Christmas Vacation Lights Scene HD SFW

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Lights Scene, edited in a 3 minutes safe-for-work clip

[@coolsnake1134]

As an electrician this is one of my favorite holiday movie scenes, especially with how absurd it is, for example he says there is 25,000 lights in his set up, each of those is a type C7 5W incandescent bulb. If we use ohms law we can determine that with the regular 120 V power that that garage outlet is out putting that set up is consuming 1145 amps of electricity, avrage total electrical capacity for a single-family residential home is usually 200 A. any 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker would see that insane amount of current as a dead short and instantly trip and even if nothing in the panel trips because for example it’s a defective breaker The fuse on the primary side of the utility company transformer would instantly blow and the whole neighborhood would go dark and putting on that auxiliary nuclear reactor would not restore power.

[@ocsrc]

If they were using the 1 watt led bulbs, 250 per strand, it would require 200 amps. The most unbelievable part of this is that they have all of the couplers combining all the strands on 1 outlet. In 1983 I tried hooking up 6 strands to 1 outlet using the coupler style plugs. I did not realize that each strand drew 500 watts and combined I was pulling 3000 watts on a 15 amp circuit. Now, because they had flashers and because of something else that I still have not figured out, the breaker never tripped. Instead the lights began to flicker and I heard this awful buzzing sound that got louder and louder. I ran inside and pulled the plugs out of the outlet, which had burn marks on the plug. It was very scary. I learned never to do that again That was the same year that I tested the old style 1950s big bulbs with the strand laying across my brand new leather couch. I started to smell something burning and then saw the couch smoking. It was a very very bad Christmas

[@MusicAsWeMakeIt]

I worked for a utility and tried explaining to my family that if the circuit didn't fry, the rest is fairly accurate. LOL

[@MusicAsWeMakeIt]

​@@ocsrcLMFAO 😅😅😅😅😅

[@Theshark15z]

Well in those days I think most houses were wired with 16 gauge, however it would be possible with 10 maybe 12g to get it going and also using a larger breaker. That is the theory. Electricity flow weakens in lower temperatures, so that another factor to consider.

[@brahmansam]

When I was a kid, my parents bought a chandelier for their bedroom. It had 6 100 watts light bulbs and a mirror that went on the ceiling. When they turned it on for the 1st time, the whole room went white, we couldn't see anything. Half blind, we all teared up from laughing as we remembered this scene 🤣

[@rinraiden]

Your parents had a mirror on the ceiling? 😏

[@Uncle_Frank]

Amazing story, bless you 🎄

[@Lucidleo-li8yu]

Ellen was the most patient woman on the face of the planet!!!

[@ammar_chan744]

T)Z fyi xxx mmm?I mmm u lol I'm jus o l, I?

[@Ih8kone]

And all she had to do was flip that magic switch.

[@yarpen26]

Seriously, she's dynamite... never took note of it pre-puberty though.

[@spartancupseries6887]

And then there’s Clark…

[@evatasker7069]

I love the most her beautiful blonde hair

[@JohnSmith-qn3ob]

I love how the whole town goes dark before the aux power gets turned on

[@jeremytung1632]

They didn’t even spell auxiliary right.

[@drpinky504]

Good thing his lights don't really take that much juice, or they would have a fire or at least popped a breaker with all the things he has plugged in together in one outlet.

[@vols939]

@@drpinky504 my dad did this about 18 years ago if anything was on besides the lights the breaker would trip

[@Neville60001]

You've got to love nuclear power.

[@melbartlett5568]

Lol all of Chicago

[@evankrosney6759]

The cut to the electric meter spinning after the lights go on gets me every year lol

[@johnfoltz8183]

Electric company be like: write this down. Write it all down

[@ryans413]

The city’s power plant having to go to the auxiliary power lol

[@JohnAvengerJR1985]

I feel the power of Christmas through that fantastic music.

[@SeyhawksNow]

O Come All Ye Faithful sounds better in this scene than Hallalujah

[@johnavenger]

I still do.Man this scene has aged so well.

[@mr.dracula577]

Me too friend, me too

[@HunterMagunter]

Movie never gets old, makes me so warm and fuzzy

[@SMFCNA]

I like how the nuclear power plant effect is simply a guy in a work shirt working a modified fuse-box with a nuclear symbol on it, probably the cheapest effect or shot in the movie, but it adds so much. It was my favorite part as a kid, I'd rewatch the scene over and over just for that lol.

