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Snow is not the only thing that is starting to appear at this time of the season. Home Alone is starting to make an appearance on the screens of televisions around the world too. The original Home Alone is a beloved movie in almost every corner of the globe. It spawned several sequels, which garnered a lot of positive attention from critics and audiences. So if you want to show off your knowledge of this series on a movie night or a Home Alone trivia quiz, it might be the best time to catch up on some Home Alone facts. But is there really anything new to learn about this old classic? There certainly is.
Facts about Home Alone look at various topics, from behind-the-scenes to the things we see in the movie. Some focus on the cast, while others look at the secrets behind the story itself. Yet, a lot of fun facts about Home Alone focus on the things that we see portrayed in the movie itself. From an innocent-looking picture to the snow, there are a lot of things that you might not know about the props and elements used in the movie. As with any film, there is a lot of work done behind the scenes. Thus, many interesting facts about Home Alone surround the story and the people behind it. Home Alone movies are just an untapped pool of facts that are incredibly fun to learn.
So if you want to check the facts about the movie that started the Home Alone series, we got you covered. Since the first movie is a classic among Christmas movies, it’s important to get the facts about it straight. So cozy up in your chair, make yourself a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the list of Home Alone movie facts below. If there is a fact you didn’t know or which piqued your interest — upvote it so that others can see it quicker. If you have some more to add to the fact — be sure to comment down below.
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#1
In fact, "Home Alone" held a Guinness World Record for more than 27 years. It won the weekend box office race, earning $17,081,997 at 1202 cinemas and remained in the top 10 until June of the following year, holding onto the top spot for a whole 12 weeks. It broke records as the highest-grossing movie of 1990 and the highest-grossing live-action comedy ever in the United States, according to Guinness World Records.
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#2
The holiday-themed snow in the movie wasn't intended to be part of the plan. A blizzard on the second day of filming required the production to keep the McCallisters' Chicago suburb coated in synthetic snow even after the real snow had melted away, though originally, there wasn’t any budget dedicated to synthetic snow.
LoneTomato 2 years ago
They used powered mashed potato flakes, if I remember correctly. Huge nasty mess as it warmed up and the flakes mixed with melting snow.
#3
Thought that tarantula in the movie was fake? It is as real as real can be. Daniel Stern agreed to do it, but he would only permit one take. Also, Stern had to mimic the scream and have the sound added later to avoid startling the spider. To make this fact even scarier, the tarantula was still able to hurt the actor, if he wasn’t careful.
#4
You shouldn’t even bother searching for a full version of "Angels With Filthy Souls". Why? It’s not real. It’s a creation of fiction in "Home Alone". "Angels With Filthy Souls" is a made-up movie which appears in the first film. In "Home Alone 2", the fragment of a fake sequel "Angels With Even Filthier Souls" is shown too. Even a real movie sequel can’t tell the same joke… just need to change it a bit.
#5
When you star in a classic, it’s common to watch it over and over, but Macaulay Culkin is not a fan of rewatching "Home Alone". The reason for it is quite valid. He just can’t watch it from the point of a simple viewer. Some scenes that crack a smile for us, are usually just annoying for him.
#6
Joe Pesci took an extra step to make a particular scene more realistic and fun. During the filming of a scene where he bit Kevin’s finger, he actually did bite it. Macaulay Culkin said, "During one of the rehearsals, he bit me, and it broke the skin." Sounds quite painful.
#7
Making a "family-friendly" film like "Home Alone" wasn't Joe Pesci's cup of tea. It's natural that Pesci, who is most known for playing in the films like "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas", and "Casino", wasn't quite acclimated to the entire family-friendly environment on the set of "Home Alone" and used a few f-bombs as a result. Columbus advised Pesci to use the word "fridge" instead of his penchant for using the swear word.
#8
The initial screenplay did not include the Old Man Marley character, the moral foundation of the movie. The reportedly frightening neighbor who ends up teaching Kevin about the value of family was added in the later drafts of the screenplay. Columbus, who believed the movie needed a deeper dosage of sentimentality, suggested adding him.
