- As the Christmas-y soundtrack music plays, we see an ominous moon floating in the sky.
- The opening credits roll, as the illustrated image of a house and the title "Home Alone" appear. A window in the house clicks on.
- Now, the movie starts for real: in a large house full of crowded family members, a man who appears to be a police officer tries to get someone to pay attention to him. The family members ignore him, distracted by the general hubbub in the house.
- Upstairs, eight-year-old Kevin McCallister complains to his mother Kate, telling her that his Uncle Frank won't let him watch a violent movie. She tells him his uncle's probably right.
- Kevin acts like a nuisance, bothering his parents while they try to pack and get ready for their extended family's trip to visit relatives in France.
- Like the rabbit-killing crazy lady in Fatal Attraction, he "will not be ignored"—but in a nicer way.
- Kevin is daunted by the prospect of packing his own suitcase, demonstrating his lack of self-sufficiency. He's also worried that he'll have to sleep in the same bed as his cousin. His cousin still wets the bed. Ugh. We'd be worried, too.
- Downstairs, the (alleged) cop continues trying to find the homeowner, but the kids he talks to tell him that they're just cousins.
- Kevin's brother Buzz chats with one of Kevin's cousins. Kevin comes in, and Buzz acts like a jerk—he won't let Kevin sleep in his room.
- Outside, they see an old man from the neighborhood, Marley, salting the roads and shoveling sidewalks. Buzz claims that he's a serial killer who murders people with his snow shovel and mummifies them with salt—this freaks Kevin out.
- A pizza delivery boy arrives, knocking over a statue in front of the house by accident.
- After waiting around, the pizza boy and the cop both finally get to talk to Kevin's Dad, Pete, who tells the cop about the precautions he's taking to make sure the house will be safe from burglars when gone.