During the holiday season, one of the most beloved Christmas movies is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The movie features a hilarious and chaotic family vacation that never goes according to plan.
In one memorable scene, the family’s Christmas tree catches on fire, leading to a disastrous chain of events. But how did the tree catch on fire in Christmas Vacation? Let’s take a closer look.
The Set-Up
The scene in question takes place towards the end of the movie, during the Griswold family’s big Christmas celebration. Clark Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) has spent hours decorating his house with thousands of twinkling Christmas lights and over-the-top decorations. As part of his festive display, Clark has chosen a massive tree that he has strapped to the roof of his car.
The Cause
As it turns out, Clark’s choice of tree may have been a bit too ambitious. The tree is so large that it blocks out most of the living room windows when they finally manage to bring it inside. However, that doesn’t stop Clark from covering it with even more lights and decorations.
As we see throughout the movie, Clark is constantly tinkering with his holiday decorations and trying to make them even more impressive. In this case, he decides to plug in an extension cord into a power strip that is already overloaded with other cords and plugs.
The Spark
Of course, we all know what happens when you plug too many things into one outlet: something is bound to short-circuit or overheat. In this case, it’s the extension cord that sparks and starts a small fire at the base of the tree.
At first, nobody notices anything wrong – after all, there are so many lights on the tree that it’s hard to tell if any are flickering or not. However, as smoke begins to fill up the room, the Griswold family starts to panic and evacuate.
The Fallout
Unfortunately, the damage has already been done. The tree, which is now completely ablaze, ignites all of the other decorations nearby and starts to spread throughout the house. In typical Clark Griswold fashion, he tries to put out the fire with a series of increasingly ridiculous methods – including a coat rack, a can of spray snow, and even his own saliva.
Eventually, the fire department arrives and puts out the blaze. But not before Clark’s house is left in shambles and his family’s Christmas celebration is ruined.
Conclusion
So there you have it – that’s how the tree caught on fire in Christmas Vacation. From an overloaded power strip to an unwieldy Christmas tree, everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong in this classic holiday movie scene. Despite its chaos and destruction, however, it remains one of the most memorable moments from one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time.