[@mirkwoodphotography2089]

Same here

[@jeremytung1632]

And the fact that they apparently don’t know how to spell auxiliary.

[@sroevukasroevuka]

Homer simpson

[@WolfBardeaux]

Same 😂

[@deadmeatjb]

​@@mirkwoodphotography2089 its why im here, such a funny gag

[@SteadyEddie1983]

Electric Company: Exactly HOW HIGH did you want your bill to be?! Clark Griswold: YES

[@jaimeeckert4885]

Can we all take a moment to honor that electrical outlet?

[@stevesestrich5143]

And the nuclear power plant workers serving on Christmas Eve.

[@drpinky504]

Rumor has it they had to replace the outlet after Christmas.

[@RGMerkel]

That is a 5000 amp outlet

[@Ih8kone]

​@@stevesestrich5143That scene didn't take place on Christmas Eve.

[@jacksonwhite366]

It would literally destroy the circuit breaker. Imagine Las Vegas plugging up all the lights onto your 12 v in your car.

[@thegreatforgedandysteel5857]

Perhaps one of the most iconic sequences in cinematic history

[@hightower6620]

Merry Christmas 2021🤣🎄☃️

[@Alexiosftw]

Clark being completely oblivious to the first time the lights came on always gets me along with the electric meter going crazy. This reminds me of the time I managed to trip two 30A breakers for the garage and all the lights in the yard went dark and so did the lights in the garage

[@justinratcliffe947]

Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin and Michael Faraday would've loved this movie

[@alex_harnar_618]

(0:12 - 0:44) (1:11 -1:32) That has to be the most, joyful, epic, powerful, and god-like rendition of the song: ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ I’ve ever heard in my life! It gives me chills every time I listen to it when this part happens in the movie. It legit sounds like something that would be played when the world is free from all troubles, when doctors find the cure for cancer and/or the COVID-19 pandemic. 😎👌❄️🌹👏👏👏🌹❄️👌😎

[@johnavenger]

This and the scene in Home alone 2 with the same music i get chills and no its not the cold weather.

[@mrflipperinvader7922]

David Lynch's composer

[@elevatingnc32]

This scene always cracks me up every year.

[@willsco76]

"Is your house on fire Clark" - Aunt Bethany

[@markmac2206]

dont throw me down Clark

[@allenrogers6979]

Is this the airport clark

[@xroyalprincessx2318]

No bethany those are Christmas lights Clark Griswold

[@xroyalprincessx2318]

@@markmac2206 I'll try not to Aunt Bethany Clark Griswold

[@xroyalprincessx2318]

@@allenrogers6979 Clark Griswold we're here

[@leeh6317]

I love how excited The family gets and hugs Clark and the looks on his parents faces! Makes me feel warm!

[@bigredchevytruck]

I love how Todd falls down the stairs and nearly breaks his neck because he was blinded by the lights. Yet, she's crying about her carpet. Shows just how selfish Margo is that she cares more about her stained carpet than her husband's concussion! LOL!

[@SFAPowerhouse]

Yep.... I love to hate them.

[@RobertMorgan]

Today with LEDs one could make it 3x brighter for half the energy lol

[@drl5002]

you would need 6x's the lights.

[@asw853]

@@drl5002 No, you wouldn't. [This is long, TL;DR at end]. OP has made the assumption that they are using traditional filament bulbs, which use 10x as much energy to produce the same amount of light as an LED. Therefore, to straight swap everything - keep everything exactly the same, same size, same number of bulbs in each string, same number of strings, etc., etc., - would produce the same amount of light with the same amount of light sets, using 1/10 as much power. OP wants it three times brighter using half the energy. Let's just assume, for arguments sake, he puts up three times as many strings to achieve this. This would produce 3x light, at 3/10 (0.3) power. OP reckons half power, so he is right, but you can do so much better than half the power. TL;DR: Three times as many lights would more than achieve this.

[@ddthewolf]

He's the reason they were invented! Lol

[@DJBSharpMusic]

Clark would still find a way to overload the grid.

[@METALMAN4Wii]

Man their electric bill.

[@Ih8kone]

Some people generate their own electricity using solar panels.

[@ryans413]

Use LEDs lol

[@Streetzisdeathrow]

@@Ih8kone ok... but the Griswold's clearly didn't or do you not know what a solar panel looks like?

[@saturninhabitant]

@@Ih8kone it was 1989 so they didn't have LEDs or solar panels.

[@Ih8kone]

@@saturninhabitant They had solar energy but I don't think they had LEDs.

