Chevy Chase’s Favorite Line From ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ Is Unexpected
The popular holiday movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, is full of memorable lines. People are still quoting the comedy more than 30 years since it hit theaters. Ask any fan of the film to name their favorite line and chances are they’ll list off multiple giggle-inducing moments. And, yes, even the cast has their favorites.
‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ is part of a series
Christmas Vacation could be a stand-alone feature film but it’s actually one of a series. Before Chevy Chase played the role of a father who wanted to give his family a nice Christmas, he portrayed Clark Griswold in two other movies.
1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation kicked off the series. Chase played Clark alongside Beverly D’Angelo as his wife, Ellen Griswold. The two actors reprised their roles in National Lampoon’s European Vacation in 1985 before taking on the roles once again in 1989’s Christmas Vacation.
Chevy Chase’s favorite line from ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ isn’t popular
Chase sat down with some of his Christmas Vacation co-stars to discuss the film with Rolling Stone in 2015. At one point during the conversation, the former Saturday Night Live cast member shared his favorite line.
He said while watching parts of the movie with his wife, Jayni Chase, it occurred to him just how funny Christmas Vacation really is.
“I don’t watch it if it’s on TV, but just recently, my wife Jane was showing me some clips of it on her computer. I started realizing, hey — that was really funny! It bucked me up,” Chase said. “Do you know what my favorite line is?” he asked. “Have you checked our sh**ters, honey?”
The Emmy Award winner’s favorite line is one Clark delivers when he and Ellen see Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) in front of their house emptying the contents of his motor home’s toilet into the sewer. Eddie famously says, “Sh**ter’s full,” while wearing a bathrobe. It’s one of the movie’s most quoted lines that’s even inspired Halloween costumes.
His favorite parts of ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ are ‘little moments’
In the same interview, Chase talked about other moments that stood out to him in Christmas Vacation.
“The little moments are my favorite,” he said, before giving an example of a classic moment between Clark and Eddie.
“When Cousin Eddie’s dog goes under the tree and drinks the water, and Clark says ‘Stop that!’ And Randy, as Cousin Eddie, says, ‘Don’t worry, a little tree water won’t hurt him.’ Not at all concerned that I have to get under there and refill the water,” Chase said.
At the time of publication, Christmas Vacation isn’t streaming on Netflix. However, it is available to stream on Sling TV with a premium subscription.