#9
In the movie "Home Alone", the part of Kevin McCallister was created with Macaulay Culkin in mind. The director, Chris Columbus, still put more than 100 additional mischievous preteens through a series of auditions for the role. Which was really in vain because Culkin excelled in the job.
#10
Allegedly, Kevin's line "Do you guys give up or are you thirsty for more?" directed at Harry and Marv was actually improvised on set. Who could have known that a young child could be so cold-blooded towards some amateur criminals?
#11
Even so many years after production was finished, Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin, still calls Catherine O'Hara, who played his mom, “Mommy.” In 2012, when the two co-stars ran into each other, Culkin called O'Hara “Mommy,” and she answered him with a friendly “Baby.”
#12
The real owners of the McAllister residence actually stayed there throughout the five months of filming. Yet, they were primarily restricted to the home's main suite. It didn’t stop the production or cause any disruptions.
#13
The McCallister house from the film "Home Alone" has grown to be a popular tourist destination. The kitchen, main staircase, and ground-floor landing seen in the movie were all filmed in this five-bedroom house, which is located at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois. The house was held by John and Cynthia Abendshien when it served as one of the film's locations, and they sold it for $1.585 million in 2012.
#14
In the movie "Home Alone", Joe Pesci went full method acting on Macaulay Culkin. Joe Pesci tried his best to stay away from Macaulay Culkin on the set so that the young actor would be terrified of him to obtain the most genuine portrayal possible. And considering that the young actor is still physically scarred from one unintentional altercation, nobody can blame him for feeling a little frightened.
#15
Without a fun little conspiracy idea, no blockbuster film would be complete. Apparently, some believed that Elvis Presley, who passed away in 1977, made a cameo appearance in the movie. Well, no matter how badly we wish for The King to return, this theory was debunked by film’s cinematographer Julio Macat and executive producer Tarquin Gotch.
#16
"Home Alone" is named differently in other countries. If you are ever in Argentina around the time "Home Alone" plays, don’t be surprised when you see it called Oh, the "Poor Angel". In Italy? "Mom, I Lost the Plane". Poland also has its version called Kevin "Alone in the House". Creative, let’s give them that!
#17
In 2018, "Home Alone" was parodied by Macaulay Culkin. For a Google Assistant commercial, Macaulay Culkin, now 42, visited the McCallister home and reenacted some of his most memorable "Home Alone" scenes with a modern twist. It’s better than it sounds, even if they didn’t include the more memorable pranks.
#18
While real snow might fall outside our windows, in "Home Alone", the snow we see is not always real. A lot of things were used to imitate the fluffy and flaky snow we see on screen, one of them being ground-up potato flakes. It can be seen at the end of the movie when snow begins to fall outside the house.
#19
It’s important to think not only of the physical safety of a child actor, but also make sure his mental state is alright too. During a scene where Kevin picks up a copy of Playboy, a magazine that has a lot of, let’s say, not-appropriate-for-children content, a few pages were taped together. This was done to throw a joke at the dirty-minded, but also to prevent any psychological harm done to Macaulay Culkin.
#20
An additional, post-credits scene in which Harry and Marv watch "Angels with Filthy Souls" on TV while imprisoned was supposed to be included yet wasn’t. In fact, several other scenes were cut from the final version.
#21
When you hit a strike, you feel that urge to replicate that experience more than once. Hitting a home run with "Home Alone", Chris Columbus went on to direct other classic Christmas movies that still play yearly. He directed Mrs. Doubtfire and several Harry Potter movies, like "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets".
#22
“Home Alone” became a verb as a result of the film's exceptional success. The late, great, Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman acknowledged in his book Who Killed Hollywood? And Other Essays that the movie’s unexpected success led to the coining of the phrase "to be Home Aloned," which denotes that other movies suffered at the box office as a result of “Home Alone’s extended and successful run.