[@klausbaumann9293]

I love this movie... Every Christmas eve,sit back with a bunch of munchies and enjoy the movie..

[@Brandon2940]

Best way to enjoy it

[@G0ZERIAN]

Always loved how at 1:21 even Clark's mom grabs her scarf all annoyed at him calling them to come out haha

[@KristerAndersson-nc8zo]

Luckily they had a nuclear reactor standing by.

[@shadowkid7409]

Had a similar experience with a new router. Guy installed it into an outlet running into a switch. Took us 2 days to figure out why the WiFi kept shutting off until just now and I remembered this scene

[@kennywohl1061]

This part and the Beginning where the family is driving and gets stuck under the semi are my favorite scenes

[@thepickingprofessor3291]

Thank you for creating this SFW version. I'm using it with my Energy & Power class for a Watt's law question. A single C7 bulb is about 5 watts, and there's supposed to be 25,000 of them. Calculate the amperage draw. :) I'm also going to bore them with the trivia that Rusty in the movie went on to star as Leonard in Big Bang Theory, and Aunt Bethany was the voice of the original animated Betty Boop.

[@dfa3366]

Ah. That’s why Elaine moved to NYC. The Griswalds.

[@Jordaysha2023]

Wow! The Christmas Lights are really bright and beautiful! ❤ 😍

[@jordanharris903]

They skipped the best part ..when he flips out and breaks the antlers off the reindeer decorations and punches and kicks the Santa in the air 😂

[@nathandunlap6957]

Jordan Harris lol los angels Rams massage bord learn how to call your defense a perfect massage

[@emilybonilla2462]

omg you are so right

[@claird4307]

Chevy actually broke his pinky toe when he kicked the Santa and kept going on with the scene.

[@69A12SuperBee]

It’s KZbin’s new algorithms that filters out violence. No longer can you show any violent acts against blow molded plastic figurines.Yet, it’s perfectly acceptable to flood social media with virtue signaling SJW transgender drag-queen story telling feminazi flamers in unicorn thongs showing us how to act when ordering a three piece wing sandwich at the nearest ghetto Chic-fil-a.

[@SeansModelBuilds]

@@69A12SuperBee Somebody sounds bitter.

[@Jo281266]

This christmas film is absolut Legend , the best ever!

[@alexanderkeenan7578]

I like to watch it every Christmas.

[@billybassman21]

Love the sound the first time the lights turn on.

[@prairiestrong1106]

Beverly at her hottest. Such a knockout.

[@charlesrobison6962]

I AGREE!! SHE IS SO GORGEOUS!!

[@2013venjix]

Clark and Ellen will have the best christmas when they see the electric bill.

[@Ih8kone]

Which is why some people generate their own electricity using windmills and solar panels.

[@Streetzisdeathrow]

@@Ih8kone oh shit your right! i totally didn't see Clarks Giant Windmill full of solar panels ontop of his roof, they really didnt pay a dime! ... you really are fuckin special if u wanna be serious, its a fictional movie they didn't pay a dime even if they used all the electricity in the universe to power the lights rofl

[@Ih8kone]

@@Streetzisdeathrow I'm just saying.

[@SMFCNA]

They will be too distracted with their children radically changing appearance again to care that much.

[@electron2601]

25000 mini lights x 0.45 watts = 11250 watts which would be roughly 141$ if lit 4 hours a day for 21 dsys.

[@aemiliacarolphonetube9749]

The music is nostalgic.

[@JoeyMartz]

poor Todd and Margo.

[@CursedSouthwest]

I did some math. This if there was 25000 lights at 7Watts each and 120Volts. 1400ampa

[@imnotdone3813]

The neighbors just added some lights to the front of their house, I start laughing every time they come on. Had to find this clip to explain to my daughter ( 9year old) why the uncontrollable laughter!🤣🤣🤣

[@Butcherbuilt]

2:05 Clark does his best Roscoe P Coltrane!!!

[@iandoe8793]

2:35 Margo: Oh (wailing fast) oh my carpet😭😭

[@ClownTrader1]

Its a Christmas miracle!

[@89sigma43]

I really have to give points for Clark’s dedication to making a great Christmas. Sure, he has had hiccups, but he pulled through.

[@BuShips]

I love this! It’s the best! Merry Christmas everyone!

[@nitinbhakta4787]

This classic comedy has become my favorite Christmas movie.

