Question: When Clark gives his boss a Christmas present, he is told to put it with all of the others. There are plenty of presents there, but they are all the same, as they have the exact same shape. What are these presents?
oldbaldyone
2nd Jan 2016
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Answer: I've seen them in stores, it's a desk pen set with a matching business card holder.
Chosen answer: We don't know what is in the packages, but we can assume they are all the same, small, generic gift.
Answer: I think that they could all be tape holders.
Answer: An idea someone mentioned helps resolve some of these "quirks" about the movie. Think of the movie as if Clark is retelling this story a long time in the future - maybe to his grandchildren. Same with the other Vacation movies - he is retelling the story from memory, and his memory sucks or is exaggerated. This explains why things that happen seem to be fantastic (the sledding, how goofy Eddie is, the children's age swapping around, how they got the tree, etc.). In the scene with the present for his boss, he is just remembering that everyone gave him a gift. He can't remember what they all looked like, so they all looked like his. It's also possible that everyone decided to get the same gift, I guess.
I know it's not your idea, but that is pretty deep for a Chevy Chase movie. It's simply that Clark isn't so special. He thought he was making a unique gesture to the big guy only to find out he was only one of a dozen or so—and obviously just as unoriginal as the rest.
11th Dec 2019
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Question: They show a large mountain range in the beginning scene. How far away did they drive to get that tree?
Answer: It's never stated in the film, but the assumption is it was a long trip. The kids' annoyed/bored attitude and the fact that Audry refers to them driving "all the way out here" indicate it was at least several hours.
Answer: I believe this movie is supposed to be similar to A Christmas Story, in that the events are being recounted by Clark at a later time. This would explain some of the more fantastical things that happen, such as the Christmas tree excursion events, the truck driver, driving under the truck, jumping off the snowbank, the blonde...etc. I remember someone saying that this justified why the kids seem to jump around in ages between films too...bad memory.
6th Nov 2016
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Question: What is the name of the Christmas Tree farm they went to to get their tree?
Answer: They didn't go to a Christmas tree farm. He took them to a huge forest to get one most likely because it would be easier to get one free then to pay for one.
They went to a tree farm. After running off the road and jumping the snowbank the wagon crashes through a sign that says "Trees." Clark then says, "We're here...and we made good time too." The humor is Clark forgoes a normal "farmed" tree for the "wild" monster he takes home.
False. They may have run over the tree farm sign, but they absolutely did not harvest a tree from the tree farm.
Answer: It was a tree farm (the car literally flies through a sign that says "Christmas Trees"). There's a deleted scene after they crash and walk to find a tree. Realizing that they didn't have a saw to cut the tree, the family walks to the lot attendant (an odd man, reclining in a lawn chair, wearing a Santa jacket and hat) to ask to borrow a saw. There is a conversation between them where Clark is told that they don't supply saws, but he gave him a shovel. THIS explains how the tree got dug out of the ground. You can actually see a picture of this scene on an old DVD cover.
Answer: They never went to a tree farm. Even though there is a sign that says "Trees", there is no employee there to greet them or even discuss how much the tress cost. Plus, trees on a tree farm are usually smaller and are always lined up in a row. The trees seen by the Griswold's are extremely large and are scattered about like what would be seen in a regular forest which is where they went.
They are never shown in the "store" area of the tree farm, so you can't say that there is nobody working there. They jump the snowbank, it shows them gathering themselves in the car, and the next scene is in the wilderness. It's a small, rundown tree farm, but it is a tree farm business, with a plowed parking lot, garbage cans, lights, other customers, etc. These tree farms usually had pre-cut trees for purchase, but you could also walk out and cut down your own for the "experience" if you wanted to. As someone who has walked a couple miles to get a Christmas tree in December in Minnesota, I can say with absolute certainty that this is accurate.
Answer: They are desk organizers.
I'm wondering maybe it was one of the gags in the movie where the boss got the same gift from all the employees. I know there's a lot of gags in the vacation movies.
movielove