<Li> Natalia Nogulich as Helen Shirley </Li> <P> National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation originated from a short story by writer John Hughes called "Christmas' 59," which was published in the December 1980 issue of National Lampoon magazine . "The studio came to me and begged for another one, and I only agreed because I had a good story to base it on," said Hughes . "But those movies have become little more than Chevy Chase vehicles ." </P> <P> Principal photography began on March 27, 1989 in Summit County, Colorado, with footage shot in Silverthorne, Breckenridge, and Frisco . From there the production moved to Warner Bros. Studio Facilities in Burbank, California, where the set of the Griswold family's house is located . </P> <P> The musical score for National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was composed by Angelo Badalamenti . It is the only installment of the Vacation film series not to include Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road". In its place is a song entitled "Christmas Vacation" that was written for the movie by the husband - wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and performed by Mavis Staples of The Staple Singers fame . The song was covered in 2007 by High School Musical star Monique Coleman for the 2007 Christmas album Disney Channel Holiday . </P>

Where is national lampoon's christmas vacation filmed