Film genres have formulas and rules, but how well do Christmas films follow their formula?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
(1989), the third film in the vacation is a family home christmas story.
(1989), the third film in the vacation is a family home christmas story.
RULE #1 - CHARACTERS
"I got the daughter in the clinic getting cured off the Wild Turkey. The older boy, bless his soul, is preparing for his career." ~ Cousin Eddie.
"College?" ~ Clark Griswold.
"Carnival." ~ Cousin Eddie.
- 1a. Someone Who Hates Christmas - Possibly the neighbours.
- 1b. Someone Who Inflicts Christmas Cheer on Others - The parents, especially Clark.
- 1c. Precocious Kids - Rusty Griswold, a little.
- 1d. A Bullied Kid - No bullied kid.
- 1e. Silver-haired jovial old person - Clark's moment.
- 1f. Someone with a secret - No one with a secret.
- 1g. Stressed Young Female - None. Except possibly the neighbour.
- 1h. The Single - Audrey Griswold, as a teen girl character mentions boys at least once.
- 1i. Someone Career Obsessed - Clark, a little.
- 1j. Grumpy Old (usually) Man - Ellen's parents.
- 1k. Sassy Old (usually) Woman - At times Bethany, mostly due to her comedy senility.
- 1l. An Inappropriate Santa Impersonator - No santa impersonators.
RULE #2 - SEX & NUDITY
"Do you sleep with your brother? Do you know how sick and twisted that is?" ~ Audrey Griswold.
"I'm sleeping with your father. Don't be so dramatic." ~ Ellen Griswold.
"I have nightmares about what he does in bed alone when I'm not lying next to him." ~ Audrey.
- 2a. Nudity - Some side-boob and sexual references. Less than the previous film in the series but more than the normal Christmas film.
- 2b. Sex - Some references.
RULE #3 - PLOTS
"Did I tell you I talked to my mother today?" ~ Ellen.
"And?" ~ Clark.
"They've decided they're coming for Christmas, too. You know, it's not too late to change our plans..." ~ Ellen.
"No, no, that's great." ~ Clark.
"I think you're forgetting how difficult it's gonna be having everybody in the house at the same time." ~ Ellen.
"Honey, they're family, not strangers off the street." ~ Clark.
"All they do is argue." ~ Ellen.
"Christmas is about resolving differences and seeing through the petty problems of family life." ~ Clark.
- 3a. Home for the holidays - Exactly this.
- 3b. Santa may be real - He isn't (well, he is in the opening credits.) Clark does tell Roby Sue that he is.
- 3c. Classic Christmas stories may be homaged - None.
- 3a. Home for the holidays - Exactly this.
- 3b. Santa may be real - He isn't (well, he is in the opening credits.) Clark does tell Roby Sue that he is.
- 3c. Classic Christmas stories may be homaged - None.
RULE #4 - GENRE
"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here." ~ Clark.
A variety of genres:
- 4a. Straight comedy - Yes.
- 4b. Bitter-sweet family drama-comedy - It tries.
- 4c. Animated fantasy (or puppets/muppets) - Only the Santa Claus opening credits.
- 4d. Bible retelling - No.
RULE #5 - EXPECTED EVENTS
"You set standards that no family activity can live up to." ~ Ellen.
"When have I ever done that?" ~ Clark.
"Parties, weddings, anniversaries, funerals, holidays..." ~ Ellen.
"Goodnight Ellen." ~ Clark.
"Vacations, graduations..." ~ Ellen.
One or more of the following will occur:
- 5a. Ugly Christmas sweaters - Weirdly not covered (although the film doesn't make it to Christmas Morning.
- 5b. Pulling Santa's beard - No santa impersonators.
- 5c. Carolers are annoying - Fortunately, no carolers. There is patriotic singing at the end, though.
- 5d. Some kind of competition - Clark is in constant competition with the world.
- 5e. Mistletoe - No mistletoe.
