12 things you probably didn't know about 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'
Erin Ajello
- "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" is a classic holiday sequel, but fans might not know these facts.
- The film shot some scenes inside the real Plaza Hotel, but there's not actually a pool there.
The Talkboy recorder Kevin uses was actually sold.
Throughout the movie, Kevin uses a Talkboy tape recorder to trick and annoy the adults around him.
The device can record audio and play it back, and replay the recording in different voices and speeds.
It was created specifically as a prop for the film by Tiger Electronics, but according to Vanity Fair, the company was allowed to sell a real version once it came out.
In 1992, it retailed for $29.99.
Macaulay Culkin's brother appears in the film.
Kieran Culkin appeared in "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2."
Though he's Macaulay's brother in real life, he played Kevin's cousin, Fuller, in the films.
Many of the hotel scenes were actually shot in the Plaza.
The Plaza is one of the main settings of the film as Kevin decides to stay there after accidentally going to New York by himself.
Most of the hotel scenes throughout the movie were actually shot in the iconic building.
Culkin seems to approve of removing a contentious celebrity cameo from the movie.
Donald Trump has a brief cameo in the movie. He gives Kevin directions to the Plaza's lobby.
In 2021, following the January 6 Capitol insurrection, a petition circulated to get Trump's cameo removed. Some fans even began to edit him out or replace him with other celebrities.
Culkin seemed to approve of the edits. When a fan tweeted a version without Trump, Culkin replied, "Bravo." And when another said Trump should be replaced by Culkin's adult self, the actor said, "Sold."
When Insider's Jason Guerrasio interviewed director Chris Columbus in 2020, he said Trump bullied his way into the cameo in the first place.
"We paid the fee, but he also said, 'The only way you can use the Plaza is if I'm in the movie,'" Columbus said. "So we agreed to put him in the movie."
The Plaza has a special "Home Alone 2" package for guests.
The Plaza capitalized on the hotel being featured in the movie by creating a special package for fans, which is still available 30 years later.
The "Home Alone 2: Fun in New York" package includes a limo ride around various famous locations from the movie, a large cheese pizza, and a 16-scoop ice-cream sundae.
If you want to really live like Kevin, you can try requesting the suite he stayed in, 411. But it has been remodeled since the movie was filmed.
Duncan's Toy Chest isn't real, but it was likely inspired by a famous NYC store.
A few times throughout the film, Kevin goes to a massive toy store called Duncan's Toy Chest.
The store itself isn't real, but it seems to have been inspired by F.A.O. Schwarz, a similarly huge toy store and tourist attraction in NYC.
The exterior shots of Duncan's Toy Chest were actually shot in Chicago.
The film's director makes a brief cameo.
When Kevin goes to Duncan's for the first time, he walks by a man lifting his daughter to look at a toy display.
That man is actually the film's director, Columbus.
The Plaza Hotel doesn't really have a pool.
Though Kevin is shown swimming at the Plaza, the hotel doesn't actually have a pool.
The scene was instead filmed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago.
Since the film's release, guests have apparently asked about the pool enough for it to end up on the Plaza's FAQ page.
The site reads, "Despite Kevin McCallister's famous cannonball, The Plaza does not currently house a swimming pool."
The production staff created another fake old-timey movie for the sequel.
In "Home Alone," Kevin watches a fictitious black-and-white movie called "Angels With Filthy Souls." It even helps him in one of his tricks to scare off the Wet Bandits.
The movie was created for "Home Alone," and the production team did the same thing for the sequel.
Kevin watches and strategically plays scenes from "Angels With Even Filthier Souls" at the Plaza.
The "pigeon lady" never gets a real name.
Throughout the film, Kevin talks about the holidays with a woman he meets in Central Park.
Since they met while she is feeding pigeons and she's always shown with the birds, her official credit is listed as "Pigeon Lady."
Despite Kevin's meaningful friendship with her, he never asks her name.
Joe Pesci really got burned during one of the action scenes.
Joe Pesci, who played Harry, one of the rebranded Sticky Bandits who are after Kevin in "Home Alone 2," recently told People that the physical comedy in the film was "demanding."
"In addition to the expected bumps, bruises, and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humor, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry's hat is set on fire," the actor said.
A video game based on the movie was released in 1992.
The Talkboy wasn't the only toy sold for the movie. A video-game adaptation of the sequel was also released in 1992.
The game followed Kevin as he avoided getting caught by hotel staff and the Sticky Bandits.
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