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"You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas."[src]
Kevin McCallister was a young boy who was separated from his family twice and forced to defend himself against burglars Marv and Harry.
Biography
Left home alone
After getting into a fight with his older brother, Buzz, who purposely ate Kevin's cheese pizza, Kevin was sent to the third floor of the house by his mother Kate and he wished his family would disappear. The next morning, as the family prepared to leave, Kevin was still sleeping. His cousin Heather mistook Mitch Murphy, Kevin's neighbor, for Kevin. The family, in a rush, hurried off to the airport, not realizing that Kevin was not with them.[1]
Later, Kevin woke up to find his whole family gone. Kevin was in a thrill and believed his wish came true, that he made his family disappear. He watched Angels with Filthy Souls and ate ice cream.[1]
Harry and Marv, the "Wet Bandits", start robbing houses in Kevin's neighborhood and planned to rob Kevin's house, too, but he managed to scare them off multiple times. When they discovered that he was just a child, they planned to come back and rob his house at 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve.[1]
Before they came, Kevin went to see "Santa Claus". He told him that instead of presents, he wanted his family to come home. He later walked by a house and saw a happy family eating together. Kevin went to church and discovered that his neighbor, Mr. Marley, was not as scary as Kevin heard. They spoke about their respective family issues and Kevin advised Marley to do something about his estranged son.[1]
This conversation apparently encouraged Kevin to face Harry and Marv, setting up booby traps for the both of them. After they started chasing him, he called the cops. Kevin used a home-made zipline to get to his tree house, then Harry and Marv started chasing him. He led them to the Murphy's house, which they had already robbed. They were one step ahead of him this time, and they caught him. Just in time, Old Man Marley arrived and saved him.[1]
He woke up on Christmas morning and looked for his family, but they were not there. His mother arrived a few minutes later and the rest of his family arrived. After greeting everyone, Kevin headed over to the window, looked out and smiled upon seeing that Marley had taken his advice and made up with his son, thus reuniting him with his family. A moment later, Buzz shouted, "Kevin, what did you do to my room?!" and Kevin ran to hide somewhere else in the house.[1]
Lost in New York
One year later, the McCallisters were going to Florida for Christmas. Kevin saw Florida as contradictory to Christmas because he thought there were no Christmas trees in Florida. While unplugging a charger for camcorder batteries, Kevin's father, Peter, accidentally unplugged the alarm clock. When he plugged it back in, the alarm clock was accidentally set to 12:00 p.m. and he did not even bother to notice.[2]
During a school Christmas pageant, Buzz humiliated Kevin during his solo, causing Kevin to get furious and ruin the performance. Kevin refused to apologize for his actions and was annoyed with his family's decision to go to Florida, before going up to his third-floor bedroom of the house. After an argument with his mother about the vacation to Florida, Kevin wished to have his own vacation alone after Kate reminded Kevin about his wish to be home alone the previous year and told him that he would get it this year.[2]
The next morning, in the confusion and rush to reach the airport on time, Kevin boarded a flight bound for New York City, carrying Peter's bag containing his wallet, credit cards and a large amount of cash as Kevin realized that his family was in Florida and he was in New York.[2]
In New York, Kevin toured the city and convinced the staff at the Plaza Hotel into giving him a room using Peter's credit card. During a visit to Central Park, was frightened by the appearance of a homeless woman tending to pigeons.[2]
On Christmas Eve, Kevin toured the city in a limousine and visited a toy store where he met its philanthropic owner, Mr. Duncan. Kevin learned that the proceeds from the store's Christmas sales would be donated to a children's hospital. Duncan gave Kevin a pair of ceramic turtledoves as a gift, instructing him to give one to another person as a sign of eternal friendship. After encountering the Wet Bandits Harry and Marv (who recently escaped from prison and were then called the Sticky Bandits), Kevin retreated to the hotel. The hotel's concierge, Mr. Hector, confronted Kevin about the credit card which had been reported stolen. Kevin fled after evading Mr. Hector, but was captured by Harry and Marv. Marv took his ticket out of his hand and ripped Kevin's ticket, so that way Kevin could not get back home or get to Miami with his family. The duo discussed plans for robbing the toy store that night, before Kevin escaped, having recorded the entire conversation without the Sticky Bandits noticing.[2]
Following advice from the pigeon lady, who he then understood how her life had fallen apart and how she dealt with it by taking care of the pigeons in the park, Kevin vowed to her that he would be her friend. He went to an old townhouse under renovation, owned by his uncle Rob and aunt Georgette, and set up various traps in preparation for facing off once again against Harry and Marv.[2]
He then arrived at the toy store during Harry and Marv's robbery, threw a brick through the window (with a note explaining to Duncan what had happened), setting off the store's alarm, and led the pair to the townhouse, springing the traps. When the duo closed in on Kevin, he fled the townhouse and called 911. Harry and Marv were able to catch Kevin and attempted to kill him in Central Park. The pigeon lady incapacitated the duo by throwing birdseed onto them, which attracted the birds and caused them to swarm the crooks, and Kevin set off fireworks he had bought earlier to signal the police. Harry and Marv were arrested.[2]
At the World's Largest Christmas Tree, Kevin wished to see his mother again and told her that he was sorry. Kate arrived just in time and she and Kevin reconciled as the two headed back to the hotel and Kate told Kevin that the family did not like the palm trees and having Christmas in Florida.[2]
On Christmas morning at the Plaza Hotel, Kevin and Buzz reconciled and Buzz allowed him to open up the first present. Kevin went to Central Park to give the pigeon lady the second turtledove. At the hotel, Buzz received the bill for Kevin's stay. Peter suddenly called out, "Kevin, you spent $967 on room service?!" at which point Kevin ran away again.[2]
Non-canon appearances
Home Alone (video game)
In the 2006 PS2 video game Home Alone, Kevin is one of four playable characters. He is represented as a boy with blond hair, blue eyes and a red sweater (like his film counterpart) and must defend his house from burglars by locking the doors.
Personality
Kevin is quite the MacGyver, shown when he defends his home from Harry and Marv on Christmas Eve in the first film. Despite being mouthy and obnoxious at the beginning of the films, he then has a good heart. And he is also known as kind, emotional, valiant, intelligent, nice, mischievous, confident, caring, affectionate, loving, loyal, imaginative, self-absorbed (sometimes), thoughtful, efficient and responsible.
Gallery
Trivia
- Kevin prefers cheese pizza.
- Macaulay Culkin reprised the role as an older Kevin in December 2015 as part of an online series named DRYVRS.[1]
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 |