"I wouldn't let you sleep in my room if you were growing on my ass!"―Buzz to Kevin[src]
Buzz McCallister was the oldest son and child of Peter and Kate McCallister.
As an adult, Buzz became a police officer.
Biography[]
Paris trip[]
Buzz sitting in his room while Rod McCallister inspects the Tarantula.
While the family packed for their Christmas trip to Paris, Buzz's cousin Rod asked who would feed Buzz's tarantula while they were away, to which Buzz replied that it ate "a whole load of mice guts", which would hold it over. Buzz then asked Rod if it was true that French girls did not shave under their arms and Rod answered, "Some don't." He then asked Rod if France had nude beaches, only to be told "not in the winter." Buzz's brother Kevin then entered, much to Buzz's annoyance, as he did not knock.[1]
After rudely refusing Kevin's request to sleep in his room (as Kevin did not want to sleep in the hide-a-bed with Fuller), Buzz told him and Rod about their neighbor Old Man Marley, who he said was rumored to be the "South Bend Shovel Slayer," who murdered his family (in addition to half the people on the block) where he used the salt in his bucket to mummify his victims.[1]
During dinner, Buzz decided to dig in and take upon a whole cheese pizza that he and Kevin were actually supposed to share and he ridiculed to Kevin. After finding this out, Kevin tackled him towards the kitchen island, causing milk to spill towards the entire family's airline tickets. As a result, Kevin was sent to the third floor for the night by their mother, Kate.[1]
In Paris, after it was discovered that Kevin had been left behind; when the family was at Uncle Rob's apartment, Megan was surprised Buzz wasn't worried about Kevin being home alone, and Buzz replied, "No, for three reasons. A. I'm not that lucky, 2. We have smoke detectors, and D. We live in the most boring street in the United States of America, where nothing even remotely dangerous will ever happen to him, period."[1]
Upon his return home, Buzz remarked to Kevin that he thought it was pretty cool that Kevin did not burn the place down and was surprised alongside the rest of the family that Kevin went shopping. When the family split up to go to other rooms in the house, Buzz went to his own. Finding it in a mess, Buzz yelled, "Kevin, what did you do to my room?!"[1]
Florida trip[]
The following year, at a Christmas pageant he and his siblings were in, Buzz seized the opportunity for a prank on Kevin. As Kevin was about to begin his solo, Buzz waited for the right moment to hold electric candles behind Kevin's ears, making them glow. Everyone in the audience burst into laughter, except for the piano player, the conductor, Kate, Peter, Aunt Leslie and a man sitting in the front row. Kevin punched Buzz, making him fall, causing a chain reaction that ruins the pageant.[2]
That night, Buzz "apologized" to Kevin and the rest of the family, and they clapped for him. However, he then grinned to Kevin, saying, "Beat that, you little trout sniffer!", showing that he probably didn't mean anything that he said. Kevin left the room angrily with the family for believing Buzz and not him as well as the family's decision to go to Miami, Florida for a Christmas vacation. Buzz then commented, "What a troubled young man."[2]
Later, in Miami — after Kevin was separated from the family again — Kate received a call from the police, informing her that Kevin was in New York, and Buzz got ready to pack up and go there, along with the rest of the family.[2]
On Christmas morning, a truckload of gifts came to the Plaza Hotel as a reward for Kevin foiling Harry and Marv's attempt to rob Duncan's Toy Chest. Buzz realized that had it not been for Kevin getting on the wrong flight, they would not be in the suite with the Christmas tree and the gifts in the first place, and he told the rest of the family this. Much to Kevin's gladness, Buzz decided to let Kevin open the first present as they reconciled. By doing that, he tossed him a gift, only letting him catch it. Buzz was forgiven by Kevin for ruining his solo during the Christmas pageant, and they wished each other a Merry Christmas.[2]
When Buzz received the bill for Kevin's original stay at the Plaza Hotel, he gave the bellman Cedric a wad of chewing gum as a tip. He then looked over the bill and smiles upon seeing the total $967 on the last page before remarking "Merry Christmas, indeed" and finally giving the bill to Peter, who then yelled, "Kevin! You spent $967 on room service?!", causing Kevin to run back to the hotel.[2]
Parents' separation[]
| The following information comes from Home Alone 4, which has continuity problems with the first two films in the series. |
Later, Buzz's parents had separated and were filing for divorce.[3]
Because he was forced to watch Kevin while their mother went out, Buzz decided to torture him by making him clean the fish tank, take out the bins, where he slammed Kevin's hands. Buzz called Kevin names like "cheese face" and "lamebrain" and held Kevin's feet while Megan sat on him. This caused Kevin to leave home and stay with their father and his girlfriend Natalie Kalban at their home for Christmas.[3]
Kate later stopped by with Buzz and Megan in order to give Kevin some of his things, and Buzz was impressed by the house. Kevin showed his siblings the early gifts given to him by their father and Natalie, which caused Buzz to become envious.[3]
When Kevin and the butler Prescott ware held captive in the wine cellar by Marv, Vera, and Molly Murchins, Kevin attempted to phone his mother for help, only for Buzz to answer the phone. Buzz refused to believe Kevin, accusing him of being a show off before hanging up.[3]
Kate took Buzz and Megan to the mansion, finding that Kevin and Prescott had dealt with the intruders. Marv and Vera attempted to escape, but Buzz and Megan sneaked around the back and tripped them up, holding them down until the police arrived. Buzz and the others gathered as the three intruders were arrested by the police. At this time, Peter broke up with Natalie as he wanted to return to his family, which Kate accepted.[3]