#23
"Home Alone" produced more than just a follow-up. All of the main characters from the original cast returned for "Home Alone 2". Moreover, the success of the first film sparked a full-fledged franchise that includes four sequels, three video games, two board games, a novelization, and other kid-friendly goods.
#24
"Home Alone" was entirely filmed in the Chicago region. The McCallister family is in Paris while Kevin is at home in Illinois, which is the key plot element; however, the entire production didn't even leave the state of Illinois. Thus, the many places that seemed foreign were actually filmed domestically.
#25
In 2012, Dr. Ryan St. Clair made a prognosis regarding the cruel tricks played on the intruders. Apparently, Harry and Marv might not have made it through Kevin's vicious attacks in "Home Alone" in real life. A single eight-year-old committed an awful lot of violence against the Wet Bandits. So much so that by the end of the night none of them should have been walking, let alone stayed conscious.
corgiobsessed00 2 years ago
if you want to see a more chaotic and violent version of the traps, watch Violent Night...
#26
The alleged glass ornaments that Marv stepped on were actually candies. However, Stern did perform his barefoot scenes with rubber feet, though, just to be safe. That candy can be sharp and cause some injuries if the angle is just right.
#27
Kevin's older sister is a really talented person. Hillary Wolf, who played Kevin's older sister Megan in "Home Alone", earned the lead role in Joan Micklin Silver's Big Girls Don't Cry... They Get Even two years later. She also made an appearance in "Home Alone 2", but since then, she hasn't been seen on a big screen. But she's not here for a good reason: She competed for the United States on the summer judo team in 1996 and 2000.
#28
While John Candy is one of the funniest people in the movie, remembered by many, he was paid less than a less-seen character — the pizza boy. Even after working for 23 hours to fulfill his cameo in the movie, he didn’t get paid much for it, less than $500. This happened because he feared the movie would not be successful.
#29
Originally, John Hughes intended Christopher Columbus to direct "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", but after meeting with actor Chevy Chase, who was supposed to star in it, things took a turn for the worse. Hence, following an altercation between Columbus and Chase, Hughes offered Columbus the opportunity to direct "Home Alone" instead. And the rest is history.
#31
One of the greatest pranks from "Home Alone" is the cutting of the rope between the house and the treehouse. But did you know that that treehouse was built specifically for the movie? Originally, the place didn’t have a treehouse, so the production team built one and destroyed it after the production was over.
#32
It’s hard to find the right actor for an important role. For the role of Harry Lime, a lot of actors were invited and interviewed, till finally, Joe Pesci took up the role. Robert De Niro, who worked on several movies with Joe Pesci, declined the part of Harry Lime, as did Jon Lovitz.
#33
The character of Harry is a homage to a different kind of motion picture classic. Harry's full name is Harry Lyme, the same as the character played by Orson Welles in the classic 1949 film noir "The Third Man". In that movie, Orson Welles' character was also named Harry Lime.
#34
The "Home Alone" score wasn't supposed to be written by John Williams. Bruce Broughton was originally Chris Columbus' choice for the soundtrack to "Home Alone" and his name can be seen on certain teaser posters. However, because of a scheduling difficulty, Broughton was unable to complete the task, thus it remained unfinished until Columbus sent John Williams a finished print of "Home Alone", which she adored.
#35
A hidden star of "Home Alone" is a school in the Chicago region. The New Trier High School swimming pool, located north of Chicago, served as the location for the house's basement set. The scenes involving the police station and parts of the airport shots were also filmed at the school.
#36
There is a little error in the blowtorch sequence. The iconic scene was created with the deception method called "Pepper's Ghost," in which the fire was actually pointing at a pane of glass and was directed at a phony head sculpture. But, a mistake was made and left in the final cut. Because Joe Pesci's placement was slightly off, for a split second, the astute viewers were able to notice the fake head.
