The Best Road Trip Movies
Best Road Trip Movies! More Than Just Parks is going to give you it’s list of ten terrific road trip films. We’re also going to go behind the scenes with some interesting information and fascinating stories about each of these movies.
And, most importantly, we’re going to share some of the amazing locations where these films were made. Hopefully, we’ll give you some great travel ideas in the process.
Spoiler Alert: We’re More Than Just Parks so some of our best loved national parks played cameo roles in some of the films on our list. That being said, we’re also going to share some exciting non-park destinations too. Think of it as More Than Just Parks Plus.
Now that you’re excited, let’s have a drumroll please as we give you our list of 10 amazing road trip films.
1. Around The World In 80 Days
We begin with a film that includes every mode of travel except the airplane, but that doesn’t mean our heroes aren’t airborne at some point on their incredible journey. It’s a “road trip,” but only if you’re willing to use your imagination when it comes to the word “road.”
That having been said, who doesn’t love a good film based on a great book. Around the World in Eighty Days is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne. It was first published in 1872, but people have been reading it ever since.
In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet, Passepartout, attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days to win a wager of £20,000 set by his friends at the Reform Club.
In 1956, Hollywood made this story into a blockbuster film starring David Niven and an All-Star Supporting Cast. Of course, Hollywood is notorious for using its “movie magic” to make you think that what’s happening on a sound stage is actually what’s happening in the real world. Around the World in 80 Days was no exception.
The film used one hundred forty sets built at six Hollywood studios, as well as sets in England, Hong Kong, and Japan. It also set several records. The cast and crew flew over four million miles. Casting included 68,894 extras in thirteen countries. And, when it comes to clothes, 74,685 costumes were designed, made or rented for this movie. Imagine how many suitcases that would fill!
This Film Truly Went Around The World
When it comes to the best travel movies, this film is no slouch. Locations included: Paris, France; New Mexico, USA; Durango, Colorado, USA; Chinchon, Spain; Calcutta, India; Bangkok, Thailand; Bangkok, Thailand; Bombay, India; Calcutta, India; Chinchón, Spain; Durango, Colorado, United States; London, England, Great Britain; Mexico City, Mexico; Paris, France; New Mexico, United States; Nevada, United States; Pakistan.
Meet The Real Phileas Fogg
Jules Verne’s book was fiction which turned into fact. On Nov. 14, 1889, New York World reporter Nellie Bly started a 25,000-mile journey around the world, inspired by Verne’s book.
Nellie Bly’s story would make a great film in and of itself. As a young reporter at the Dispatch, Bly mostly wrote about fashion, the home, and women’s issues, as was expected for female journalists of her time.
Nellie grew bored with her day-to-day newspaper life however. Then one day she decided to take an assignment to go to Mexico. Only 21 years of age, Bly travelled with her mother across the southern border into Mexico. And, she was just getting started as a globe trekker!
Next Nellie got a job writing for the New York World, a major Democratic newspaper rising under the leadership of Joseph Pulitzer. While there, she pretended to have a mental illness so she would be admitted to the Women’s Asylum on Blackwell Island. Sounds like the plot for a good movie (think Shutter Island).
After staying there for 10 days, Bly was released. She wrote an expose of what went on at the asylum thereby creating momentum for some much needed reforms. What to do next?
What if this intrepid journalist were to travel around the world? If she could do it in less than 80 days then she would beat the fictional record of Phileas Fogg. Bly accepted the challenge. Her courage and determination won out as Nellie Bly circumnavigated the globe in just 72 days, setting a world record.
She was the real Phileas Fogg!
The Five Foggs
Now here’s a fun question. Can you name the five actors who have played Phileas Fogg? Did you even know there were five actors who played the role? Don’t worry. If you can’t name them then that’s okay because I will name them for you.
Fogg was played first played by David Niven in the 1956 film adaptation. He was then played by Pierce Brosnan in the 1989 television adaptation. Next up was Michael Praed in The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne in 2000. He was subsequently played by Steve Coogan in the 2004 film which also starred Jackie Chan. In 2022, Phileas Fogg was portrayed by David Tennant in a series on PBS.
If you’re a science fiction fan then you may be familiar with David Tenant. He’s the 10th incarnation of Dr. Who.
2. Duel
In Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut, he produced a masterpiece reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock at his very best. Duel is the story of a road trip that’s ultimately a test of survival between a beleaguered businessman and a deranged trucker.
