Selig Film News

This morning, to celebrate the anniversary of the 1989 release of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an officially licensed collection of three National Lampoon’s Christmas Bobbleheads featuring the Station Wagon, RV, and Squirrel. All three played prominent roles in the slapstick comedy that debuted on December 1, 1989. These mark the first bobbleheads of the National Lampoon’s Christmas Station Wagon, RV, and Squirrel. The special edition bobble is being produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, an official licensee of National Lampoons.

With classic wood paneling, which was popular at the time, the bobble is a replica of the Griswold family’s 1989 station wagon. It features a large Christmas tree tied to the roof of the vehicle. The bobbles, which are individually numbered to 1,989, are available exclusively through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. Expected to ship in May, the bobbleheads cost $35 each or $100 for the set of three, plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.

Many people remember the boxy, wood-paneled, green 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon (aka the “Wagon Queen Family Truckster”) from “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” but the Griswold family switched out vehicles for “Christmas Vacation.” There were two cars made for the movie – a 1988 model and a 1989 model. The car’s wood paneling was custom-made for the film, an homage to the original Family Truckster’s wood paneling. Over the years, fans have created replicas of the car for holiday events and parades.
One of the most memorable scenes involving the 1989 Ford Taurus Wagon is when Clark Griswold drives the family to cut down the perfect evergreen in the snow-covered countryside. The gigantic tree was later strapped to the roof of the car with the roots still attached. In an earlier scene, Clark gets into a road competition with the driver of a pickup truck in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Clark gets the car stuck under a logging trailer, leaving him no choice but to veer the car off the road and jump hundreds of feet after launching his family over a snowbank. The car crashes into a sign that reads “TREES” at a tree farm.

The Christmas squirrel scene is one of the film’s most memorable and chaotic moments. When the Griswold family brings their freshly cut Christmas tree indoors, they unknowingly bring along a stowaway squirrel hiding in its branches. Once the tree warms up inside the house, the startled squirrel emerges and proceeds to wreak absolute havoc, leaping wildly around the living room, climbing up curtains, and causing the family to scatter in panic. The scene escalates hilariously when the family dog and cat join the chase, turning the carefully decorated room into a disaster zone. Clark Griswold’s bumbling attempts to catch the creature only make things worse, perfectly capturing the film’s theme of well-intentioned holiday plans gone spectacularly wrong. This slapstick sequence has become an iconic representation of the unpredictable chaos that can strike even the most carefully planned family Christmas celebrations, and it remains a favorite clip that gets shared every holiday season.

In the movie, Cousin Eddie and his family arrive at the Griswold home in a dilapidated RV that perfectly embodies their down-on-their-luck lifestyle. The battered motorhome parks uninvited in Clark’s driveway, and Eddie proceeds to empty its sewage tank directly into the street storm drain in one of the film’s most memorable (and revolting) scenes. The decrepit RV serves as both transportation and temporary housing for Eddie, his wife Catherine, their kids, and their Rottweiler Snots. The vehicle is a visual representation of Eddie’s financial struggles and oblivious lack of social graces—he and his family essentially move into the Griswolds’ home while keeping the RV parked outside as a constant reminder of their unwelcome extended stay. Later in the film, when Clark finally receives his long-awaited Christmas bonus, which turns out to be a jelly-of-the-month club membership instead of cash, his subsequent meltdown leads to Eddie kidnapping Clark’s boss in the RV to bring him to the Griswold house to make things right. The ramshackle motorhome has become as iconic to the film as the squirrel scene or the overloaded Christmas lights, symbolizing the unpredictable relatives who crash holiday celebrations everywhere.

“We’re thrilled to team up with National Lampoon’s to unveil the first bobbleheads of the station wagon, squirrel, and RV on the anniversary of the iconic movie,’” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “We’ve put a lot of work into these bobbleheads and think fans are going to love them!”