Let’s not debate it; Home Alone is the most iconic Christmas movie of all time. That’s a big thing to say, but there aren’t many other festive flicks that have endured such a lasting legacy. The reason? Adults still enjoy it as a slice of nostalgia and new generations of kids discover it each year.
Although the movie quickly turned into a franchise, chocked full of unofficial and unnecessary reboots and sequels, the first two films have remained sacred in the Christmas movie realm. Released in 1990, this fun blend of slapstick comedy and heart-warming family elements still resonates to this day. While you may have seen the movie countless times, there may be easter eggs that you missed and behind the scenes trivia that you never knew. So, let’s break it down as we revisit this classic 35 years later.
Home Alone Has a Connection to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
You may have heard that Chevy Chase is a difficult man to work with. Comedy legend or not, there are countless reports of his arrogant and aggressive behaviour on set. While filming National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, director Chris Columbus was on the receiving end of this and was ready to walk off set. Christmas Vacation was written by John Hughes, who by this point had some serious pull in the industry thanks to the success of movies like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Uncle Buck, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles.
When Columbus reached out to Hughes about his situation with Chase, Hughes suggested he depart the movie and direct a brand new movie he had just written: Home Alone. Columbus accepted and Jeremiah S. Chechik stepped in to direct Christmas Vacation. Both movies are now hightly-regarded as classics in the festive movie department.
Joe Pesci’s Frequent Co-Star Nearly Took His Spot
1990 was a big year for Joe Pesci. He took home an Oscar for his menacing role as psychotic gangster Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas, and reached a new generation of audiences with his role as bumbling burglar Harry in Home Alone. However, the latter role nearly went to his Goodfellas co-star Robert De Niro. Of course, he turned the part down, and the more comedy-centric Pesci stepped in. But he had to beat another actor to the part as well. Jon Lovitz was initially offered the role but also turned it down. He has expressed deep regrets for doing so given its massive success.
Daniel Stern Quit the Film
Daniel Stern portrayed Marv in Home Alone, the dumber of the iconic criminal idiots. While it’s impossible to imagine any other actor sticking his head through the cat flap to be greeted with a BB gun, Daniel Roebuck very nearly starred in the film. This was because Stern departed the production feeling he was being paid unfairly. Chris Columbus carried on shooting with Roebuck but felt that he lacked chemistry with Pesci. So, he turned on the charm and Stern came back. Speculation is that he got a nice pay bump for returning.
Macaulay Culkin: 1 in 200
Around 200 young actors auditioned for the part of the mischievous yet good-hearted Kevin McCallister in Home Alone. However, to John Hughes, none were a match for Macaulay Culkin. In fact, he’s exactly who he had in mind when writing the movie due to being so impressed with him while filming Uncle Buck. Columbus insisted that they still audition other actors, but Hughes kept pushing for Culkin, and the rest is history. For a bonus fact: American actor and comedian John Mulaney was part of an acting workshop in Chicago in the late 80s and had his heart set on auditioning. However, his parents decided against it.
The Iconic McCallister House
The McCallister home is a real-life house in Winnetka, Illinois. To this day, thousands of people visit each year to catch a nostalgic glimpse. However, this was not where the movie’s mayhem was filmed. While external shots were filmed here, the booby traps were all shot in an Illinois school.
As we learned from the Netflix series The Movies That Made Us, production was mostly done in a temporary studio inside the school’s gymnasium. And that very school has a connection to John Hughes as he had previously utilized the location for his films Uncle Buck and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Given that his production company already had offices there, the school was the ideal place to construct the Home Alone sets.
Culkin’s Artistic Improv
Macaulay Culkin proved Hughes’ instincts right by going above and beyond for his role. That iconic aftershave scream scene; completely improvised. This wasn’t part of the script but Culkin took a shot and it paid off. He was actually mimicking the legendary Edvard Munch painting.
The ‘Friends’ Connection
John Hughes was well-known for filming in the Chicago area, specifically the North Shore suburbs. The iconic Home Alone house sits at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, where many of Hughes’ previous films had also been shot, though at different houses. Just one suburb over in Kenilworth, the house from Planes, Trains and Automobiles stands at 230 Oxford Road – another red brick Georgian colonial with that quintessential North Shore elegance. Decades later, the McCallister house would find unexpected new life on television. In the final season of Friends, Monica and Chandler’s suburban house windows show the exact same view as the McCallister home, reportedly using stock footage from Home Alone.
Buzz’s Girlfriend Wasn’t Real
Kevin’s brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) was more of a menace than Kevin, but he was just slippery enough to get away with it. So, when Kevin finds a picture of his girlfriend and says “woof”, the audience can revel in a little bit of payback. However, not wanting to be cruel to a real-life girl, production turned the art director’s son into a woman for the picture. Look closely and it’s obvious.
Pesci Went Method on Culkin
In order to create some genuine fear, Joe Pesci avoided Macaulay Culkin on set and wouldn’t speak to him between takes. However, Pesci wound up being the one scared when he accidentally bit down on Culkin’s finger during a rehearsal. When speaking with The New York Times, Culkin said: “I have a scar. I saw his face — and I’ve never, ever seen Joe Pesci actually scared. Because he’s like, I just bit a kid!”
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