Table of Content
Winnetka is one of the wealthiest regions in the entire United States in terms of household income, and with its placid suburban character is the ideal backdrop for a movie like ‘Home Alone’. The region has also served as a filming location for several other high profile Hollywood movies including ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, ‘Ocean’s Twelve’, ‘Meet the Parents’, and ‘Sixteen Candles’. Harry and Marv are by Wollman Rink, at the southern end of Central Park. Marv is skating while Harry is reading the paper and plotting how to get some cash. During the holidays, Harry says, "the only stores that are going to have cash on hand are those that deal in moderate priced goods." He points to a full-page ad for Duncan's Toy Chest.
The address given in the movie is 51 West 95th Street, which indeed is a real brownstone, and it actually does look a bit like the location in the film. However, it's certainly not exact, owing to the fact that the house isn't actually in New York. One of the most iconic images of the movie is the zoom-out shot of Kevin standing on top of the south World Trade Center.
LOCATION DETAILS
Everything about the film, including the hilarious performance of villainous duo Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, the charming Macaulay Culkin, and the memorable soundtrack by the legendary John Williams is iconic. Other filming locations include the World Trade Center, the New York Subway and Central park, while in Chicago, scenes were shot in the Hilton Hotel and at O'Hare International Airport. In an attempt to prevent Marv and Rob from robbing the toy store, Kevin lures the two criminals to one of Home Alone 2’s final filming locations—his Uncle’s brownstone. The treehouse where Kevin escapes to during the film’s climax was constructed especially for the movie.
The Rookery, found on 209 S LaSalle St, was dressed up to look like an impressive toy store for the movie. Today the building features lots of businesses with a US Bank and a Brooks Brothers standing out on the ground floor. After receiving some words of wisdom from the woman, Kevin is inspired to make up for his past mistakes by thwarting Marv and Harry’s plan to rob the toy store.
The production staff created another fake old-timey movie for the sequel.
The Diner still exists, it’s called Empire Diner and it’s located in Chalsea, on the West side of Manhattan. We all have in mind the iconic image of Kevin sticking his head out of the cab as he crosses this bridge. However, this building is not a hospital, but a part of Columbia's Teachers College.
Two soundtrack albums of the film were released on November 20, 1992, with one featuring Williams' score and the other featuring contemporary Christmas songs featured in the film. Ten years later, a 2-disc Deluxe Edition of the film score soundtrack was released. The McCallister family is preparing to spend Christmas in Miami, and gathers at Peter and Kate's Chicago home. Their youngest son, Kevin, views Florida as contradictory to Christmas, due to its tropical climate and lack of Christmas trees.
Queensboro Bridge
In Home Alone 2, Kevin hits up all the good spots in New York but some locations are a little different these days. There have now been six movies in the Home Alone franchise, with the latest, Home Sweet Home Alone, now available to watch on Disney+. You can find the full list of the New York locations and where to find them here. He stumbles upon the now iconic Duncan's Toy Chest in the center of New York City where he meets the adorable and philanthropic owner Mr. Duncan . It’s here where Kevin is finally united with his mother and the two share a very touching moment together. This shop was located in Manhattan and the name was eventually changed to Good Fortune Gifts.
The Rockefeller Plaza is the last of Home Alone 2 film locations and it serves as the perfect backdrop for one of the movie’s best scenes. In the story, the townhouse is located in New York —however, this is the only one, of the Home Alone 2 film locations, to be shot in Los Angeles. Kevin makes a 911 call from an Upper West Side phone booth and tells the dispatcher that the thieves who robbed Duncan's Toy Chest will be in the park at 95th Street. "Look for fireworks. They've got a gun." Then he slips on ice, and the dastardly duo walks him into the park. Ultimately, the Pigeon Lady throws feed onto the very sticky Sticky Bandits, swarms of pigeons peck away, and Kevin is able to set off fireworks to alert the police to their presence. In the bag of stolen money, he leaves Polaroids of the guys at the toy store as well as the tape recording of Marv explaining the plan.
DISCOVER NYC
You get the sense, again, that this is a smart-yet-naive Midwestern kid having a fun day out but at the same time getting a little bit awed by the big city even from so many stories up. At the airport, Kevin looks out at Long Island City's Pepsi-Cola sign and the East River skyline, and the screen flashes to and from various cityscape shots. We get a sense of the enormity of the place and the tiny-ness of this child. At first, Kevin says nervously, "Oh no, my family's in Florida and I'm in New York." Then he smiles.
Little do they know that Kevin is no ordinary kid, and they are about to walk into a whole new world of pain inside Kevin’s heavily booby-trapped home in some truly uproarious sequences. At the Miami airport, security tells Kevin's parents it's unlikely he'll be anywhere but still stuck in Chicago. The camera pans to the South Street Seaport's erstwhile Fulton Fish Market . A backpack-toting Kevin crosses the street; meanwhile a white truck makes a turn, honks at him, and rolls up the back to reveal Harry and Marv.
"There's nobody dumb enough to knock off a toy store on Christmas Eve," Harry jibes. Marv answers, "Oh, yes there is," and gestures to both of them. The next morning, the family oversleeps and must rush to the airport. Kevin is with them, but he becomes separated from them while carrying Peter's bag and accidentally boards a flight to New York City. Upon arrival, he decides to tour the city, but becomes frightened by a homeless woman tending to pigeons in Central Park.
But even before that, viewers see Kevin walking up some stairs into the complex itself with the two iconic buildings proudly standing in the background. The entire movie was filmed across Chicago and New York, despite the majority of the story being based in NYC. The actual location used for the scenes in the film was in Universal Studios on Brownstone Street! They just used an address here in NYC, that Hollywood trickery. After finally arriving to New York, Kevin’s mom Kate (Played by Catherine O’Hara) goes on a desperate search for her son and catches a cab to Times Square. While it’s one of Home Alone 2’s briefest use of NYC locations, the setting is still a memorable one.
It broke the short-lived record set one week earlier by Bram Stoker's Dracula for having the largest November opening weekend. The film went on to hold this record until 1994 when it was taken by Interview with the Vampire. Additionally, it achieved the highest opening weekend for a Chris Columbus film and would hold that record until it was surpassed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 2001. It started off better than Home Alone, grossing $100 million in 24 days compared to 33 days for the original.
Even people who’ve never been to New York City have a strong connection to the park, in part because of the film’s central character, Kevin McAllister , and his relationship with the park-dwelling Pigeon Lady . In one scene, Kevin hides from the inept criminal duo Harry and Marv by hopping in a trunk on the back of a hansom cab at Bethesda Terrace. As the so-called “Sticky Bandits” search for him, Kevin is pulled away toward Bow Bridge and Cherry Hill.
The money is delivered to the hospital as intended, and Mr. Duncan finds out Kevin was responsible. Kevin's uncle Rob and aunt Georgette have a townhouse on 95th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. He finds the address in his dad's contacts, which were in the backpack, but after seeking refuge there earlier, realizes that no one is home and the house is undergoing a gut renovation.
The true luxury hotel was presented as the most attractive and the best hotel in New York City. The story line of ‘Home Alone’ follows the mischievously resourceful little boy Kevin McCallister, who has a proclivity for creating trouble, much to the chagrin of his harried mother and absent-minded father. Kevin’s entire extended family is taking a vacation to Paris, France. However, trouble is afoot in the neighborhood as a couple of robbers start casing the houses, with their eye on the McCallister house next.
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