David Mann (Dennis Weaver) is a middle-aged salesman on a business trip. He encounters a dilapidated tanker truck in the Mojave Desert. Mann passes the truck but the truck then speeds up and roars past him. When Mann overtakes and passes it again, the truck blasts its horn.
The truck then tailgates Mann’s car at an increasingly alarming speed. Mann swerves his car off the road, loses control, and crashes sideways into a fence across from a diner as the truck continues down the road. When Mann stops at a restaurant to recover his wits, his pursuer is waiting for him in the parking lot. At this point, the audience begins to get the sinking feeling that Weaver must somehow destroy his crazed pursuer or perish.
What started as a 77-minute program for ABC’s Movie of the Week proved to be such a screen sensation that Spielberg was given additional time and money to expand it into a 90-minute feature.
A Precursor To Jaws
As Scott Tobias writes in The Guardian fifty years after the film’s 1971 release, “Duel feels like the proto-Jaws, an early statement of principles on how to build suspense and terror through patience, simplified action and delayed gratification. Duel is proof positive that a truck menacing a car on the California highway is all the story necessary for a film to exist. Provided it has the right director, of course.“
Like the shark in Jaws, Spielberg doesn’t even introduce the truck driver until it’s absolutely necessary. He does it first through a shot of the man’s sunglass-shielded eyes as he looks into the rearview mirror – something he will have to do more often than usual as the film unfolds.
That land-shark of a truck, which Spielberg transforms into a monster, and its unknown driver become the looming menace which keeps the audiences on the edge of its seats.
Filming Locations & Interesting Facts
Much of the movie was filmed in and around the communities of Canyon Country, Agua Dulce and Acton, California. In particular, sequences were filmed on the Sierra Highway, Agua Dulce Canyon Road, Soledad Canyon Road and Angeles Forest Highway.
Now here’s an interesting fact: Author and screenwriter Richard Matheson based his original novella, which first appeared in the April 1971 issue of Playboy, on an actual road rage incident. Matheson had played a round of golf on November 22, 1963, the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. On his car ride home, and in a daze after receiving the terrible news, he was ruthlessly tailgated by a truck driver.
The truck itself is the movie’s main antagonist so Spielberg chose to cast it like he would any other actor: an in-person audition. The filmmaker auditioned seven different styles of semi-trucks on the Universal backlot, finally settling on a 1955 Peterbilt 281 because the split windshield, rounded lights, and elongated hood represented the menacing features of the truck’s “face.”
RELATED: Look Familiar? 25 CLASSIC Movies Filmed In The National Parks
The older I get, the more I look at movies as a moving miracle. Audiences are harder to please if you’re just giving them special effects…but they’re easy to please if it’s a good story.
-Steven Spielberg
3. Easy Rider | Best Road Trip Movies
The film Easy Rider had a profound effect on the American film industry, galvanizing a demand for films which explored the increasingly disillusioned views of American youth towards the state of the world. It was a film which helped to define a generation.
With iconic performances from Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, Easy Rider literally and symbolically marks the turning point at which the idealism of the 1960s morphed into the indulgent narcissism of the 1970s.
It’s the story of two hippie bikers who take a road trip across America during a time of national turmoil. The film is a revolutionary road trip which encapsulated the counter-culture of the 1960s and the divisions which roiled an America increasingly disillusioned by the Vietnam War.
A Countercultural Phenomenon
As Sven Mikulec notes, “Every period of American history and culture has at least one quintessential movie that represents everything about that specific zeitgeist.” For the end of the 1960s, it’s difficult to find a more significant picture than Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider, an unusual biker film about two freedom-loving guys and their trip from California to Florida.
The film was enthusiastically embraced by young Americans all over the country, becoming a symbol of the anti-establishment struggle and a cinematic epitome of cultural rebellion that ensued.
This led to a fantastic result at the box office, which then triggered a vital change in the film industry, as it was revealed that serious money could be made on low-budget movies made by talented, ambitious young filmmakers with daring ideas and original techniques.
Filming Locations And Interesting Facts
Easy Rider was filmed in Las Vegas, Santa Fe, Taos, and Madrid, New Mexico, USA. Filming also took place in Los Angeles and Malibu, California.
There’s a national park connection, too, as Wupatki National Monument formed the backdrop for one of the movie’s scenes. It’s where Fonda & Hopper camp for the night in the ruins of the Wupatki Pueblo.
