It's a Wonderful Christmas Vacation

The holidays are in full-swing. Classic movies embody the spirit of the season and many of us are already working our way down our watchlist, hot cocoa in hand. While a 2022 Statista survey ranks Home Alone (1990) as the most watched popular Christmas movie, different generations tend to have their own favorites.

For Baby Boomers, the news takes a 2hr 10 min hiatus for It's a Wonderful Life (1946), while Gen X and Millennials are likely to keep scrolling their Facebook feeds while watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989). From politics to avocado toast, these generations seem diametrically opposed in values, so it's no surprise that their movie choices also differ. However, despite the generational divide, the spirit of the two movies are linked.

Chevy Chase Doesn't Understand It

Fans have long noted the similarities between It's A Wonderful Life and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. However, Chevy Chase, who plays the protagonist Clark Griswold in Christmas Vacation, modestly explained in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone that he didn't understand why fans would compare the two movies. He simply doesn't think that Christmas Vacation deserves it. Chase calls James Stewart, the actor who stars as George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, "the greatest movie actor of all time."

"It’s very flattering and I suppose Christmas Vacation is a modern look at Christmas," Chase says. "But James Stewart, my God! What a movie. I could talk about that one all day.”

Despite what Chase says, there are some eerie similarities

While Christmas Vacation romps with chaotic squirrels, kitten chow jello molds, and foul mental breakdowns, It's a Wonderful Life thrives on wholesome values. Surprisingly, these films share the same theme: the protagonists hold high expectations that they can't reach, but in the process of trying and failing, they re-discover what makes life worth living and the season worth celebrating. From production to plot, here are a few things It's a Wonderful Life shares in common with Christmas Vacation:

1. The Capra family directed both movies. Frank Capra directed It's a Wonderful Life and his grandson, Frank Capra III, served as the second assistant director on Christmas Vacation.
2. George Bailey and Clark Griswold hold high personal expectations they fail to meet. When Clark decides he wants a "good old fashioned family Christmas" with all of his extended relatives in the house (minus Cousin Eddie, who shows up uninvited), his wife, Ellen, gently cautions him that reality won't resemble what he envisions. "You set expectations no one can live up to," she warns. George Bailey's life also looks different from how he imagined it. Initially he declares he will never marry so he can travel the world and remain free. However, not only does he marry Mary, they also have "so many kids."
3. The movies aren't centered on Christmas Day. Unlike most holiday movies which tend to culminate on Christmas Day, Christmas Vacation ends on Christmas Eve night while It's a Wonderful Life ends early Christmas morning.
4. Both villains hold their victims in a financial stranglehold that precipitates their mental collapse. George Bailey's nemesis, Mr. Potter, holds the keys to the town of Bedford Falls and the $8,000 that George's uncle accidentally lost in a newspaper. When the money goes missing, so does the rest of George's ambition and good sense. Similarly, Clark's boss, Frank Shirley, withholds the customary Christmas bonus checks without telling his employees and enrolls them in a "Jelly of the Month" club instead. Clark finds out on Christmas Eve, right after he announces he has over-drafted his bank account to pay for an in-ground pool. He is now deep in the hole — and the eggnog — which leads to his comedic mental breakdown in front of the entire family.
5. Clark Griswold pays a nod to the newel cap. In It's a Wonderful Life, the loose newel cap on the banister symbolically shows that Bailey feels his life is falling apart and out of control. In the end, however, he kisses the newel post in newfound appreciation for his life despite the chaos. Clark faces his loose newel cap with a manic grin and a chainsaw. Lobbing it off, he yells down the stairs, "Fixed the newel post!"
6. Clarence and Cousin Eddie serve the same purpose. A "balding angel," Clarence is on a mission to save George Bailey's life and to finally earn his angel wings. Cousin Eddie is simply in search of a place to park his RV until March. In the process, both characters show the protagonists that they don't truly desire the Christmas wishes they breathed out of despair following their breakdowns: George Bailey doesn't really wish he'd never been born, and Clark doesn't literally want someone to bring his boss to his house with a "big ribbon on his head." Both characters must get what they asked for in order to learn their lessons, and Clarence and Cousin Eddie deliver these "gifts."
7. It's A Wonderful Life plays on the TV in Christmas Vacation. "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings." These lines innocently chime on the TV while the doorbell tolls, ominously announcing the arrival of the extended family.

In the end, a reinstated Christmas bonus check and the kindness of George Bailey's friends and neighbors rescues the characters from financial doom. Although their lives don't look exactly as they hoped, the protagonists conclude that they live a wonderful life with their families who care about them.