Kevin McCallister is the main protagonist of the first two movies of the Home Alone, portrayed by Macaulay Culkin and Mike Weinberg in Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House. In Home Alone, Kevin defends himself against two burglars trying to rob his house and foils their plans with his cleverly smart idea of booby traps. In Home Alone 2, he foils their robbing a toy store in New York.
Background
Kevin with his brother Buzz and cousin Rod
Kevin McCallister is a young eight-year-old boy who is mistakenly left at home by his family when they were going on vacation for Christmas. He is often bullied by his siblings, Buzz, Megan, Jeff, and Linnie, and even his Uncle Frank. He lives with his parents, older siblings, and their dog (Which is not seen in Home Alone or Home Alone 2, but there is a dog door. But, however, the Dog was in the novel of Home Alone (1990). His name was Ralphie and they already put him in the kennel before they leave). Kevin's cousin Sondra and her brother and sisters are temporarily living with him while their parents are working in Paris, France. Not much information is known about his background.
Personality-wise, Kevin is a typical 8 year old. This is especially obvious when he comes to believe he made his family disappear in the first film, taking pleasure in activities around the house he would ordinarily be scolded for. On the other hand, he is mature enough to take care of himself for a period of days. He goes shopping for himself, does laundry, and cuts his own Christmas tree. Kevin singlehandedly takes on the task of stopping Harry and Marv without help from the police. When it comes time to defend himself, he is levelheaded, inventive, and resourceful. He even taunts the burglars several times during each of the movies.
In light of his family, however, he is small, loud, and often overlooked by his parents and relatives. This usually leads to him lashing out (most of the time at Buzz) when pushed too far. Nevertheless, at the end of both movies, he is always assured that his siblings care for him and his parents love him very much.
Home Alone
Kevin eating ice cream while watching the gangster movie
After getting into an argument with his older brother Buzz because he purposly ate Kevin's cheese pizza, Kevin is sent to the third floor of the house by his mother, Kate, and wishes his family would disappear. After a power surge that reset their alarm, the McCallisters wake up four hours late and rush to get to the airport. Kevin, who is apparently still sleeping, is left behind in bed. When Heather does a headcount to make sure everybody is there, a neighborhood boy named Mitch Murphy, who also leaves for vacation to Orlando, Florida, is mistaken for Kevin. The family leaves for the airport, and Kevin wakes up to find his entire family gone. Kevin is overjoyed that his wish had came true, and he gets into all sorts of trouble, including taking Buzz's life savings (which he uses later to buy food), practicing shooting Buzz's BB gun, jumping on the bed, and watching a gangster film while eating ice cream. His mother send the police over to the house to check on Kevin, which causes Kevin to be frightened.
On Christmas Eve, Kevin overhears the plans of the Wet Bandits, composed of two robbers, Harry and Marv, known for robbing houses when the families leave for vacation. He sets a series of booby traps after talking with Old Man Marley. The robbers, who were initially fooled by Kevin into thinking that his family is at home, realized that Kevin was the one home alone and make their move. After making the robbers go through a series of traps, Kevin calls 9-1-1 from his parents room, and is soon trapped by the robbers who plan to bite off all his fingers one by one. Marley later knocks them out with a snow shovel and takes Kevin back home. The next morning, Kevin wakes up to find that his mother has returned. The rest of the McCallisters return some minutes later. Buzz reconciles with Kevin, telling him he thought it was pretty cool that Kevin didn't burn the house down, and Kevin thanks him. Buzz later interrupts Kevin's musings while watching Old Man Marley reunite with his family by calling out, "Kevin! What did you do to my room?!" Kevin runs off as the film ends.
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York
Kevin notices that he's lost in New York.
In Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, Kevin is now 10 years old. After Buzz humiliates Kevin during his solo in front of the whole audience, Kevin punches Buzz in the stomach, knocking over the other children as well, which then sends the cardboard Christmas tree crashing down on the pianist. That night, Buzz "apologizes" to Kevin and the rest of the family, but Kevin refuses to apologize to Buzz because he had still been a jerk to Kevin, without the family knowing and goes up to the third floor; he also reiterates his disgust with the family's decision to go to Florida for the holidays. After berating his mother, he wishes that he could go on his own vacation by himself and have the best time of his life, to which his mother reminds Kevin that his wish to be home alone came true the previous year, so his vacation wish might come true this time. Kevin replies in an angry, agitated tone, "I hope so!"