The cross country journey of Peter Fonda & Dennis Hopper follows much of the famed old Route 66.
Film buffs take note that Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt (Fonda) ride northeast through the pink, red and grey strata of the spectacular Painted Desert and into Monument Valley which was made famous by John Ford and John Wayne in such screen classics as Stagecoach and The Searchers. But this story, ladies and gentlemen, is most certainly not about John Wayne’s America.
4. The Great Race
Now here’s an incredible travel story: A spectacular land race from New York to Paris in the early 20th century is planned, the two main competitors being the handsome, dashing hero in white, The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis), and the dastardly, black-suited Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon).
While Fate’s sidekick, Max (Peter Falk), attempts to sabotage Leslie and the other racers, Leslie finds an unlikely ally in Maggie DuBois (Natalie Wood), a suffragette and journalist-turned-racer whose car breaks down halfway through the event. (Source: Rotten Tomatoes)
The film is Blake Edwards 1965 production titled, The Great Race. It’s a slapstick comedy which pays homage to the earlier comedies of Hollywood’s Golden Age. And that’s apparent from the film’s outset with its dedication to Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.
Based On A Real Race
Director Blake Edwards based the film on the 1908 New York to Paris Race, very loosely interpreted of course. On February 12, 1908, the “Greatest Auto Race” began with six entrants, starting in New York City and racing westward across three continents.
The ultimate destination was Paris, making it the first around-the-world automobile race. Only the approximate race route and the general time period were borrowed by Edwards in his effort to make “the funniest comedy ever”.
Filming Locations For The Great Race
Filming of The Great Race included 27 different shooting locations. Among these locations were:
- Anif Castle, Anif, Salzburg, Austria.
- Salzburg Cathedral, Salzburg, Austria.
- Death Valley National Park, California, USA.
- Sonora, California, USA.
- Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA.
- Gearhart, Oregon, USA.
The Ultimate Pie Fight
The movie included the greatest pie fight ever recorded on film. The first pastry thrown was part of a large cake decorated for a king’s coronation. Following this was the throwing of 4,000 pies. This scene paid homage to Mack Sennett and Charlie Chaplin’s earlier comedy classics which had also made use of this gimmick though not on as grand a scale.
The pie fight scene lasts four minutes and was shot in five days. It is the longest pie fight sequence in movie history. At first, the cast had fun filming the pie fight scene, but eventually the process grew wearisome and dangerous. Natalie Wood choked briefly on a pie which hit her open mouth.
The pies used during the pie throwing scene were real, containing fruit, custard, whipped cream and other ingredients. Following this scene the crew devoured more than 300 leftover pies.
5. Harry & Tonto | Best Road Trip Movies
Harry Coombes (Art Carney) is a man in his seventies who is evicted from his Manhattan apartment when the building is set to be demolished. After staying briefly with his son Burt (Phil Bruns), Harry decides to travel across the country, accompanied by his cat, Tonto, to visit his other adult children.
His visits to a former love (Geraldine Fitzgerald), his daughter, Shirley (Ellen Burstyn) in Chicago, and his youngest son, Eddie (Larry Hagman), in Los Angeles, defy his expectations. And he has some wonderful adventures along the way.
Harry & Tonto is a touching story which shows audiences that the open road is not merely reserved for the young, but for the young-of -heart as well.
As Joe Pollack of the St. Louis Dispatch noted in his review, “An excellent motion picture, wise and entertaining and upholding the basic dignity of man in a world that often moves too fast for him.”
An Oscar Winning Performance
Art Carney, known for his iconic performance as Ed Norton alongside Jackie Gleason in The Honeymooners, made his feature film debut (believe it or not) almost twenty years later in Harry & Tonto. For his touching portrayal, Carney earned the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1974.
And if that’s not impressive enough, consider who his competition was that year: Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express, Dustin Hoffman in Lenny, Jack Nicholson in Chinatown and Al Pacino in The Godfather, Part II were the other nominees. Now that’s some pretty impressive competition!
St. Louis Dispatch Film Critic Joe Pollack had this to say about the film, “An excellent motion picture, wise and entertaining and upholding the basic dignity of man in a world that often moves too fast for him.”
Filming Locations And Interesting Facts
Harry & Tonto was filmed in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, & Chicago. Specific shooting locations included:
- Golden Gate Casino Hotel.
- Highway-179 (near Bell Rock) as Phone Booth.
- Wolford Boutique Chicago as Oak Street Book Shop.
