This National Lampoon's Vacation trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the 1983 original from the Wagon Queen Family Truckster to the SWAT team at Walley World: the John Hughes short story it grew from, the studio that thought a road trip was too episodic, the Harold Ramis and Chevy Chase rewrite, Aunt Edna and Dinky, the girl in the red Ferrari, the ending that test audiences hated and the John Candy ending that replaced it, and why the park could not be called Disneyland. It also follows the Griswolds through the sequels: the game show that sent them to Europe, the Lambeth Bridge roundabout, Stonehenge, the Hoover Dam and Wayne Newton in Vegas, and the 2015 reboot with Ed Helms and an Albanian minivan. Christmas Vacation gets a couple of questions here and its own quiz elsewhere. The early questions are for anyone who can hum Holiday Road; the later ones are for people who know which coaster stood in for Walley World and how much the original ending cost the film's continuity. Every answer was checked against a reference source and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)?
Harold Ramis
Ramis and Chevy Chase rewrote Hughes's first draft to tell the story from the father's point of view instead of the son's. Ramis also voices Marty Moose's recorded message.
Q 02The screenplay was based on a John Hughes short story with what title?
Vacation '58
Hughes started it during the Chicago blizzard of 1979 for a vacation issue of National Lampoon; it was bumped and finally ran that September.
Q 03Which Paramount executive told producer Matty Simmons the story "would never make a movie" for being too episodic?
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Simmons replied that it was a road trip and supposed to be episodic. Warner Bros. executive Mark Canton eventually championed it.
Q 04How is Walley World billed on its signs and in Clark's plans?
America's Favorite Family Fun Park
It was Disneyland in Hughes's story; the name was changed to a sound-alike to avoid legal trouble, and mascot Marty Moose stands in for Mickey.
Q 05What is the name of the ugly, oversized car Clark is forced to buy for the trip?
The Wagon Queen Family Truckster
Eugene Levy's shady salesman had crushed Clark's trade-in. It is a modified 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire in 'metallic pea' green with eight headlights.
Q 06What colour is the Family Truckster's paint scheme called?
Metallic pea
Warner Bros. designed it with fake wood-panel decals, an oddly placed fuel door and an airbag made from a trash-can liner.
Q 07How many headlights does the Family Truckster have?
Eight
The second pair was taken from another Country Squire and mounted upside-down above the stock ones. The car was based on a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire.
Q 08Which future sitcom star plays Ed, the car salesman?
Eugene Levy
He claims Clark's ordered car will not be ready for six weeks. Brian Doyle-Murray plays the Kamp Komfort clerk and James Keach the motorcycle cop.
Q 09In which city are the Griswolds tagged by vandals after taking a wrong turn?
St. Louis
Later Clark aggravates a bartender in Dodge City, Kansas. St. Louis was one of the real filming locations.
Q 10What car does the beautiful blonde who keeps tantalising Clark drive?
A Ferrari 308 GTS
Christie Brinkley made her acting debut as the unnamed woman and reprised the role in Vegas Vacation, a DirecTV ad and The Goldbergs.
Q 11In which Kansas town do the Griswolds visit Cousin Eddie and Catherine?
Coolidge
Eddie is lazy and unemployed even then. The couple foist Aunt Edna and her dog on the Griswolds for delivery to Phoenix.
Q 12What is the name of Aunt Edna's mean dog?
Dinky
Clark forgets to untie the leash from the bumper when leaving a Colorado campground, and a motorcycle cop lectures him on cruelty to animals.
Q 13Which comedy legend plays Aunt Edna?
Imogene Coca
She was Sid Caesar's partner on Your Show of Shows. Edna is Ellen's maternal aunt, headed for her son Norman's house in Phoenix.
Q 21What is the name of the Walley World mascot voiced by the film's director?
Marty Moose
He is a nod to Mickey Mouse, just as the park parodies Disneyland. Ramis also voices an offscreen cop asking whether to book the family.
Q 22Which two California locations stood in for Walley World?
Santa Anita Park and Six Flags Magic Mountain
The racetrack's parking lot and blue fascia were the exterior; the coasters seen are La Revolución and the wooden Colossus.
Q 23The film's popularity gave rise to which nickname for Walmart?
Wally World
Q 14What do the Griswolds do with Aunt Edna after she dies in her sleep on the road?
Tie her to the roof and leave her at Norman's
She is wrapped in a tarpaulin, and since Norman is out of town they leave her with a note and an umbrella.
Q 15Near which landmark do the Griswolds crash and get stranded in the desert?
Monument Valley
Clark wanders off for help and gets lost, while a mechanic who is also the sheriff extorts the family's remaining cash.
Q 16At which Grand Canyon hotel does Clark raid the cash register when the concierge won't cash his cheque?
El Tovar
His credit cards had been reported lost along with Ellen's bag. He leaves the cheque behind the counter.
Q 17What do the Griswolds discover when they finally reach Walley World?
It is closed for two weeks of repairs
Clark buys a realistic BB gun and forces guard Russ Lasky to take them round, which brings a SWAT team.
Q 18Who plays Russ Lasky, the Walley World security guard Clark takes hostage?
John Candy
His scenes were shot months after the rest of the film as a replacement ending, by which time Anthony Michael Hall had visibly grown.
Q 19What did the original, test-screened ending of Vacation involve?
The Griswolds taking Roy Walley hostage
Audiences hated it, so the John Candy ending was filmed months later. The original has never been released in any format.
Q 20Which veteran actor plays park owner Roy Walley, who lets the family off?
Eddie Bracken
Walley remembers his own family vacation troubles and lets the Griswolds and the SWAT team enjoy the park. The name nods to Disney's brother Roy.
It is usually spelled without the 'e'. In Hughes's story the park had been Disneyland outright.
Q 24Which Fleetwood Mac member wrote and sang 'Holiday Road', the film's theme?
Lindsey Buckingham
It reached No. 82 on the Hot 100 and returned in European Vacation. Ralph Burns wrote the score.
Q 25Which punk band's 'Blitzkrieg Bop' appears on the Vacation soundtrack?
Ramones
The album also had Vanity 6, June Pointer and Nicolette Larson, and did not chart.
Q 26How long did filming of Vacation take after starting in Boone, Colorado, in July 1982?
55 days
Locations included Monument Valley, Flagstaff, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, southern Colorado and St. Louis, plus the racetrack and Magic Mountain in California.
Q 27How much did Vacation gross in the US against a roughly $15M budget?
About $61 million
It opened at No. 1 with $8.3 million in July 1983. Total Film readers later voted it the 46th greatest comedy of all time.
Q 28What CinemaScore grade did audiences give National Lampoon's Vacation on release?
C+
CinemaScore founder Ed Mintz said in 2016 he could never figure out why people did not love it more. It now sits at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Q 29Which future 30 Rock star plays Cousin Eddie's daughter Vicki?
Jane Krakowski
Harold Ramis's daughter Violet plays her sister Daisy Mabel, born without a tongue.
Q 30How many sequels followed the 1983 film, counting the 2015 reboot?
Five
European Vacation (1985), Christmas Vacation (1989), Vegas Vacation (1997), Christmas Vacation 2 (2003) and Vacation (2015).