#37
The script is like a blueprint. Some directors stick to it, point to point, while others are more flexible, giving more freedom to the actors. When filming "Home Alone", producer John Hughes asked the actors to stick to the script but made an exception for his friend, John Candy.
#38
One of the scenes where Kevin uses a BB gun was animated to an extent. To secure the safety of the adult actors, the scene where a BB pellet goes into Marv’s head is “fake.” With a budget of $18 million, the $600 that was spent on animating the scene seemed like nothing for the studio like 20th Century Fox.
#39
The Wet Bandits have to live up to their name by flooding the houses of their victims. In real life, they didn’t flood any houses. In "Home Alone", when they go through a flooded house, they just go through a semi-filled swimming pool. So in actuality, the wet bandits are just filling the pool, like pool boys.
#40
These days, movies are filled with CGI stunts, but the older movies were more realistic. Most of the stunt acts we see in "Home Alone" were genuine, and one even bears the name “Home Alone”. Although Culkin, Pesci, and Daniel Stern's characters didn't fall or take any knocks during the movie, their stunt counterparts did.
#41
In less than ten days, the "Home Alone" idea was realized on paper. Before the creators family's first vacation to Europe in 1989, traveler's nervousness generated the concept for the movie, according to James Hughes, the son of renowned screenwriter John Hughes, who penned the script for "Home Alone" in less than 10 days.
#42
When it comes to moviemaking, there are a lot of different expenditures that can pile up quite a budget. And sometimes, that budget can balloon during the production process. So it’s not strange that Warner Brothers refused to pay the $18 million budget that was drafted. But luckily for us, 20th Century Fox picked up the bill and got a lot for their investment.
#43
No one can doubt that the soundtrack of "Home Alone" is just able to create those festive Christmas vibes year after year. John Williams, a legend of movie soundtracks, created one of the best music tracks in the movie, “Somewhere in My Memory,” which got only positive reactions from fans and hard-headed critics.
#44
It’s hard to imagine "Home Alone" movies without Macaulay Culkin, the main actor in the first two movies. But as years passed, he got a little bit too old to reprise his role as Kevin in the sequels. So, to replace him, several young actors were tried out, but you can’t simply change the face of the movies.
#45
A lot of problems can arise from the small arguments that studio and creative teams have. "Home Alone" had one serious point of argument — the budget. For Warner Brothers it was too large, for John Hughes, it was just barely enough. The budget was so strict that Hughes knew that he couldn’t work with Warner Brothers studio on this project.
#46
John Hughes got the concept for "Home Alone" while working on "Uncle Buck". There is a scene in which Culkin's character questions a potential babysitter through a mail slot since he is always willing to play the precocious one. A similar conflict between Culkin and Daniel Stern occurs in "Home Alone", however, this time, it happens through a doggy door.
#47
Not all Culkins who appeared in "Home Alone" were Macaulay Culkin’s siblings, only one. Kieran, Macaulay's younger brother, played Fuller, Kevin's bedwetting cousin. Kieran made his acting debut in the movie, but since then, he has gone on to have an amazing career in films including The Cider House Rules, Igby Goes Down, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and FX's Fargo.
#48
In "Home Alone", John Candy shot all of his scenes in a single day. But boy, was that a long day — 23 hours to be exact. John Candy frequently appeared in John Hughes's films, and the polka-playing good guy he plays in "Home Alone", Gus Polinski, was modeled after John Candy's character in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
#49
Daniel Stern, who plays Marv in "Home Alone", was acquainted with Joe Pesci's work before the two of them formed the Wet Bandits because they collaborated on the 1982 movie "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can". Daniel recalled the experience favorably even if their scenes were removed from the finished movie.
#50
That joyful mishap involving the aftershave was actually improvised. Macaulay was reportedly instructed to apply the aftershave, take his hands off, and then scream. Instead, he chose to keep his hands away from his face, and as the cast and crew burst out laughing, the 'mistake' made it into the final cut. It went down in film history as an iconic moment of "Home Alone".
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