If you can believe it, Ernest Saves Christmas, one of the best holiday movies (and best Ernest flicks, period), hits its 37th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, Jim Varney’s nephew shared a couple of genuinely sweet family photos from Christmas Eve 1988, taken during the same stretch when Ernest Saves Christmas was still playing in theaters. And yeah… I’m in my feels.
On his X account, Justin Lloyd (also the late star's biographer) posted two snapshots from that night at his grandmother’s house. In one, Varney is seated and leaning forward with his arms folded, rocking a vivid blue button-up that’s pure late '80s holiday gathering. In the other, he’s standing behind Lloyd mid expression, like someone just said something off camera that almost broke him:
