the great outdoors

Howard Deutch directed the film, which was written by John Hughes.

Plot

Chet Ripley (Candy) is a down-to-earth, middle-class family man from suburban Chicago who takes his wife Connie (Faracy) and sons Buck and Ben on vacation to a northern Wisconsin cabin (The Loons Nest), similar to one he visited as a child. Their peaceful time away is short-lived, however, when Connie's sister Kate Craig (Bening), her husband Roman (Aykroyd) and their twin daughters unexpectedly arrive, having decided to blow off their own vacation to Europe.

Roman Craig (Aykroyd) is a quick-talking, Mercedes driving, upper-class snob from the posh Chicago suburb of Oak Park who seems to take pleasure in making sure others are well aware of his wealth and (supposed) expertise on many subjects. Needless to say, the actions and sentiments undertaken by him and his equally snobbish wife gradually cause a rift between the two families.

Filming Locations

The Great Outdoors was shot on location in Bass Lake, California, a small resort town near Yosemite National Park over three weeks in October 1987.

Ducey's Bass Lake Lodge, a rustic 1940s resort in Bass Lake, was featured as Wally and Juanita’s Perk’s Pine Lodge. The Loon’s Nest vacation cabin, built as a set, was designed to match the style of Ducey’s existing cabins.

Notable Scenes

While the film did not fare well with many critics, it contains a number of infamous scenes, including:

• Raccoons raiding garbage bins and speaking to each other, revealed by subtitling.
• A grizzly bear who terrorized Chet and Connie on their honeymoon, prompting Chet to skin the fur off its scalp with a shotgun (dubbing it the "Bald-Headed Bear").
• Chet polishing off a 6-pound steak (dubbed the "Ol' 96er") at a local restaurant in an effort to impress Roman and earn everyone dining a free meal.
• The families' visit with a 109-year-old man at his 110th birthday celebration; Chet is informed at the party that the man died in the car ride en route to the location yet was brought regardless.
• Roman and Chet's attempts to rid the cabin of a bat. A similar scene involving a bat trapped in a cabin was used in the 1996 film Black Sheep, with David Spade and Chris Farley.
• The Craigs' odd twin daughters getting trapped in an abandoned flooded mine shaft containing boxes of dynamite and the aforementioned "Bald-Headed Bear".
• A loaded "shotgun lamp" used as a decoration.

Trivia

• The Great Outdoors was originally titled Big Country. The name was changed to avoid audience confusion with other similarly titled 1988 films, notably Big.
• The film marked Annette Bening's first major motion picture appearance.
• The film is set in the fictitious "Claire County", presumably somewhere in Wisconsin or Michigan. At one point, a police officer asks Candy's character if he possesses a Wisconsin drivers license, thereby suggesting that Claire County is in that state.
• This is one of eight films that featured both Dan Aykroyd and John Candy.
• This film is written after Roman Stevens, a young cocky pilot that used to fly the cast of SNL around the Northeast.
• Bart the Bear, a 1,700 pound Alaskan Kodiak brown bear, played the bald bear.
• The "bald" spots on the bear were created with artificial prostheses, not by shaving the bear.
• The Loon’s Nest set was built on the same lakeside site used for the “Back of the Moon” cabin in the 1945 film Leave Her to Heaven. Both sets were built on temporary United States Forest Service permits and were removed promptly after shooting.
• A duplicate Loon’s Nest set was built on the Universal Studios Hollywood back lot for the bear attack sequence. The set has been reused in other films and can be seen from a distance on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tour.
• Ducey’s Lodge was destroyed by fire in 1989. It was rebuilt one mile from the original location and reopened in 1991.
• Dan also was featured on The Great Outdoors Soundtrack. He reprised his role as Elwood Blues performing with Wilson Pickett as The Elwood Blues Revue. Dan is featured on the song A Land of A 1000 Dances.