They lived in a ridiculously huge house and went to Paris with 9 people. How did they afford this?
shareOne of the movie's great mysteries that'll never be solved because John Hughes is gone.
sharethey was big pimpin
shareI think they mentioned something about one of the relatives paying for the trip to Paris (I could be wrong). And it seems that many of John Hughes' adult characters work in advertising jobs of some kind.
shareEveryone has money except for me.
I can tell this by watching commercials on TV.
You're right. I think Uncle Rob paid.
shareI read the book as a teenager. The only thing I remember is the mother was a dress maker/ designer. That’s where all the mannequins came from.
Yes, there was a book. It came out in 1991. You can Google it
Was it a "Choose Your Own Adventure"? That would be good.
shareI believe it. There were a lot of books based on movies.
shareApparently Peter McCallister is a "prominent businessman".
shareDo they mention it in the movie?
shareNo, also the novelization. That's why I responded to this specific reply.😬
shareCan we also bing it or yahoo it?
shareMom was some type of fashion designer hence the mannequins. I don't think there's any real clues in the film as to what the father does. Obviously both were wealthy considering where they lived, their house, and the extravagant vacations they took including hauling around Kevin's insufferable deadbeat uncle.
shareAnd imagine what they pay to raise all those kids.
shareIm thinking it was easier to become middle class back then, and housing was not as over priced as it is now.
I understand it was still a massive house, in chicago, with a large family. But things are certainly more expensive, with companies treating their employees worse than they did decades ago.
I just assumed the father was a businessman, CEO, could be a lawyer, accountant, even a doctor. All those jobs would make a person wealthy. Another user pointed out that the book states the mom is a fashion designer which makes perfect sense considering all those mannequins in the basement. All these years I never considered why all those mannequins where there and just assumed they wanted the basement "extra creepy" and cluttered with things.
A good thing to ponder is what did Uncle Frank do? The guy was a cheapskate for sure, so you can assume he made less money than his little brother...but wouldnt it be funny if Uncle Frank actually had a very high paying job? xD and he's like this rich miser?
I think they added Uncle Frank and his wife to make us think they were helping out financially.
shareIf your view it from the lens of only this film, that makes sense. It explains why he's acting so cheap because he's already helping out with tickets and hotels.
But if you consider the sequel it paints him in a more negative light. In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Uncle Frank says "You're not gonna ruin this trip for me you little twerp, your father is paying good money for it"! and Kevin responds "Oh I wouldnt want to do that, you big cheapskate".
None of the people there say "Dont talk to uncle frank like that" (because they all know its true) and also Kevin is a young boy. Little kids pick up words and phrases from listening to other people. So Kevin probably learned the word "cheapskate" from his other family members talking about uncle frank xD
In Home Alone 4, they use the same characters. Kevin's parents are getting a divorce and they split the family up but still live in a mansion. Kevin's dad is even engaged to an heiress.
shareHmm, I think they added them to add more kids to the movie so it makes more sense they'd overlook Kevin. Especially since it's mentioned that the uncle in Paris is paying for everything.
share