RULE #6 - UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES
"I have never been treated like this in my life." Mr Shirley.
"I'm sorry. This is our family's first kidnapping." ~ Ellen.
The following simple things are difficult, often comically so:
- 6a. Putting Up Christmas lights - An recurring sequence of Clark's many adventures putting up the christmas lights. The film also begins with a sequence involving getting and putting a tree.
- 6b. Not walking out after a fight with family - Clark sneaks out
- 6c. Last minute gift purchasing - Does not occur, but by the end of the film probably necessary.
- 6d. Assembling Christmas gifts - Not shown.
- 6e. Cooking - Not shown, but Cousin Catherine does overcook the Turkey.
- 6f. Attempts to get home for Christmas - Does not occure.
- 6g. Even a getting and putting up a Christmas tree can lead to disaster - The film begins with a long sequence covering exactly this. It later burns and is replaced leading to a squirrel atack.
- 6h. Other - Failure to get family bonus, a long series of comedic incidents (getting locked in attic, cat fire, kidnapping, sewer explosion)
RULE #7 - RELIGION
"Before we begin since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas I think she should lead us in the saying of grace." ~ Clark.
"What, dear?" ~ Aunt Bethany.
"Grace!" Nora Griswold
"Grace? She passed away 30 years ago." ~ Aunt Bethany.
- 7a. Nativity/Little religion - No religion, except a reference to the Christmas star.
- 7b. Accept non-Christians into the celebration - Doesn't happen.
- 7c. An annoying overly religious person - Doesn't happen.
- 7d. Angels - Doesn't happen.
RULE #8 - ENDING
"Merry Christmas, Sparky." ~ Ellen.
"Merry Christmas, honey. I did it." ~ Clark.
At least one of the following will happen:
- 8a. Snow - There is a layer of snow throughout the film, not just the ending.
- 8b. Grump-No-More - Ellen's parents are possibly less grumpy, but Lewis's last line is still a grumpy one.
- 8c. Santa is Real - Cousin Eddie's kids think so, and the film ends with a flying lawn ornament.
- 8d. The Unexpected Extra Guest - Slightly with Clark's boss Frank Shirley. Although that does involve a kidnapping.
- 8e. Wisdom From an Unexpected Source - Clark's Christmas star revelation given his character.
- 8f. The Single Will Find Love - Doesn't happen.
RULE #9 - HAPPY ENDING
"It's the Christmas star. And that's all that matters tonight. Not bonuses or gifts or turkeys or trees. See, kids... It means something different to everybody. Now I know what it means to me." ~ Clark Griswald.
Will have a sickly sweet ending with a "The True Meaning of Christmas" message - especially:
- 9a. Family is the most important thing - This is mostly the plot throughout.
- 9b. Miracles are real - Almost goes there with the aurora and shooting star, but avoids it.
- 9c. It's the thought that counts - Under the surface throughout.
- 9d. Other - Christmas means something different to everyone, and although it's not clear what it means to Clark, he's finally worked out what it is (which seems like a parody of this idea.
RULE #10 - SEQUELS
'"Sometimes things look good on paper, but lose their luster when you see how it affects real folks." ~ Mr. Frank Shirley.
- 10a. No sequels - The third in a series of films. Some more films in the series, but it also has a direct, straight-to-DVD more sequel in 2003's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure" (the 5th film in the series, although more a spin-off than a sequel.)
- 10b. May be a sequel - As noted this is the 3rd film in the "National Lampoon's Vacation" series.
- 10c. Remake - No remake.
- 10d. Adaptation - An adaptation of John Hughes' short story "Christmas '59" which had been published in National Lampoon.
RESULTS
"By the way, I hope my report helped out at the trade show." ~ Clark.
"I'm sure it did, Grisball." ~ Mr Shirley.
- Followed in this film: 1; 3; 4; 6; 9.
- Partially followed in this film: 2; 5; 8; 10.
- Not followed in this film: 7.
~ DUG.
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