[@janetalegnani5264]

So could watch a million times may have thank you

[@paulymac5513]

That's me finally figuring out what part to fix in my car that's been causing the power to cut off and on for years that my mechanic and the manufacturer couldn't figure out either.

[@guessowii]

Sparks flying out of the plug was such a awesome effect! you did it clark

[@Rypie89]

Great scene. So sad they phased out those analog meters. Bugs me till this day they didn't have the disk spinning while the hands were spinning fast.

[@davidwaddington7718]

Best Xmas vacation film ever chevy chase best comidian ever 🎄🎄🎄🎄👍👍👍👍👍

[@shanerob5414]

As an electrician... I can greatly appreciate this moment. K.I.S.S.

[@lianasoares8052]

The way he moves the cords at 1:55. LOL!

[@jaynehaught9715]

So so funny I love it a classic....Merry Christmas...

[@RollTide1987]

I just love that scene in Todd and Margot's house when the lights first come on. It's like Trinity just went off next door.

[@elisa9038]

So spectacular

[@ScubaSteveM45]

The ☢️plant having to flip on the 2nd reactor really made this scene even more hilarious

[@Anthony_in_Bloomington_Indiana]

Erik, you did an excellent job with editing! As British cricket players like to say, "Well bowled, Sir!"

[@purplegirl1010100]

That's really pretty Clark. It must have taken weeks to complete.

[@W.Stryker]

This is part of the reason my dad never puts up Christmas lights.

[@sannox01]

This is the part of the reason I do :-)

[@markmac2206]

this happens to me every freakin time i put them up.

[@BBarker34]

2:05. What constipation sounds like.

[@BBarker34]

WeeItsNookies 🤣🤣🤣

[@zennvirus7980]

This is the scene that gave birth to that Happy Tree Friends episode where Lumpy melts the town with his Xmas lights.

[@bamaslamma1003]

Clark: 250 strands of lights. 100 individual bulbs per strand for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights. The light strings use C7 lamps (5 watt) Each strand uses 500 watts apiece (5 watts per lamp x 100 lamps) 250 strands x 500 watts per strand equals 125,000 watts total. 125,000 watts / 120 volts equals 1041.67 amps. Assuming the house has a 200 amp service, this draws over 5 times the amperage rating of the service and overloads the transformer on the pole. In reality it never would turn on. A 15 or 20 amp breaker would see the ridiculous amount of current as a dead short and trip instantly. Ol Clark had a knack for overdoing things. Lol.

[@jasminnemcdonald94A]

His electricity bill has went over budget. Gone through the roof.

[@coolsnake1134]

If its a federal pacific panel it would turn on but then the wiring would overheat and the house would burn down because those breakers never trip when they’re supposed to or the breaker wouldn’t trip but it would blow the fuse on the pole transformer

[@aemiliacarolphonetube9749]

My favorite part of the movie.

[@TropicBreezeRealty]

“250 stands of lights, 100 individual bulbs per strand, for a grand total of 25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights.”

[@vsgfilmgroup]

They're not twinkling, Clark.

[@AkanePolandHetalia]

❤ My and my father favorite scene ;)

[@mr.dracula577]

I cried every time it plays O come all ye Faithful

[@lynnlegault9297]

Classic

[@kyra3782]

I love this movie😂😂😂😂

[@SFAPowerhouse]

Who else, besides me, loves seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus suffer, even in character?

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Elaine certainly couldn't escape the madness moving out to suburbia. She got Clark Griswold to deal with instead of Kramer

[@hugolaranjo1745]

Chevy Chase will Always be the best, fiction, father of all times.

[@ToyotaTrucks9]

Auxiliary nuclear😂😂😂

[@erickarobbins4397]

Clark's facial expression remind's of shrek and donkey when there at Duloc watching those toys sing

[@1993Nautilus]

:12 when your phone goes from night brightness to day and you're not expecting it.

[@nitro7552]

2:05 “GRUGHHHH DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!”

[@alanmartinez2688]

classic scene, lol

[@noslipgrip89]

Who in the world has an auxiliary nuclear power switch that actually goes AHWOOOOOGA AHWOOOOOOGA on their house?? So hilarious!!

[@TheCarson116]

Couple things: #1: The implication is that the lights on the Griswold's house draw so much power (thus making the rest of the neighborhood go dark as shown) the nearby power plant has to turn on their "Auxiliary Nuclear" (misspelled if you look closely) switch to get the power up to acceptable levels again, thus said switch is at the plant & not the Griswold's house. #2: The "AWOOGA" you hear is an alarm at the power plant, most likely notifying personnel about the dangerously low power output thanks to the Griswold's lights. The alarm is also separate from the switch (in a sense at least: it's most likely not built into the switch but as demonstrated it stops sounding when the switch is flipped & power is restored to acceptable levels).