- 617 West 115th Street as Harry’s Apartment.
- 114 West 74th Street.
- West 111th Street & Broadway.
Now here’s an interesting fact. James Cagney was originally offered the role of Harry. Other people considered for the role were Sir Laurence Olivier and Cary Grant. Carney was reluctant to accept the role as he had never starred in a feature film before.
Another interesting fact. Director Paul Mazursky convinced Carney to take the role by telling him, “You’ll win an Oscar.” His words turned out to be prophetic.
And this final interesting fact. Tonto was played by two different cats. After the movie was finished, the trainer offered them both to co-writer and director Paul Mazursky to keep, but he couldn’t because his wife was allergic to cats.
6. It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Director Stanley Kramer won an academy award for Judgement At Nuremburg which examined the Nazi War Crimes Trials following World War Two. He followed this effort with a very different film when he made It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
The film is the story of a group of strangers battling over buried treasure. It is, as the Criterion Collection notes, the most grandly harebrained movie ever made.
The film includes the most extraordinary cast of gifted comedians ever assembled: Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Jimmy Durante, Jerry Lewis, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters and that’s just to name a few.
There was so much comedic talent packed into this incredibly zany film that the supporting cast, as opposed to the principal cast, included: Jim Backus (Gilligan’s Island), Sterling Holloway (voice of Winnie the Pooh), Buster Keaton (Silent Film Star Comedian), Don Knotts (Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith Show), Jerry Lewis (comedic legend), Carl Reiner (another comedic legend) and countless others.
The story begins during a massive traffic jam, caused by reckless driver Smiler Grogan (Jimmy Durante), who, before kicking the bucket, tells the assembled drivers that he’s buried a fortune in stolen loot under the Big W. All of the motorists then set out on a frenzied quest to find this fortune.
One film critic described the film as “The best American comedy ever made. A true epic of humor, with full of great comedians and unforgettable scenes.”
Filming Locations For It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
The film is a road trip which takes place across California. Shooting locations included: the mountains above Palm Desert on the Palms to Pines Highway (Hwy. 74). They also filmed at locations throughout the Coachella Valley to the Yucca Valley area of the Mojave Desert all the way to Santa Monica.
Other California locations included: Borrego Springs, Imperial Valley, Lake Arrowhead, Oxnard, Palos Verdes and San Diego.
Some Fun Facts About A Very Funny Film
Jack Benny appears in a cameo role which was initially offered to Stan Laurel. Laurel turned it down because, when his best friend and partner Oliver Hardy died in 1957, he pledged never to perform again. As a tribute to Laurel, however, Jack Benny wears his trademark bowler hat. It’s the only time he ever appears wearing one.
The film was so crammed with action that each leading actor was given two scripts: one for the dialogue and one for physical comedy.
The Three Stooges make a cameo appearance in the film as firefighters waiting for Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett’s plane to make a crash landing.
The treasure which everyone is searching for is buried under a big “W” in Santa Rosita Park. There is no Santa Rosita Park however. The fictional scene was actually filmed at Portuguese Bend in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA.
“There’s no rush, we just wanna get there in a hurry!”
-Buddy Hackett as Benjy in It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
7. The Long, Long Trailer | Best Road Trip Movies
Lucille Ball was considered to be the “Queen of Comedy.” She was the star of the popular television series, I Love Lucy. As an entertainer and businesswoman, Ball went on to break barriers for women in the film industry.
In the 1930s, Ball held a series of small roles in several motion pictures. In 1940, while working on a movie set, she met Desi Arnaz, a Cuban American actor. The couple started dating immediately and eloped a year later. They proved to be a powerful couple. Their relationship was the inspiration behind the hit television show created by Ball.
Her breakthrough came in 1951 with the premiere of I Love Lucy. Ball produced the series which centered around the marriage of Desi and Lucy Ricardo. The show was an instant success. It received critical acclaim and went on to win over twenty awards including five Emmys. It remained on the air until 1957 and created several spin-offs.
Lucy and Desi used the success of their television series to create Desilu Productions. Desilu produced Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. It was also the production hub for dozens of beloved television shows including The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Luci & Desi Take A Road Trip
Lucy & Desi teamed up in 1954 to go on a Hollywood Road Trip. They produced and starred in The Long, Long Trailer. It’s the story of Nicholas Collini (Desi Arnaz). Collini has to travel for his job as an engineer. His fiancée, Tacy (Lucille Ball), suggests that rather than buy a house after their wedding, they invest in a motor home so they can see the country together.
