If you're anything like me, you're on your re-run of watching all of the classic Christmas movies in the build-up to December 25.
Of course, that includes one of the best Christmas movies of all time; Home Alone (1990).
If you're a big fan of the movie, you probably know the plot inside out. However, for the five people yet to watch the movie, it tells the story of young Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin), who is left home alone when his family leaves for their Christmas vacation and he accidentally gets left behind.
Kevin is then forced to form an elaborate plan full of traps and mischief in order to stop two bungling burglars from robbing his house while his family is away.
But a key moment at the start of the movie - that seemingly a lot of viewers miss the first time around - is the real reason that Kevin has to go through all this trouble in the first place.
Well, on the morning of the flight, everybody oversleeps after a power outage causes the family's alarm clocks to reset. As a result, the family becomes discombobulated amid the rush to get to the airport. And when doing a headcount, the accidentally count the boy who lives down the road.
But surely any responsible and organized parent would realize that their son was missing when getting to the airport and seeing they had an extra ticket, right?
Well, this is where this all-important hidden detail comes in.
In a scene the night before, the family is shown some pizza, but when Kevin and his older brother, Buzz, get into a fight, they spill milk all over some of the tickets and passports.
Check out the chaotic scene unfold below:When cleaning up the mess, Kevin’s dad actually picks up a plane ticket, hidden among the red napkins, and throws it into the trash.
The camera ever-so-briefly zooms in on the plane ticket, labeled ‘Kevin’ in the garbage can, before it then gets covered up with more napkins.
It is such a brief scene that it is no wonder that some viewers miss it entirely.
Even today, some Twitter users are just finding out the true reason Kevin was left home alone.
One Twitter user wrote: “Okay this is crazy lol and I’m sure people have found this Easter egg many times, but for me I just realized that in Home Alone, Kevin’s dad accidentally threw away Kevin’s plane ticket. Which explains how they didn’t realize anyone was missing handing out tickets at the gate.”
“I’ve seen Home Alone - 25 times and it wasn’t until the most recent time I realized the dad threw away a plane ticket when cleaning up spilled milk at the beginning. That’s why they never had an extra ticket,” a third Twitter user commented.
Another particularly eagle-eyed Twitter user replied to a post about the revelation, saying how this gave some background context and reference to a comment made by Kevin in the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992):
Kevin actually makes it to the airport and on a plane this time because he has his own ticket. However, of course, it still goes wrong as the youngster ends up in New York alone instead.
So, there is the real reason Kevin gets left home alone. Now, it’s time to rewatch it yet again to try and spot even more of these little easter eggs within the movie…
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