Kevin talking on the phone while in a limo.
The day of the flight the McCallisters sleep in (because of his Dad accidentally unplugging the radio clock the night before) and rush through the airport to make their flight, and Kevin stops while getting batteries for his Talkboy. Seeing a man who is wearing the same color coat as his Dad, he follows him toward a flight on a Boeing 767 to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Kevin ends up in New York with his father's travel bag and wallet, while his family and his luggage arrive in Miami; when the family realizes Kevin did not make the trip to Miami, his mother faints.
While contemplating on a place to stay while in New York, Kevin walks through Central Park and meets a lady that is covered in rags and tends to pigeons, which makes him shudder. He spots the Plaza Hotel, which he had heard mentioned on a game show the night before, and checks in pretending to be on vacation with his father, using Peter's credit card from his wallet. While at the hotel, Kevin goes on a tour of New York in a white limo and ends up at Duncan's Toy Chest, where he meets the philanthropist owner, Mr. Duncan, who tells him the proceeds from the store's Christmas sales will go to the children's hospital. After Kevin donates some money, Mr. Duncan allows him to take a pair of ceramic turtledoves, instructing him to give one to someone else as a symbol of friendship.
After Kevin leaves the store, he runs into Harry and Marv. He flees to the Plaza, but the Plaza's concierge Mr. Hector (Tim Curry) has investigated Kevin's suspicious cover story and believes his Dad's credit card to be stolen. Kevin manages to flee the hotel staff, but is kidnapped by Marv and Harry. The two plan to get their revenge on Kevin for sending them to prison in the previous film. Then Marv mentions their plan to rob the toy store, which Kevin tape records before goosing the lady Marv met the day before, making her strike both Harry and Marv in the process and allowing Kevin to escape into the back of a hansom cab.
Using his father's address book, Kevin finds the home of his Uncle Rob, but the door is locked and the home is being renovated, as Uncle Rob and his wife are still living abroad in Paris. Kevin wanders the streets and then heads into Central Park. Once there, after feeding the pigeons some cookie crumbs, he encounters the pigeon lady again, and attempts to run but gets his foot caught. She frees him and Kevin apologizes for being scared of her. The two watch a Christmas concert in a loft above Carnegie Hall, where the pigeon lady tells Kevin about how her life has fallen apart and how she dealt with it by taking care of the pigeons in the park, leading to her current distraught and homeless state. He promises to be her friend if she needs one, and she smiles. Then while walking the streets, Kevin stops at the children's hospital and waves to a sick child, giving him a look of compassion. Remembering what both Mr. Duncan and Marv said, Kevin decides to stop the bandits from robbing the store and rushes back to Uncle Rob's home. There, Kevin uses the renovation materials to set up a series of booby-traps throughout the home.
Kevin arrives at the toy store in the middle of the heist, makes a seesaw using a board and bucket, photographs the two in the process of the crime and finally sets off the store's alarm by throwing a rock tied with a note to Mr. Duncan through the store's window, shattering it. Harry then runs out to the window and steps on one end of the seesaw, but before he can warn Marv not to step on the other end, Marv does exactly that and sends Harry flying into the air, causing him to painfully land on the roof of a parked car. Harry and Marv then chase Kevin to Uncle Rob's house, break into the home, and are beset by Kevin's brutal booby-traps before finally falling from a rope lit on fire, as Kevin calls the police from a phone booth.
The bandits catch him, but the pigeon lady enters the scene and douses the two with bird seed, prompting pigeons to swoop down and swarm them. Kevin runs and sets off fireworks, which he bought earlier, to signal the police, who arrest the bandits and have Kevin's photographs and tape recording to use as evidence against them. At the toy store, Mr. Duncan finds Kevin's note and realizes his role in stopping the bandits.
Kate is looking for Kevin in Times Square, and informs two police officers. While talking to them, she mentions (and remembers) Kevin's fondness for Christmas trees, and asks them for a ride to Rockefeller Center. Her intuition proves correct, as she then finds Kevin in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and the two embrace and apologize to each other (a parallel to the first movie's mother-and-son reconciliation scene) before heading back to the Plaza.
