'Home Alone' Fans Uncover Key Detail About Film 35 Years Later

While re-watching "Home Alone" this holiday season, fans noticed a significant detail more than 35 years after the movie's release.

Early in the film, Kevin McCallister and his brother Buzz knock over their dinner table, spilling milk across several papers that include the family’s travel documents. Among those papers is Kevin’s plane ticket. Their father, Peter McCallister, then grabs a handful of wet napkins but accidentally throws Kevin’s boarding pass in the trash.

As of publication, an X post pointing out the detail has more than 12.5 million views: "After years of watching Home Alone, I'm just realizing now that Kevin's dad threw out his plane ticket."

The scene helps explain why an airline attendant didn't notice that a passenger was missing. Kevin's ticket was never scanned.

"So Kevin wouldn’t have been able to fly anyway," another viral X post noted.

Nearly every Christmas, re-watchers uncover new points of discussion. For example, some observers question how Kevin managed to travel so quickly between the church where he speaks with Old Man Marley and his large home later in the film, given the approximately 3.3-mile distance between locations. 

Taxi?

Others revisit longstanding curiosities, such as how the McCallisters could afford their substantial suburban Chicago home.

As for the final debate, let us know which film you prefer: "Home Alone" or "Home Alone 2"?