But the aggravations of life with nosy trailer park neighbors and the dangers of piloting an enormous trailer across narrow country roads soon take their toll on the happy couple, putting their young marriage in turmoil.
The film was made between seasons of I Love Lucy. The trailer, a 1953 New Moon, used in the film is 32 feet in length and weighed more than 3 tons total. Lucy and Desi needed a specially equipped Lincoln (with a 205 HP V8 engine) to pull the heavy New Moon trailer up and over the steep grades of the Sierra Nevada where the scenes were filmed.
Yosemite Plays A Cameo Role
To capture the great outdoors, one of America’s premier national parks was pressed into service. There is one memorable scene at Yosemite National Park. The car and trailer emerge from a tunnel to a magnificent view of Yosemite Valley, complete with a panorama of El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Fall as Lucy and Desi sing a duet.
The dangerous mountain highway featured is Whitney Portal Road, which leads up to Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The hairpin turn offers scenic views of the Owens Valley. Other scenes were shot on the Pines to Palms Scenic Byway (State Route 74) which is located in Palm Desert, California.
RELATED: Look Familiar? 10+ CLASSIC Television Shows Filmed In The National Parks
A Lucy & Desi Renaissance
America’s fascination with Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz has been rekindled with the biographical drama Being The Ricardos. The film was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin. It stars Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz.
Without giving too much away, the film depicts a time when the country was infiltrated by a Red Scare. Lucille Ball’s storied career was facing the threat of McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklist due to a piece of gossip dropped by the period’s infamous tabloid figure Walter Winchell. He claimed that Ball was a registered member of the Communist Party.
And then there’s the documentary titled Lucy & Desi. It explores the rise of comedian icon Lucille Ball, her relationship with Desi Arnaz and how their groundbreaking sitcom I Love Lucy forever changed Hollywood, cementing her legacy long after her death in 1989.
8. The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty | The Best Road Trip Films
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty was originally created by author James Thurber. It was his first short story. Thurber first published it in The New Yorker on March 18, 1939. He loosely based the character, a daydreamer, on his friend Walter Mithoff.
The story was originally brought to the big screen in 1947 with actor, dancer, singer and comedian Danny Kaye in the title role. Kaye’s performance was hilarious, but the film is quite dated. The film would be remade in the 21st century. Seldom does a remake surpass the original. This time, however, it most certainly did.
Enter Ben Stiller in 2013. In this wonderful remake, the theme of success and failure is examined through Mitty’s inability to live a fulfilling external life. This causes him to retreat to an imaginary world of daring deeds. Walter Mitty is neither exciting nor successful in his everyday life so his secret life becomes his necessary emotional outlet.
Travel As Metamorphosis
Whereas Danny Kaye’s Walter Mitty is unable to distinguish between the world of his dreams and the real world, Ben Stiller is able to utilize travel as a metaphor for living a more meaningful life. In doing so, his character moves beyond his fairy tale world while transforming his real world into a fairy tale. Advantage Stiller!
As Stiller’s Mitty discovers, happiness comes from a strong sense of purpose. It’s defined by surrounding yourself with what you truly enjoy in life.
Happiness is within. It has nothing to do with how much applause you get or how many people praise you. Happiness comes when you believe that you have done something truly meaningful.
-Martin Yan
Thirteen Filming Locations In Iceland
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty embraced 13 filming locations in Iceland which included:
- Grundarfjörður, Iceland (Port where Erkigsnek docks)
- Seyðisfjarðarvegur, Seydisfjordur, Iceland (Longboarding Sequence)
- Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland (Himalayas and Afghanistan scenes)
- Höfn, Iceland (Nuuk Airport)
- Iceland.
- Stykkishólmur, Iceland (‘Greenland’ bar and helicopter take off town)
And, in this film, our hero trades in his car for a skateboard taking to the open roads of Iceland in a most spectacular fashion.
As Film Critic Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times writes, “Stiller’s sensibility creates a movie that’s smarter than you think it will be. Kind of like Walter Mitty himself.”
“TO SEE THE WORLD, THINGS DANGEROUS TO COME TO, TO SEE BEHIND WALLS, TO DRAW CLOSER, TO FIND EACH OTHER AND TO FEEL. THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE.”
