🤔 Today's Trivia Question:

In the First "Home Alone" Movie, What's the Name of Kevin's Older Brother?

Correct Answer: D) Buzz

🏘️ Home Alone: The 1990 Christmas Comedy That Became a Holiday Classic

As the McCallister family prepares for a Christmas vacation in Paris, they gather at Kate and Peter McCallister's home in a Chicago suburb. The night before their departure, the house is bustling with relatives, but the youngest son, Kevin, feels out of place. His siblings and cousins mock him for his perceived immaturity, and tensions escalate when Kevin gets into a fight with his older brother, Buzz. The scuffle disrupts the family dinner, leading to Kevin being sent to the attic as punishment.

Frustrated and hurt, Kevin lashes out at his mother, accusing her of letting the family mistreat him. In a moment of anger, he wishes that his family would disappear. That night, a strong windstorm causes a power outage, which resets the alarm clocks and results in the entire family oversleeping. In the ensuing chaos of trying to make it to the airport on time, Kevin is unintentionally left behind at home.

Home Alone, the iconic 1990 Christmas comedy, continues to be a holiday favorite, capturing the hearts of audiences worldwide. Directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes, the film introduced Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a resourceful young boy left behind when his family mistakenly departs for a Christmas vacation in Paris. As Kevin finds himself alone in their suburban Chicago home, he ingeniously defends it from two bumbling burglars, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

The movie's journey to the screen was as eventful as its plot. Originally, Warner Bros. was set to produce the film, but budget overruns led the studio to abandon the project. John Hughes, however, secured backing from 20th Century Fox through a series of covert meetings, allowing production to continue. Filming took place in various Illinois locations between February and May of 1990.

Home Alone premiered in Chicago on November 10, 1990, and hit theaters across the United States on November 16. While early reviews were mixed, the film gradually earned widespread acclaim for its humor, cast performances, and memorable score by John Williams. Its success was monumental, grossing $476.7 million globally, making it the highest-grossing live-action comedy until 2011 and solidifying Culkin’s status as a child star. The film was also recognized with several prestigious award nominations, including Golden Globe nods for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor for Culkin, as well as Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for "Somewhere in My Memory."

Decades later, Home Alone remains a staple of Christmas cinema, and in 2023, it was honored by the Library of Congress, being selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as a work of significant cultural, historical, or aesthetic value. The film’s legacy was further cemented with the release of its successful sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, in 1992.