“Home Alone” is one of those movies that many of us enjoy watching annually. The comedy is simple, understandable, with good jokes and excellent actors.
Kevin’s disappearance went unnoticed, which is not surprising given the number of children in the house and the chaos caused by it for the parents. The only thing at the airport that could have alerted them to Kevin’s absence was his plane ticket. However, when Mr. McCallister clears the table of milk spills, he accidentally throws away the plane ticket. If all the children smoothly went through with their tickets, it can be confidently assumed that it was Kevin’s ticket.
But the plane ticket was not the only thing that could have reminded the parents about Kevin. When they were getting into the car, Kevin’s sister counted all her brothers and sisters. The resulting number did not bother her at all because it turned out to be the right amount, not because Kevin’s sister can’t count, but because there was a neighbor boy in the car who was interested in the toys.
After the characters boarded the plane, Kevin’s mom became seriously concerned that they forgot something. Such concerns during travels are not uncommon, so when Mr. McCallister mentioned that he might have forgotten to close the garage, she calmed down. Interestingly, later in one of the frames, it is shown that Kevin’s father was right – he indeed forgot to close the garage.
Even though in 1990 the graphics were reasonably developed, it was impossible to draw a tarantula that would be indistinguishable from a real one. Therefore, Daniel Stern, who played Marv, agreed to have a real tarantula crawl on his face. For the safety of both the spider and the actor, this scene was shot in one take. To prevent the tarantula from getting scared, Daniel only mimicked a scream, and it was added in post-production.
Thanks to “Home Alone” being almost a chamber film, great attention is paid to the smallest details. In the beginning, when Kevin jumps on the bed, he scatters popcorn around the room. This popcorn can be noticed later when Kevin hides from the burglars under the same bed.
Continuing the theme of details, it’s worth noting that the filmmakers seem to have overdone it with towels. There are several children and two parents in the house, so each of them needs their own towel. But there are actually a lot of towels. Considering that there is a second bathroom in the house, which should also have towels, it seems strange to have around 15 towels in just one room.
Before the burglars carried out their raid, Kevin built impressive traps and even drew a plan with all the markings. To remind the audience that Kevin is still 8 years old, the props team added a childlike spelling mistake – instead of “ornaments,” they wrote “ornamints.”
Unfortunately, not all details could be adhered to with perfect accuracy. One of Kevin’s traps involves fragile toys scattered right in front of the window, which Marv was supposed to suffer from. Kevin took these toys from the Christmas tree, but if you look closely, the toys on the floor are different from those hanging on the tree. The Christmas tree toys were real, and because of that, Daniel Stern could have seriously hurt himself, so they were replaced with toys made of sugar glass, and Stern wore rubber boots just in case.
In one scene, Kevin takes a picture of his brother Buzz’s girlfriend and expresses his disapproval. The filmmakers thought ahead for this moment and realized that using a real girl’s photo could upset her, so they took the art director’s son, dressed him as a girl, and took a photo.
At the end of the movie, Kevin looks out the window and waves to his neighbor, who is also his friend, while it’s snowing outside. However, in reality, it was not snow but dyed potato flakes. Initially, it was a good idea, but after a few takes, the flakes started clumping together, forming large pieces, and turned yellow.
When Kevin first sees the old man Marley, he is very scared. In the church, this is repeated, but the situation is exacerbated by the corresponding melody called “Dies Irae” – “Day of Wrath,” also known as “Judgment Day,” referring to death.
However, once Kevin starts talking to Marley, the choir begins singing a Christmas song – “Carol of the Bells” – with the same melody. The meaning of the scene with the same melody is that Kevin simply misunderstood Marley’s intentions and mistook him for a villain.
To create a festive atmosphere, the film is dominated by two colors – festive green and red. The McCallisters have green dishes, clothes, towels, plants, curtains, wallpaper patterns, sofas, and walls. The red colors include clothes, wallpaper patterns, products, Christmas decorations, pillows, socks on the fireplace, carpets, and other interior elements.
