You know what they say about Old Man Marley, the South Bend Shovel Slayer?
At its inception,Home Alonewas both a departure and a return to the well for Hughes.
And on the page, Kevin McCallister was originally meant to be Ferris Bueller in pint-sized form.
He was precious, cool, and utterly unflappable.
Oh, just hung around, Kevin smirks.
Ill tell you what Im gonna give you, Snakes.
Thats because it was never a Hughes invention; the idea came from the films director,Chris Columbus.
Which is to say it needed a little more Christmas magic.
Functionally, it provided another example of Kevin facing his fear and realizing folks are not what they appear.
It also set up Hughes idea of having Marley save Kevins life with a shovel.
That is probably my proudest addition to the movie.
Theres a reason to find pleasure from that.
Its very emotional for people when Marley reunites with his son and granddaughter at the end of the movie.
Its just so incredibly touching.
It just ties into the holiday season.
And it always will.
