Home Alone: The most surprising facts about the holiday classic

There’s no doubt ‘Home Alone’ has been a classic holiday film since it first hit theaters in 1990, however the creators of the masterpiece, John Hughes and Chris Columbus, did not expect the Christmas movie to have so much cultural impact.

So feel free to share some of the most surprising facts about ‘Home Alone’ that you didn’t expect, with your friends and family this holiday season.

©Twentieth Century Fox

The incredible and hilarious story of Kevin McCallister, portrayed by Macaulay Culkin, came together in less than 10 days, with John Hughes inspired by his family’s first trip to Europe in 1989, creating the premise “What if one of the kids had been accidentally left behind?”

The Wet Bandits didn’t have the best luck throughout the movie, however one of the most scary things to happen to Marv, portrayed by Daniel Stern, was to have a real tarantula crawl across his face, and while they got the right scene in just one take, the reacting seems to be genuine.

©Twentieth Century Fox

Fans of the movie have always been surprised with the 4,250-square-foot home of the McCallisters, reported to be worth over $1.5 million in real life.

Culkin has revealed Joe Pesci actually bit him during the rehearsal scene of the film, where the Wet Bandits finally catch Kevin, “They hung me up on a coat hook, and Pesci says, ‘I’m gonna bite all your fingers off, one at a time,’” Culkin says, “he bit me, and it broke the skin.”

©Twentieth Century Fox

Before Joe Pesci portrayed the character of Harry Lyme, the role was first offered to Robert De Niro, however the actor turned down the part and it was then offered to Jon Lovitz, who was also busy at the time. Luckily Pesci took over and showed he was the perfect actor for the role.

The movie also sparked the craziest conspiracy theories, including one about Elvis Presley, with fans insisting that the late singer makes a cameo during the scene in which Kevin’s mom, portrayed by Catherine O’Hara, is asking for a plane ticket.

©Twentieth Century Fox

There’s a funny scene in the film where Kevin discovers a framed photo of Buzz’s girlfriend, however the producers didn’t want to cast a girl, as the point of the scene was to make fun of Kevin’s older brother, “they decided it would be unkind to put a girl in that role of just being funny-looking,” so the art director’s son stepped in and got into costume for the part.