-Motto Of Life Magazine
9. Thelma & Louise
Utah forms the backdrop for what was one of the greatest chick flicks of all time—Thelma & Louise. If you’re looking for the ultimate story about two road warriors with a “take no prisoners” attitude then this film is definitely for you.
It’s the story of a meek housewife named Thelma (Geena Davis) who joins her friend Louise (Susan Sarandon), an independent waitress, on a short fishing trip. However, their trip becomes a flight from the law when Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. Louise decides to flee to Mexico and Thelma joins her.
On the way, Thelma falls for sexy young thief J.D. (Brad Pitt) and the sympathetic Detective Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) tries to convince the two women to surrender before their fates are sealed.
While the story takes place on a road trip that’s supposedly from Arkansas to Arizona, much of the movie was actually filmed in Utah. And Arches National Park figures prominently in the story of these two amazing gals.
Shortly after entering the park, you’ll pass a cluster of soaring rock formations called the Courthouse Towers. This is the spot where Thelma and Louise, pulled over for speeding, decide to take the trooper’s gun and leave him in his car trunk.
RELATED: ALL Of Utah’s Mighty Five National Parks RANKED
10. Vacation
Imagine the ultimate family road trip. That’s what National Lampoon did in 1983 with Vacation. Thanks to Chevy Chase’s zaniness and comic timing this is a very funny movie. It’s a comedic adventure featuring the Griswold Family’s cross-country hijinks.
To make a long story short, accompanied by their children (Dana Barron, Anthony Michael Hall), Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) and his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), are driving from Illinois to a California amusement park.
As Clark increasingly fixates on a beautiful woman driving a sports car (portrayed by Christie Brinkley), the Griswolds deal with car problems and the death of a family member. They ultimately reach Los Angeles and the mythical Wally World where they’re greeted by a security guard (played by John Candy) who explains that the park is closed.
Have no fear! Nothing will stop Clark Griswold from taking his family on all of their favorite rides. Not even a closed park!
Film Locations & Interesting Facts
Parts of Vacation were shot in Monument Valley, Utah; Flagstaff, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon in Arizona; Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia.
Here’s a fun fact. The roller coaster, referred to by Clark as the “Whipper Snapper”, is actually called “The Revolution.“ It was the first roller coaster to have a 360-degree vertical loop.
Additional film locations included Southern Colorado and St. Louis, Missouri.
Another fun fact. John Candy was paid $1 million for his brief appearance at the end of the movie. He must have had a very good agent indeed.
Wally World Was Actually Six Flags Magic Mountain
The film’s climactic trek through Walley World was actually filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California. Director Harold Ramis had Chase, John Candy, and other cast members board a roller coaster with a camera mounted to it in order to capture shots on the rides. Dana Barron, who played Audrey Griswold, became so nauseous with motion sickness that she had to be given repeated doses of Dramamine.
The film was an immediate hit, spawning four sequels of increasingly diminishing returns as well as a 2015 Vacation sort-of-sequel, featuring Griswold’s son, Rusty (played by Ed Helms), who appears determined to equal or surpass his father’s earlier travel mistakes.
List Of The Best Road Trip Films
- Around The World In 80 Days
- Duel
- Easy Rider
- The Great Race
- Harry & Tonto
- It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
- The Long, Long Trailer
- The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty
- Thelma & Louise
- Vacation
About the Folks Behind More Than Just Parks
You should probably know that we don’t just make this stuff up out of thin air. My sons have spent their entire adult lives exploring and filming America’s national parks and public lands.
As for me, I’m a retired lifelong educator and a proud dad of these two wonderful guys who are hopelessly obsessed with the national parks. I taught history for over a quarter of a century. Now I enjoy researching and writing articles for the More Than Just Parks website. I’m always on the hunt for topics where nature and history intersect so please feel free to share any ideas that you might have with me.
We’ve worked with the National Park Service, the Department of Interior, and the U.S. Forest Service for years creating films on important places and issues. Our work has been featured in leading publications all over the world and even some people outside of our immediate family call us experts on the national parks.
Meet The Parks Brothers
We’re Jim Pattiz and Will Pattiz, collectively known as the Pattiz Brothers (and sometimes the Parks Brothers) and we absolutely LOVE the national parks.
Our goal here at More Than Just Parks is to share the beauty of America’s national parks and public lands through stunning short films in an effort to get Americans and the world to see the true value in land conservation.
We hope you’ll follow our journey through the parks and help us to keep them the incredible places that they are. If you’re interested joining the adventure, sign up below!
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