What Was in the Jello in Christmas Vacation?

By Anna Duncan

If you’re a fan of the classic Christmas movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, you might have found yourself wondering, “What was in the Jello?” during the infamous dinner scene. Well, we did some digging and here’s what we found.

Firstly, let’s set the scene. Clark Griswold (played by Chevy Chase) is determined to have a perfect family Christmas.

He invites his extended family over for a big holiday dinner and his wife Ellen (played by Beverly D’Angelo) prepares an elaborate meal. However, things quickly start to go wrong as the turkey is overcooked and dry, the cat gets electrocuted and the Jello dish turns out to be a mystery.

Now back to the question at hand – what was in that Jello? In one of the most memorable scenes from this holiday classic, Ellen brings out a bright green Jello mold with what appears to be cat food mixed in it.

The family looks on in horror as Uncle Lewis (played by William Hickey) exclaims “If I had a rubber hose, I would beat you! “.

But fear not – there was no actual cat food used in the making of that Jello mold. According to screenwriter John Hughes’ DVD commentary for Christmas Vacation, they used lime Jello with some added green food coloring to make it brighter and more vibrant on camera. The chunks in the Jello were actually bits of pineapple.

So why did it look so unappetizing? Well, according to director Jeremiah S. Chechik’s commentary on DVD extra features for Christmas Vacation: “I thought that one of those things that people would always remember is this disgusting looking green jello with pieces of cat food.” The intention was to create a comedic moment and clearly it worked!

In conclusion, there was no actual cat food used in that infamous Jello mold from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The chunks were pineapple and the green color was achieved with food coloring. It may have looked unappetizing, but it certainly made for a memorable moment in the movie.