Is there even one person in existence that hasn’t seen the Christmas favourite, Home Alone?
We have all watched and loved it, so here are some quirky pieces of trivia to look out for the next time you watch this Christmas classic!
Enjoy!
- You know the scene where Kevin grimaces in disgust at the photo of Buzz’s girlfriend? Well the film’s director Chris Columbus felt it would be a little mean to do that to a young girl, so he instead hired the art director’s son and dressed him up as a girl for the photo.
- There is a bizarre urban myth that Elvis Presley makes an appearance in this movie. Hardcore fans who believe Elvis is still alive are convinced he is the bearded man in the greyish coat standing in the background of the airport scene when Kate McCallister is losing her temper with the assistant. Look out for him the next time you watch the film and let us know if you’re as confused as we are as to why ANYONE would think that was Elvis?!
- Catherine O’Hara, the actress who plays Kate McCallister revealed last year that Macauley Culkin still calls her Mom.
- Macauley Culkin apparently earned approximately $100,000 for the first Home Alone movie. When it became a huge success, plans for sequel were set in motion and Macauley’s fee rose to $5 million as well as a certain percentage of the films profits!
- Donald Trump makes a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2. In the Plaza hotel, Kevin asks him for directions to the lobby!
- The scene (above) where Kevin places a tarantula on Marv’s face is entirely real! In fact the actor Daniel Stern was nervous about it and only agreed to do just one take. So as not to frighten the spider, he had to open his mouth and pretend to scream. His scream was then recorded later and added in.
- The actor who played ‘wet bandit’ Harry (aka Joe Pesci) deliberately avoided Macaulay Culkin on the set so as to create a nervous tension between them that would translate on camera.
- Kevin’s bed-wetting cousin, Fuller, is actually played by Kieran Cuklin, Macaulay’s younger brother! Here is today!
- The role of Kevin McCallister was written for Macauley Culkin however hundreds of other young actors were auditioned at the insistence of the director before the role was officially given to him. One of the actors considered for the role of Kevin was Jeffrey Wiseman who ended up playing the nosy next door neighbour, Mitch. In one of Jeffrey’s few scenes where he is bombarding the airport driver with a number of questions, you can clearly see him mouthing the driver’s answers at the same time as the driver! It’s particularly noticeable when the driver says, “gee kid I don’t know, hit the road!”
- When Joe Pesci (aka Harry) mumbles in frustration, you will hear him say the word ‘fridge’. This was the director’s solution to his swearing! Pesci would often forget that he was filming a family movie and let slip a few f-words, so the director advised him to say the word ‘fridge’ instead!
- The house used in the movie sold for $1.5 million in 2012. Not surprisingly, it’s a popular tourist attraction.
- Home Alone would have been very different had the original script gone ahead! In the original story, cranky Uncle Frank is the brains behind Harry and Marv’s burglary of the McAllister house. Likewise the initial casting suggestions were quite different to the end result!
Actresses who were surprisingly considered for the role of Kate McCallister include Jodie Foster, Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Anjelica Houston, Bette Midler and Daryl Hannah. The role of Uncle Frank meanwhile was actually written for Kelsey Grammer. Danny DeVito and Robert De Niro were both considered for the role of Harry.
- Believe it or not, but Angels With Dirty Faces – the movie Kevin watches in both Home Alone 1 & 2 – is not a real film! It was created especially for Home Alone.
- To make the scene as realistic as possible, the director had Macauley Culkin draw the map that he spreads out on the table when planning his traps.
- The scene where Kevin runs through the water-filled basement was actually filmed at the local high school’s swimming pool.
- The “evil furnace” in the basement was brought to life thanks to two members of the crew holding some fishing line and flashlights. Chris Colombus originally wanted the furnace to start running after Kevin, however he had to drop the idea when it was realised that the special effects for the scene would cost in the region of a million dollars!
- During the film Daniel Stern (aka Marv) stepped on everything from decorations to shards of glass. If you look at these scenes closely, you’ll see he’s wearing rubber feet!
xxx
