The legend of John Hughes is renewed

Welcome to the 21st century, John Hughes! Our favorite movie maestro has re-emerged, this time writing a short piece for Zoetrope All-Story about the genesis of his screenplay for "National Lampoon's Vacation."

It's an amazing piece (click here to read it), full of more personal details about his life than have been released to date. Among the gems you'll discover:

• "Vacation" was originally called "Vacation '58" and was based on a family trip from Detroit to L.A.'s Disneyland. It was written by the point of the view of "Rusty," the male child of the family.
• Hughes wrote it while he has working full-time for a Chicago advertising agency. It was intended to run in the "National Lampoon" magazine, for which he was secretly a part-time editor.
• The entire story was written by Hughes when he was snowed-in at home in Chicago in 1979.
• His story didn't have the movie's happy ending.

"I wrote the first sentence -- 'If Dad hadn't shot Walt Disney in the leg, it would have been our best vacation ever!' -- and the rest was automatic," Hughes explains in his essay

Hughes' short piece is fascinating to read, a peak into the mind of someone we all can't stop admiring, and a reminder that he's lost none of his writing talent.

Comments

[Marissa]

Someone extremely close to me will be ecstatic to learn this. My guess is that he already knows.

Fairy tales do come true. It can happen to you ...

I really hope and pray it does

[Walter Cox]

You get me face time with the pink-haired Phoenix from American Gladiators, and I'll somehow get you an interview with John Hughes. We can call this little story, "Strangers on a Blog"

[Spears]

I consider there to be a somewhat long list of people I'll never get a chance to interview, and Hughes is right at the top. Unless some insider hooks me up, I'm afraid that dream may never come true.

[Neil]

Pretty cool story. I was reading an old "Spy Magazine" where they really rip John Hughes. They said he was very controlling and wouldn't allow his movies to be filmed outside Chicago. The thing about this article it was very critical of Hughes, almost like they had a vendetta against him but you read the article and you automatically take the side of Hughes. Why shouldn't he be able to demand these things? I think he has earned it with writing some of the greatest movies of all time.
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/03/big_baby_scanne.php

Try the link is has the story.

[John Hays]

Well, start making GOOD movies again...the Beethoven flicks weren't exactly a high point...

[Bassnote]

Great piece! Now, if JH would only start making movies again...

[John Hays]

Long shot, but could this be your ticket into interviewing the great one?