Macaulay Culkin played protagonist Kevin McCallister in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Photo / NZME
Macaulay Culkin played protagonist Kevin McCallister in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Photo / NZME
Home Alonehas long been considered a classic Christmas film andcontinues to dominate broadcast television come December. But 34 years after its release, several gaffes, gaping plot holes and documented on-set secrets are still unknown to fans and first-time viewers alike.
In a nutshell, the1990 cult classic sees imaginative 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) accidentally left behind at home in suburban Chicago when his parents and four siblings travel to Paris for Christmas.
The film follows Kevin as he holds down the fort while fending off the devious but dimwitted burglar duo, Harry and Marv - also known as the Wet Bandits - as they attempt to rob the wealthy McCallister home.
While Kevin devises a series of jaw-dropping booby traps to thwart the bandits (many of which are, realistically, akin to torture), the McCallisters struggle to return to Chicago to reunite with their youngest child.
Speaking in a documentary about the film, Herb and Joanie White - who lived opposite the real Home Alone house in Winnetka, Illinois - recalled two large fans and burly men “with bags of potato flakes”.
To recreate the look of snow, the men were “shaking [the potato flakes] into the fan”. Luckily for the crew, a blizzard later hit the set during filming, which meant the majority of the snow was the real deal.
Macaulay Culkin’s stunt double was an adult
From scaling a house to zip-lining, Kevin takes on several dare-devil-level stunts during the Home Alone franchise, most of which were deemed too unsafe for a child.
As a result, actor Macaulay Culkin - aged just 10 at the time of the first film - was replaced by Larry Nicholas, a stunt veteran and fully grown man.
According to reports, Nicholas, who was 30 at the time, was around the same height as Culkin. The actor, 44, is now said to be around 5′6.
Kate McCallister (Catherine O'Hara) forgets son Kevin and spends the rest of Home Alone wracked with guilt, trying to get back to him. Photo / 20th Century Fox
Macaulay Culkin’s stand-in was a tennis ball
At several points while filming, Catherine O’Hara would act out her scenes opposite a tennis ball - a stand-in for Culkin when he was no longer on set.
Under child labour laws, child actors are prohibited from filming past 10pm, according to the Daily Mail.
While director Chris Columbus would occasionally stand in for Kevin off-screen, for close-ups, a tennis ball would be dangled at Culkin’s height to ensure the direction of the gazes matched up during editing.
Buzz’s girlfriend is actually a boyfriend
In one scene, Kevin makes a sarcastic comment while looking at a photograph of his older brother Buzz’s girlfriend: however, the photo in question was not of a girl.
According to reports, Columbus believed it would be mean-spirited to mock the appearance of a young girl, but had less qualms about it being a boy.
As a result, he recruited the son of the film’s art director for a photo, which was ultimately used in the scene.
That black-and-white movie isn’t real
One of Home Alone’s more infamous lines, “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal!”, comes from a violent black-and-white gangster film Kevin plays to deter Marv - however, that film doesn’t exist.
The 1-minute-20-second clip of the faux film Angels with Filthy Souls was created exclusively for Home Alone and according to Vanity Fair, was shot in one day on a soundstage inside an abandoned high school gymnasium.
The role of gun-toting gangster Johnny was played by Ralph Foody, while Snakes was played by Michael Guido.
Kevin can also be seen watching the movie earlier in Home Alone as he ponders whether his missing family are actually in hiding (“Guys, I’m eating junk and watching rubbish! You better come out and stop me!”)
On Boxing Day in 2018, actor Seth Rogen posted on X (then known as Twitter): “My entire childhood, I thought the old-timey movie that Kevin watches in Home Alone (Angels With Filthy Souls) was actually an old movie.”
