative decision that turned out to be! Not only did the film easily outgross its predecessor, it’s also now firmly entrenched in the pantheon of must-watch Christmas movies.

Topics include: the friction with Chevy Chase that caused the original director to quit right before filming began, how we reckon with hearing stories like that about actors or celebrities we were fans of, the bittersweet quality certain aspects of this took on watching it under our current circumstances, a couple of otherwise great scenes that feel like they happen in the wrong order, the original ending to the first film that was repurposed for this entry and whether or not it works better here, where this lands in our ranking of the Vacation movies, and more!

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