A truckload of gifts comes to the Plaza the next morning as a reward for Kevin's foiling of the robbery, and Buzz suggests that had it not been for Kevin getting on the wrong flight, they would not be in the suite with the Christmas tree and gifts in the first place. So, he decides to allow Kevin to open up the first present as a sign of reconciliation. While everyone else is opening their presents, Kevin runs out into the snow to give the pigeon lady one of the two turtledoves Mr. Duncan gave him and reaffirms his promise to be her friend, and they hug. Meanwhile, Kevin's room service bill from his original stay at the hotel is delivered to the suite. Buzz receives it, and shows it to his father who calls out, "Kevin! You spent $967 on room service?!" Kevin runs back to the hotel as the film ends.
Quotes
- I don't think so.
Home Alone
- I made my family disappear.
- This is my house. I have to defend it.
- I'm kind of upset about it because I really like my family, even though sometimes I say I don't. Sometimes I even think I don't.
- No offense, but aren't you a little old to be afraid?
- You guys give up, or are you thirsty for more?
- (mouths) Keep the change, ya filthy animal.
- Pack my suitcase?
- This is it. Don't get scared now.
- A lovely cheese pizza, just for me.
- Buzz your girlfriend! WOOF!
- (After looking at Buzz's Playboy magazine) No clothes on anybody! Sickening!
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York
- So what else is new?
- My family's in Florida, and I'm in New York.
- No offense, but that seems like sort of a dumb thing to do.
- You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas.
- (to his Uncle Frank) Oh, wouldn't wanna spoil your fun, Mr. Cheapskate.
- Don't you know a kid always wins against two idiots?
- I'm ten years old, TV is my life.
Trivia
- In one scene of one of the Home Alone movies, Kevin, after taking a shower, mouths the lyrics to one verse of White Christmas by the Drifters. In Home Alone 4, the song was I Feel Good as he started taking a shower.
- In Home Alone Kevin states that he is 8 years old. However, in Home Alone 2 a year has passed and he states that he's 10 years old.
- Kevin enjoys mouthing words/lyrics said on television or in a song.
- Despite screaming the first time he saw Angels with Filthy Souls, he didn't seem to mind the sequel, although he still can't take the shooting scene.
- Macaulay Culkin was supposed to play a teenager Kevin in "Home Alone 3." Due to Macaulay quitting acting at this time, Alex Pruitt was created instead in his place. Kevin returns in "Home Alone 4" but is played by Mike Weinberg instead due to Macaulay being all grown up.
- Macaulay also refused to do the role of Kevin for "Home Alone 3" because he had grown tired of being him and he felt there was nothing else he could've done with it. He also didn't want to do "childish movies" anymore.
- Kevin does not like anything on his pizza except cheese.
- Kevin and his family are probably church goers and say grace as shown when Kevin crosses himself and prays before eating his mac and cheese.
- Kevin dislikes gunshots in movies and covers his eyes during those parts.
- Kevin enjoys ice cream, pizza, soda, chips, and firecrackers.
- He is shown as a snoop when he looks through Buzz's private trunk and when he steals Buzz's lifesavings.
- Kevin is fascinated by the New York City skyline and scenery.
- Kevin believes Christmas should always have a real Christmas tree when celebrating.
- Kevin recieves many presents he does not enjoy, such as a sweater with a bird on the front, Donald Duck slippers, and an inflatable clown for pools.
- Kevin does not know how to pack a suitcase as his mom has always done it for him.
- Kevin was played by Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone 1 and 2, and was played by Mike Weinberg in Home Alone 4.
- Kevin's adress is 671 Lincoln Boulevard.
- In "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2", Kevin's hair is blonde. However, in "Home Alone 4", Kevin's hair is brown.
- In "Home Alone 2" Kevin forgot about the ice patch; not a booby trap he set up but sometimes frozen ice patches can happen throughout the streets of New York.
- Kevin has an outie bellybutton, which can be pointed out in "Home Alone 2" in the scene where Kevin is wearing a swimsuit.
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