'A Christmas Story': 15 Holly Jolly Facts About The Beloved Holiday Classic
Annoy your family with these facts while watching the movie this Christmas.
!['A Christmas Story': 15 Holly Jolly Facts About The Beloved Holiday Classic](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/8/0/757480_320x180.jpg?v=2)
How many times have you seen A Christmas Story? It’s such an ingrained holiday tradition, you’d think the Magi brought a VHS copy to Jesus in the manger, along with a reel of It’s a Wonderful Life and a bunch of caroling children. Not so -- A Christmas Story doesn’t just go completely unmentioned in the Bible, but no one even paid a lot of attention to it for years after its release (just like Jesus). And yet, it eventually came to be the definitive Christmas movie -- the work of wisdom that taught us that dangerous toys and dysfunctional families are the true reason for the season.
![It took Bob Clark 12 years to get the movie made. A period movie about a kid wanting a BB gun for Christmas? Hard pass, studios kept saying. MGM reluc](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/5/757475.jpg?v=2)
![A Christmas Story was out of theaters before Christmas. The movie opened the week before Thanksgiving - and by December 16th it was shown the way out,](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/2/757472.jpg?v=2)
![Peter Billingsley was the first to audition for Ralphie. Director Bob Clark thought it'd be too obvious to give the part to him, as he was a well kn](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/6/757466.jpg?v=2)
![Ted Turner made it into a holiday classic. In 1986, Turner bought MGM's entire film library, which included A Christmas Story. TNT started running the](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/4/757464.jpg?v=2)
![Ralphie’s actor helped launch the MCU
Peter Billingsley is close with Jon Favreau, and served as a producer in Iron Man (in addition to playing a bit](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/6/757476.gif?v=2)
![The bullies were originally reversed. Zack Yano Ward Anaya After a long selection process, Yano Anaya was cast as Scut Farkus, while Zack Ward was to](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/3/757463.jpg?v=2)
![The kid had to chew actual tobacco. Actors playing cowboys chew on black licorice, even if they're adults. Not this boy, though -- he was given a wad](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/4/757474.jpg?v=2)
![There was a straight-to-DVD sequel in 2012. A Christmas Story 2 features Daniel Stern as the dad of a horny, car-obsessed teenage Ralphie- -because th](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/3/757473.jpg?v=2)
![You can stay at Ralphie's house. The Cleveland house that played the Parkers' home has been fully restored, and you can book tours and overnight stays](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/1/757471.jpg?v=2)
![It wasn't Ralphie's last Christmas movie. 20 years after playing Ralphie Parker, Peter Billingsley was an elf in, well, Elf. He also shows up in Four](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/7/0/757470.jpg?v=2)
![A deleted scene features Flash Gordon. More scenes from Ralphie's imagination were shot than actually used including one where he uses his BB gun to r](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/9/757469.jpg?v=2)
![The child actor did say... well, that word. Oh, they had me say 'f*ck,' peter Billingsley has revealed. On all the takes. The family-friendly fudg](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/7/757467.jpg?v=2)
![A musical version exists. Do you want to see Ralphie singing on stage about how much he wants a Red Ryder air rifle for Christmas? You can! The Broadw](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/5/757465.jpg?v=2)
![A statue memorializes Flick licking a pole. A bronze statue of the triple dog dare was unveiled in Hammond, Indiana (the real-life Homan) in 2013, o](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/2/757462.jpg?v=2)
![The narrator is the real-life Ralphie. A Christmas Story is based on comedian Jean Shepherd's fictionalized accounts of his childhood. Shepherd worked](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/pictofact/4/6/8/757468.jpg?v=2)