If you haven't watched Home Alone yet this Christmas then, first of all, what are you doing?
Second of all, I bet you missed the key reason why poor little Kevin McCallister was left behind by his family on their Christmas trip to France - because this year, a lot of viewers are only just starting to spot it.
The iconic festive film tells the story of Kevin, who was accidentally left home alone (duh), and forced to defend his home against burglars Marv and Harry who plan on breaking in while the McCallisters are on vacation.
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But how did Kevin's parents and his outrageously large family manage to forget him?
The most obvious answer that comes to mind is that Kevin got in trouble the night before their flight to France and was sent to sleep in the loft by himself as punishment.
Then, in the middle of the night, a storm caused the power in the McCallister home to go out, resetting all of their alarm clocks.
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When they got a knock on the door from the airport taxi service, the family scrambled to get their luggage, tickets, and passport together, Kevin's mum Kate asks her niece Heather to do a headcount of all the children.
Heather's count goes wrong on account of two people.
Firstly, Kevin's older brother Buzz, who tries to throw Heather off by shouting out random numbers.
And secondly, the McCallister's neighbour Mitch Murphy, a young boy Kevin's age who comes over to chat with the kids before they head off on their holiday. Only seeing the back of his head, Heather mistakenly counts him.
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When it appears they have everyone, the family rush off to the airport and head to Paris.
But wait... wouldn't the McCallisters have had a spare plane ticket when they checked in? Shouldn't that have given them an inkling that Kevin was missing?
That's where the less obvious detail comes in. A moment so fleeting that many Home Alone fans had never even noticed it before.
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You see, the night before the flight, Kevin got in trouble because he got in a fight with Buzz for eating his cheese pizza. The argument resulted in a litre of milk being spilled all over the table, soaking the pizza boxes, the family, and most importantly, the plane tickets.
After Kevin's dad Peter grabs some paper towels to dry up the mess, he accidentally throws away one of the plane tickets - which would explain why the McCallisters don't notice Kevin is missing until they're halfway to France.
While watching the classic 90s film this year, one viewer spotted the tiny detail for the first time, and couldn't believe he had never noticed it before.
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"I’ve seen Home Alone ~25 times and it wasn’t until this most recent time I realised the dad threw away a plane ticket when cleaning up spilled milk at the beginning.
"That’s why they never had an extra ticket."
So, really, when you put it all together, were the McCallisters really bad parents? Or was it all just an unfortunate coincidence?
Plus, when you really think about it, Kevin being left home alone was actually the best thing for his family.
Imagine he had been remembered and the whole family showed up to the airport, only for one plane ticket to be missing! Not only that, but while they were away, the McCallisters home would have been absolutely ransacked by the Wet Bandits.
So, was Kevin probably traumatised for life? Sure. Especially after getting separated from his family *again* in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.
But it was all for the greater good. Merry Christmas, kids.
Topics: Christmas, Film and TV