| Home Alone 4 information ends here. |
Later life[]
As an adult, Buzz worked as a police officer. He was unmarried, claiming that "No one's been able to tame this wild stallion."[4]
One Christmastime, he responded to a call about a break-in at 36 Beech Tree Lane, finding Jeff and Pam McKenzie there, claiming that it was their house and they accidentally tripped the McCallister Home Security system.[4]
After the police received another call about the address, Buzz, eating a burrito while on patrol, dismissed it as a prank call from Kevin, explaining to his reporting officer how Kevin irresponsibly (furthermore, illegally) messed around with him every year with bogus reports about a missing child left home (probably for revenge and out of spite) after Kevin himself was accidentally left behind two times in a row three decades earlier when Buzz and the rest of the family went on holiday vacation. When asked if he was certain of his claim, he became irritated and shouted his certainty, as he was already at the house shortly beforehand. He also pointed out the house was wired with his younger brother's home alarm system, thus concluding, "That a coincidence? I don't think so." When asked to drive by and check it out anyway, he sighed and agreed to do so. However, he stopped and said to himself, "Nice try, Kevin. Nice try. Trout sniffer" and instead continued to eat the burrito.[4]
Personality[]
Buzz appeared to be quite an unpleasant, cruel, selfish, greedy, unsympathetic, and hostile child. Being the oldest child, he enjoyed picking on Kevin by stealing his cheese pizza and humiliating him at the Christmas pageant by putting two electric candles behind Kevin's ears, making them glow when Kevin does his solo. Afterward, he insincerely apologized to Kevin. Nevertheless, he was capable of being nice to Kevin (temporarily), such as when he commended him for not burning their house down when he was home alone and suggesting that Kevin open the first present the next Christmas.
As an adult, Buzz was lazy and gluttonous as he declined to fully investigate the alarm at 36 Beech Tree Lane and immediately dismissed the subsequent emergency call as a prank by Kevin.
Trivia[]
- In the script for Home Alone, Buzz is described as "stocky and muscular, a jock with a three-inch, waxed flattop."
- In the script and a deleted scene for Home Alone, Buzz threatens to give Kevin to Marley if he does not leave his room.
- Buzz is a fan of the basketball team Chicago Bulls, as he lives in Chicago and also has a Michael Jordan poster in his room.
- He has also been ranked first in the "Greatest Movie Bullies" list, topping Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid series), Regina George (Mean Girls) and other movie bullies.
- Being a bully character, Buzz bullies Kevin both physically and verbally.
- Buzz is more of a verbal bully, mostly resorting to name calling. Examples of these include calling Kevin a phlegm-wad and a trout sniffer, as well as making barfing actions when he bullies Kevin into believing that he (Buzz) has eaten all the cheese pizza that he was supposed to share with him.
- However, there are hints that he physically bullies Kevin, but this only happens off-screen; the closest act of on-screen physical bullying is when he mocks Kevin during the Christmas pageant by using candles to illuminate his ears while the latter was doing a solo.
- Buzz is a mix of typical depictions of bullies in media like jocks, preppies, and greasers:
- Jock: Buzz loves sports as evidenced by his ownership of a basketball and being a fan of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, who appears as a hard cardboard cutout standee in his room. He is also known to have interests in girls and talks about them with Rod. A Playboy magazine in his possession also adds as evidence to his liking of girls.
- Greaser: Based on Buzz's physical appearance, it can be seen that he was quite bulky and stocky compared to other boys of his family.
- Preppy: He comes from a rich family.
- Bully: Buzz abuses Kevin who is smaller and weaker. In the same time he likes to play smart, scaring off others with creepy inaccurate urban legends, like old Marley's story. In the same time he likes to play smart and scare others with inaccurate facts and creepy urban legends, like telling about Marley to Rod and Kevin.
- He and Stan from Home Alone 3 share the same aforementioned similarities:
- Both characters bully their youngest sibling.
- Both are sports enthusiasts, as evidenced by owning a basketball and being a fan of the Chicago Bulls and one of its star players, Michael Jordan, who appears as a hard cardboard cutout standee or poster in their room.
- The only difference is that Buzz only plays basketball, while Stan, in addition to playing the said sport, also plays hockey.
- Although he and have similar characteristics, they differ from one another:
- Stan is shown to have great concern for his younger brother Alex when the FBI reveals to his family that he is in danger after his interception of the highly classified computer chip. On the other hand, Buzz wasn't that concerned when Kevin was left alone in Home Alone while Buzz was in Paris, France and when Kevin was lost in New York in Home Alone 2.
- Buzz only acts nicely when he gets something good out of Kevin's actions, like when they got presents in New York. When Buzz found out that his room was trashed, he gets angry with Kevin again.
- The actor used for Buzz's girlfriend was actually a male with a wig.
Gallery[]
References[]
| The McCallister family | |
|---|---|
| Peter and Kate's family | Kevin • Peter • Kate • Buzz • Megan • Linnie • Jeff |
| Frank and Leslie's family | Frank • Leslie • Tracy • Sondra • Brooke • Fuller |
| Rob and Georgette's family | Rob • Georgette • Heather • Rod • Steffan • Twins |
| Others | Penelope • Anna |