Everyone agrees Home Alone and it’s sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York are excellent movies. They’re perennial holiday favorites and inspired an entire generation of kids to be horrified of literally anyone knocking on their door.
But there’s one thing about them that nobody ever seems to mention… the sequel is a complete copy of the original. Audiences demanded more Home Alone, and, when Lost in New York came out in 1992, that’s exactly what they got. But, this time, Kevin was let loose in New York City. Here are 10 examples that prove Home Alone 2 totally copied the original…
Running Through the Airport Due to an Alarm Clock
One of the highlights of both films is the epic airport scenes where the family is racing to make their flights. In the first, their power is knocked out through the night by a storm, causing their alarm clock to reset. In the sequel, the alarm clock accidentally gets unplugged during the family’s frantic commotion.
What follows is a pretty relatable holiday moment. The family darts through the Chicago’s O’Hare airport (one of the worst airports for holiday travel, with only 64.9% of flights departing on time) hoping to catch their flight. Racing through airports and almost missing flights is basically a rite of passage. If you’re not frazzled beyond belief, dashing through airports at the holidays, you’re clearly doing it wrong.
The Red Herring
Both films use a “creepy” older person as a sort of red herring, that the audience is led to believe is scary. In the original, you have a man who Buzz described as “The South Bend Shovel Slayer.” This is their next-door neighbor who is regularly seen salting the sidewalks of the neighborhood throughout winter. Buzz claims, “In ‘58 he murdered his whole family and half the people on his block. Been hiding out in this neighborhood ever since.”
The sequel also uses the “creepy” older person. This time, it’s the pigeon lady (who may or may not be homeless.) Kevin first spots her while wandering through Central Park as she feeds the birds. Did you know that, while looking quite disheveled in the film, the pigeon lady was actually played by Oscar-winning actress Brenda Fricker.
Kevin Breaks the 4th Wall
The fourth wall is basically the camera in film or the audience in a live performance. There’s always one direction actors don’t look towards you, the viewer. When they do, that’s called breaking the fourth the wall.
It’s known throughout Hollywood as being a very tricky stunt to pull off because sometimes it can really take an audience out of the movie or show. But, in Home Alone, it only added to Kevin’s trickster personality. If there’s one kid smart enough to know how to mess with an audience… it’s Kevin McCallister.
The McCallister’s Notice They Forgot Kevin Way Too Late
In the original, Kevin’s mom knows she forgot something, but can’t remember what it is. Was it the coffee? Did she lock the door? Close the garage? …Nope. She totally left her son at home. One of the biggest questions one needs to ask is, that was an international flight. How did they not realize they still had Kevin’s passport?
In the sequel, the family is making their way to Florida. They’re able to keep track of Kevin all the way into the terminal, an impressive feat for a family that left him at home the previous year. Sadly, things take a turn when Kevin gets distracted while replacing the batteries in his Talkboy.
The Old Movie “Angels With Filthy Souls”
Everyone alive knows the line, “Keep the change, you filthy animal!” In the original, when Kevin finds out he’s alone, he watches movies like Angels with Filthy Souls, an old black and white gangster film. In the movie, the gangster Johnny is confronted by Snakes, who was sent by mob-boss Aces. Johnny is ruthless, though, and gives Snakes to the count of ten to get out of his office…
In the Home Alone 2, while Kevin is staying at the luxurious Plaza Hotel, he discovers the sequel, Angels with Even Filthier Souls. This time, Johhny confronts his girlfriend, who he suspects has been sleeping around, claiming, “You been smoochin’ with everybody! Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the gimpy leg, Cheeks, Bony Bob, Cliff…” he then whips out his trusty Tommy gun and let’s loose.
The Person Behind a Curtain Gag
Being the resourceful type, Kevin knows how to make it look like there are adults in the room. In the original, Kevin overhears the burglars, Harry and Marv, plotting to return to his house at 9pm. Kevin sets up the house to look like a massive Christmas party is underway. With the help of a Micheal Jordan cutout on a model train and a dress stand on a turntable, Kevin turns his lonely mansion into a festive party… at least, that’s how it looked through his closed curtains.
In the sequel, Kevin still had an inflatable pool toy (that happens to be a horrifying blow-up clown) with him that he was going to use in Florida. When Tim Curry’s character barges into the room to confront him about being an unaccompanied minor, Kevin inflates the clown and stands him up in the shower, while playing his uncle’s voice on his Talkboy. Brilliant.
Kevin Ends Up Teaching the Creepy Old Person a Lesson
It turns out that the creepy shoveling neighbor in the original is actually a humble old man. Kevin runs into a cathedral one night and bumps into him. They get to chatting, and the old man reveals that he and his son had a falling out years ago and that he’s afraid to confront him again. Kevin uses his grand 8-year-old wisdom to inspire the old man to talk to his family again.
In Home Alone 2, it’s the pigeon lady who needs some encouragement. After she and Kevin become friends, they have a heart-to-heart chat. She reveals that she’s all alone because she once had her heart broken and is too afraid to let anyone in ever again. Kevin knows a thing or two about being heartbroken (his family did forget him twice) and tells her that if she never opens her heart again, then she’ll never give anyone the chance to love her.
The Paint Can Gag
One of the most hilarious moments in the first movie is when Kevin hangs paint cans from strings and swings them down the staircase as Harry and Marv try to run up the steps to catch him. In Home Alone 2, there’s even a moment of the movie being self-aware. As Harry and Marv begin their way up the staircase, Harry stops him and says, “Wait! Don’t you remember what happened last year?” They let Kevin swing down two paint cans, pretending to get hit… little do they know that this time he’s also strung up a third object.
Harry Gets His Head Set On Fire
Some guys just can’t catch a break. Such is the case for Harry, who was dumb enough to get his head set on fire twice. In the original, Kevin has a blow torch hung up inside the doorway, triggered to turn on when the door opens. In the sequel, the torch is activated by a light switch and Kevin has filled the toilet with lighter fluid, so, when Harry goes to dunk his flaming head in…
The Creepy Older Person Ends Up Saving the Day
In both films, the hero at the end turns out to be the creepy older person that Kevin was originally afraid of. In Home Alone, Harry and Marv end up outsmarting Kevin and capture him. They hang him up on a coat hook, but, just at that moment, the shoveler walks in and knocks them both out with his shovel.
In Home Alone 2, the pigeon lady saves the day after Harry and Marv capture Kevin in the middle of Central Park. Right after they grab Kevin, the pigeon lady throws an entire bucket of birdseed on them, causing a swarm of pigeons to attack, saving the day and proving once and for all that pigeon ladies are a force to be reckoned with.
