Christmas has come early! Yesterday, Disney Plus added the Home Alone trilogy back to its library as a surprise festive treat for subscribers. The iconic holiday comedy movies were available on D+ at launch last year, but they were removed soon after due to a pre-existing license. That’s now been taken care of, though, so viewers can enjoy the adventures of Kevin McAllister and company once again this Xmas season.
“Surprise, ya filthy animals!” the Disney Plus Twitter account tweeted this Friday. “The Home Alone Collection is NOW streaming on #DisneyPlus—it’s our early gift to you.”
Surprise, ya filthy animals! The Home Alone Collection is NOW streaming on #DisneyPlus—it’s our early gift to you. 🎁 pic.twitter.com/AJaitu1at5
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) November 13, 2020
1990’s Home Alone is beloved by generations – it wasn’t the highest-grossing Christmas movie for nearly three decades for nothing. Director Chris Columbus, writer/producer John Hughes, composer John Williams and breakout star Macauley Culkin were able to create some true holiday magic with the film. Who knew the secret to cooking up a festive classic was subjecting Joe Pesci to grievous bodily harm?
Here’s the synopsis for the original:
“It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris, France. But the youngest in the family, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) and was sent to his room, which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin, who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents’ bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice.”
Two years later, all the key players from the first one returned for another outing, with the twist this time being that Kevin ends up alone in New York, and once again encounters Harry and Marv. As per the sequel’s synopsis:
“Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992): “Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is back. But this time he’s in New York City with enough cash and credit cards to turn the Big Apple into his own playground. But Kevin won’t be alone for long. The notorious Wet Bandits, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), still smarting from their last encounter with Kevin, are bound for New York City too, plotting a huge holiday heist. Kevin’s ready to welcome them with more battery of booby traps the bumbling bandits will never forget.”
After that, though, everyone left the franchise except for Hughes. Raja Gosnell directed Home Alone 3, with Alex D. Linz taking over in the lead as another ingenious, housebound kid, Alex. Yes, this is the one with a young Scarlett Johansson.
“Home Alone 3 (1997): “Four high-tech industrial spies, Beaupre, Alice, Jernigan and Unger, steal a top-secret microchip, and, to fool customs, hide it in a remote-control toy car. Through a baggage mix-up at the airport, grumpy old Mrs.Hess gets the toy and gives it to her neighbor, 8-year-old Alex. Spies want to get the toy back before their clients get angry and decide to burglarize every house at Alex’s street to find the chip. But Alex is prepared for their visit…”
Of course, there are two more Home Alones – TV movies Home Alone 4 (2002) and Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012) – but Disney Plus hasn’t bothered to license them yet and no one really minds. They are cooking up a reboot, though, starring Jojo Rabbit‘s Archie Yates, Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney. That’ll probably arrive in time for Christmas 2021.