There are so many things we love about the holidays, and most of them are things that have become traditions, like decorating the Christmas tree, driving around looking at Christmas lights and watching Christmas movies.

Sure, we definitely get our fill of Hallmark Christmas movies, but that doesn’t mean that we ignore the classics. One of our favorites is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. 

In case you haven’t seen it (how is that possible?), the hilarious movie stars Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold. He simply wants to have the perfect family Christmas at his house, but nothing seems to turn out as he planned it. As the movie goes on, it just gets funnier and funnier. Especially if you love slapstick humor, you’re in for a treat.

This year, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The holiday classic was first released in theaters on December 1, 1989.

While the movie is over-the-top in so many ways, there are also so many things about it that we relate to, so it’s not too surprising that it’s such a hit. For example, we can all relate to the stress of celebrating the holidays with the in-laws, and everyone has a weird uncle; although, hopefully not quite like Eddie.

If you’re into over-the-top Christmas decorating a la Clark Griswold, you can celebrate the movie’s anniversary with several show-stopping Christmas decorations for your yard, like a station wagon with a tree strapped to the roof and a snow globe that actually plays scenes from the movie.

If you’d rather watch the whole movie instead of just clips of it in an inflatable snow globe, you can do that too. Sure, you probably already own it on blu-ray or DVD, but that doesn’t make seeing it on the big screen any less magical.

This year you can feel like you’re traveling back in time to 1989 when you visit your local AMC theater to watch a special one-week only theatrical rerelease of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

According to AMC’s website, “At select locations, on Thursday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m. (local time) fans can be among the first to see National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation back in theatres for it’s 30th Anniversary and receive an AMC exclusive gift of an ornament to hang on your tree.”

The movie will continue to run at AMC theaters December 6th – 12th. You can find a local AMC theater that will be participating in this festive event by clicking here.

What’s your favorite Christmas movie? Are you excited to see National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on the big screen?