[@annieallenjones1599]

I like when Clark connects the plug

[@MCDreng]

0:27 Eddie's RV is already in the driveway even though he hasn't been on screen yet. Good detail!

[@tichondriusstormrage]

the whole scene is iconic, but for my money, 2:04 is one of the greatest comedic moments in film of all time xD every muscle is working at max capacity as, in his rage, he tries to force the lights on with sheer willpower alone. then, when it works, the visible shock he has as his eyes go wide and the subsequent difficulty he has comprehending the glory and the beauty of it all, with the hallelujahs in the background xDDD so god damn funny, i freaking love this movie!!

[@matthewslimm8632]

my MY thanks! THANKS! ;-O ;-) ;->

[@nicktroisi6347]

2:36 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@smalltownplaya712]

The last 10 seconds, the house is 95% covered in lights lmao. Watched this movie 100 times, so funny how overboard he went lmao.

[@MGMVE]

How much of a bill that Clark could have run with those lights?

[@jacobdimock9191]

Why is this movie so good!

[@SHS854EVER]

Love this scene and the best part is when the guy falls down the stairs Lol

[@staffsemergresp]

best christmas movie

[@jermar1979]

GOAT!

[@tarapelcher3102]

0:42 i❤ this part

[@MrPackers2012]

I think the funniest part of this scene is Todd and Margo!

[@MedusaLaila]

Love it! ❤😅😂

[@davidbutler1857]

I like how the only people that Clark is actually better than in this film are his cousin Eddie and the uppity neighbors.

[@SMFCNA]

What are you taking about, Clark's like a worse of both worlds between the yuppies and the rural rubes. His neighbors share Clark's judgemental and petty streak, but they also have talent and money and good jobs. Clark does vague things at his work, like he has a B.S. job. Realistically, if you lived next to Clark, you'd probably hate him too. Dude's schemes backfire all the time. Clark's probably a lot like Chevy Chase in real life, a complete asshole if you slightly annoy him. Clark is arguable about as dumb but much more experienced than Eddie, but Eddie is much more pure of heart and only wrongs people only because he is an oaf. Eddie also apparently stormed a rich man's castle, successfully executed a hostage taking with zero violence, and avoided a law enforcement dragnet in a major metropolitan city for about an hour. I don't think Clark's every remotely done anything that compliant, see above for arguably his life's greatest achievement.

[@davidbutler1857]

@@SMFCNA I cannot agree with this analysis. Clark is depicted as actually a pretty competent high level executive who even had a new product he led the creation of which tells me he’s got some science or technology background but back home he’s just a bumbling dad who isn’t really any good at home projects because he’s never got the time to get any experience and he’s probably working so much that he tries too hard to be the fun guy around his family by overcompensating with over the top endeavors. His yuppie neighbors are just prototypical and there purely for people to dislike because they probably have flashy jobs but likely aren’t actually any good at them and get by with their type Asshole personalities

[@lovebird08]

Clarke W Griswold having a fun old fashioned family christmas

[@devanmoran]

Classic scene

[@HorrorSquad]

Yeah, but the little lights are not twinkling!

[@tyhillbroussard4924]

“Twenty five thousand twinkle lights😒”

[@peatier7626]

2:34 a true karen, her man just fell down the stairs and all she can think of is.......

[@RB01.10]

Long before “Karen” was a thing.

[@moneylover318]

We should call Karen's margos

[@petergrima9756]

Back when people could afford electricity and Christmas felt like Christmas

[@Lue_Jonin]

LOL 😱 Frikking Griswolds 👍

[@Mrvwcc11]

For those who are upset about the Santa scene being cut out. I can fix that for you I just bought this movie this week so just let me know when to post it and I’ll do it ASAP. Consider it a Christmas gift from me to you KZbin. Hence my name Mr. Problem Solver. Solving problems so you don’t have to. You’re welcome. 😁

[@julieankhan.2801]

Do it!!!

[@Mrvwcc11]

JulieAnkha N. You got it.

[@marksnexus]

Those light ain’t twinkling…. ✨

[@62202ify]

He went berserk on those decorations, 1st time I saw this I was a kid, I lost it there. 😅 🤣