Home Alone - NYE at Macy's

There's something nolstagic about department stores. It was such a vibe. With malls kind of dying and rise of ecommerce, the whole brick and morter everything store might have been a flash in the pan. One of my favourite christmas movies is home alone- christmas in new york. So many iconic spots, all explored through lens of kid in a candy store.

Sometimes I'll imagine a movie and it just feels like it should or already exists. I had to double check because this franchise seems to be just perfect for a department store edition. I asked some LLM's to grid some storyboards and nanobanana made the best ones.

Props for the consistent writing along the bottom- very on brand.

Normally this would take months of prep, set design, props, crowd control, etc. etc. With advent of ai, I got these in one evening.

(Scene opens with the iconic shot of Kevin’s face pressed against the fish-eye peephole of the front door. But it PULLS BACK to reveal it’s not a door—it’s the curved glass of a snow globe. Inside, the miniature is a huge, ornate department store.)

ANNOUNCER (V.O.) This Christmas... Kevin McCallister is about to be left... all over again.

(Quick shots: The same bustling toy department. KEVIN (10, in his iconic red-and-black-checkered coat) is mesmerized by a complex, European train set. The extended McCallister clan—Buzz, Megan, Uncle Frank, etc.—are in their usual pre-travel chaos, bickering over last-minute gifts.)

KATE McCALLISTER (calling out) Kevin! Stay with your father!

(Kevin turns. Peter McCallister is distracted, trying to haggle over the price of a last-minute cashmere scarf. The family, herded by a stressed Kate, flows like a tide toward the grand exit.)

(The giant, brass store doors are shut and locked by a manager in a vintage suit. A sign clicks into place: “CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAY.”)

ANNOUNCER (V.O.) When a McCallister mix-up lands him in the ultimate playground...

(Kevin’s initial panic melts away. He looks down the endless, silent, glittering aisles. A slow, cunning smile spreads across his face. He takes a deep breath.)

KEVIN (To himself, whispering) I made my family disappear.

(The mischievous, bells-and-chimes version of “Carol of the Bells” KICKS IN.)

(Montage of Kevin’s Department Store Paradise:

• Sliding down the polished wooden banisters from the 3rd floor.

• Creating an elaborate fort from pillows and comforters in the Bed & Bath section.

• Feasting at the closed gourmet food counter: a mountain of cheese, one tiny bite from every pastry.

• “Testing” every television in Electronics to watch his favorite movie.)

• 
  

ANNOUNCER (V.O.) He had every toy, every treat, every game he could imagine... ...Until he learns some visitors don’t come down the chimney.

(The music STOPS. A CRASH from the basement. On a bank of old, grainy security monitors, we see them: HARRY and MARV, in their same trench coats, staring in awe at the retail treasure trove.)

MARV (Drooling) Harry... look at the volume. The sheer... liquidatable volume.

HARRY (Smacking Marv’s head) We’re not calling it that. But yeah. It’s Christmas. Let’s loot.

(Kevin watches them on the monitor. His playful joy hardens into strategic determination. He cracks his knuckles.)

ANNOUNCER (V.O.) (Excited) This year, the traps are bigger, the stakes are higher, and the battlefield is an entire store!

(Rapid-fire trap montage set to thrilling orchestral music):

• Harry stepping onto a “Welcome” mat in Men’s Shoes that triggers a cascade of sticky perfume samples from the ceiling.

• Marv touching a shiny chrome escalator handrail—ZZZAP!—rigged with a static electricity generator from the Science aisle.

• A avalanche of hundreds of plastic balls from the Ball Pit rolling down the main staircase.

• The Wet Bandits chased through the Christmas decoration aisle by a menacing, remote-controlled Santa sleigh display.

• The climax: Harry and Marv, tangled in a giant, motorized ribbon spool from Gift Wrap, being spun helplessly.

(A quiet moment. Kevin sits by the store’s main window, watching a family build a snowman across the street. He hugs his knees, looking suddenly very small.)

ANNOUNCER (V.O.) (Softer, heartfelt) But in the quiet of the night, he’ll discover that the greatest gift...

(The sound of a POLICE SIREN. Headlights glare through the frosted glass. KATE McCALLISTER’s face appears, frantic, at the door.)

KATE KEVIN!

(Kevin’s face fills with pure, radiant relief.)

(Final shots: The police leading away the glitter-covered, ribbon-wrapped Bandits. The McCallister family reunited inside the store. Kevin is in Kate’s arms. Over her shoulder, he looks at the European train set. PETER sees him looking, smiles, and gives a subtle thumbs-up.)

ANNOUNCER (V.O.) ...is the one you almost left behind.

(Screen goes black.)

HOME ALONE 3: STORE ALONE

(The “O” in “HOME” is a Christmas ornament. The “O” in “ALONE” is a spinning store security camera.)

THIS CHRISTMAS, CHECK OUT THE CHAOS.

(The final, majestic, heart-tugging chord of “Somewhere in My Memory” plays, followed by the faint, cheerful ding of a cash register.)