Saturday, January 15, 2022

Twenty Things About Movie 'Vacation'-- Part 4: An Empty Beer Can and John Candy

16.  During Clark and Rusty's father-son scene in which the two share a beer, the beer can is actually empty and the two have to pretend to take swigs from it.  Although Rusty takes a really, really big swig.

17.  In Hughes' original script, Clark snaps after arriving at Walley World and finding it closed and they drive to Roy Walley's home and kidnap him  and hold him and top executives hostage.  This did not play out well with test audiences so it was changed to where they  hijack the park with hapless security guard Lasky, John Candy as hostage and go on the rides.  (This is the first time I remember seeing John Candy.)

18.  Establishing shots of Walley World were created using matte paintings.

19.  The Walley World parking lot scene was filmed at Santa Anita race track in Arcadia, California.  It was more than 100 degrees during shooting.  Hall remembers actually trying to beat Chevy Chase in their race.

20.  The scenes inside the park were shot at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California.  The cast had to ride the  roller coasters so many times that the looks of nausea and fear on their faces was real.

--Cooter


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