National Lampoon's Vacation

Other mistake: During the scene when Clark is driving his family through the "rough part" of town in St. Louis, Clark asks his children if they are noticing all of the plight. Clark then makes the comment, "This will just make us appreciate what we have." A gunshot and a scream is heard, and Clark exclaims, "Roll 'em up!" A window is visible on Ellen's side of the car as she is rolling her window, up . But, there is no window on Clark's side of the car. Clark goes through the motions of rolling up his window, but . In actuality, he is rolling up nothing. Chevy Chase mentioned this during the cast commentary for the film. (00:13:50)

Other mistake: When Clark falls asleep at the wheel, right after the guy with the grocery bags moves out of the way, if you look closely in the driver's seat, you can see a man with his hands firmly on the wheel, fully awake. Right before this happens, the focus is on Clark sleeping.

Other mistake: When Clark and the gang force the security guard onto the "screaming meemy" roller coaster, it starts to roll with no-one operating the controls.

eaglegrad16

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Suggested correction: Every ride they ride would be a mistake as there was nobody to operate any of them.

lartaker1975

Other mistake: In the first gas station scene, Ellen directs Clark to the gas tank opening which Clark has thus far been unable to locate. Despite being a brand-new car, the inside of the gas tank lid is completely rusted.

KG Byrd

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Suggested correction: The car isn't brand-new. Clark ordered a new car, but it wasn't ready, so he was forced to buy the used station wagon, which was a 1979 model.

Bishop73

I don't recall any mention of either the specific car year or that the car is older, just that it's the wrong model.

KG Byrd

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.

More quotes from National Lampoon's Vacation
More trivia for National Lampoon's Vacation

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).

More questions & answers from National Lampoon's Vacation

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