Where Did The Phrase “Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal” Come From?

Have you ever heard the phrase “Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal”? It’s a popular meme that’s shared on social media, especially around Christmas time. But do you know where it’s from?

Home Alone 2 Movie Quote: “Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal”

The famous quote, “Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal” is from a scene in the 1992 movie, Home Alone 2. In the movie, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is separated from his family during their Christmas vacation. Using his wits, he tricks the staff at The Plaza Hotel in New York City into checking him into a suite. But after a while, the hotel staff start to get wise of the ruse and all go to Kevin’s room to confront him.

In one of the best scenes in Home Alone 2, Kevin cleverly uses the audio from an old movie titled “Angels with Even Filthier Souls” to trick the staff into thinking that his dad is a deranged gangster with a machine gun.

The Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Scene From Home Alone 2 (1992)

The Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal scene is one of the best moments in Home Alone 2. Director, Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Mrs. Doubtfire, Percy Jackson) did an incredible job making the scene both believable and funny. The fact that people are still enjoying it many years later is a testament to his skills as both a writer and director.

• (The hotel staff all charge into Kevin McCallister’s hotel suite. But he’s expecting them and has an old movie queued up on a VCR out of view.)
• Gangster: Hold it right there!
• Concierge: (Unaware he’s talking to a videotape playing on a TV in another room.) It’s the Concierge sir.
• Gangster: I know it was you. I could smell you getting off the elevator.

• Concierge: (Briefly glances at his own armpit.)
• Gangster: You was here last night too, wasn’t ya?
• Concierge: (Slightly embarrassed) Yes, sir. I was.
• Gangster: You was here, and you was smoochin’ with my brother!
• Concierge: (Scoffs and looks embarrassed) I’m afraid you’re mistaken, sir.
• Gangster: Don’t gimme that! You’ve been smoochin’ with everybody! Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the gimpy leg, Cheeks, Boney Bob, Cliff. (One of the other staff members happens to be called Cliff, it says so on his name badge. He gasps and the others look at him, shocked.) 

• Cliff: It’s a lie!
• Gangster: I could go on forever, baby!
• Concierge: I’m terribly sorry, sir, but I’m afraid you’re mistaken. We’ve been looking for a young man.
• Gangster: All right. I believe ya… but my Tommy gun don’t! Get down on your knees and tell me you love me!
• Concierge: (To the others) On your knees.

• (They all get down on their knees.) 
• Concierge: (The Concierge is so embarrassed it takes him a few moments to summon up the nerve to say the words.) I love you!
• (In the other room, Kevin quietly fills up with laughter and hits the play button again.)
• Gangster: You gotta do better than that!
• Concierge, Bellman, Desk Clerk, Cliff, Security Guard: I love you!
• (Kevin presses the play button on the remote one last time and slips out the rear door of his hotel room.)

• Gangster: Maybe I’m off my hinges, but I believe you. That’s why I’m gonna let you go. I’m gonna give you to the count of three to get your lousy, lyin’, low-down, four flushing carcass OUT my door!
• (The terrified staff run out of the room.)
• Gangster: 1… 2… (Wildly fires the Tommy gun blasting out dozens of rounds.)
• (The hotel staff run for their lives into the hallway taking cover from the nonexistent machine gunfire. Other hotel guests step out of their rooms, wondering what’s going on. While the hotel staff all take cover, face down, on the floor, Kevin slips down the stairs.) 
• Gangster: (Continues firing) HA HA HA! HAAAA!!! HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA! HAAAA!!!
• Gangster: 3. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.

• (Fires his machine gun again.)
• Gangster: And a Happy New Year.
• (Fires one last shot.)
• Concierge: (Crawling across the floor on his belly he tries to warn the hotel’s guests.) Stay in your rooms! This is an emergency! There’s an insane guest with a gun!

Is The Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Movie Even A Real Movie?

Wondering who said “Merry Christmas ya filthy animal” and if it’s from a real movie? Unfortunately, the old black and white film “Angels with Even Filthier Souls” in Home Alone 2 is not a real movie. Like the original, “Angels with Filthy Souls” from Home Alone, “Angels with Even Filthier Souls” is a fake film made just for Home Alone 2.

The actor who played the role of Johnny the gangster in both Home Alone and Home Alone 2 was Ralph Foody (1928–1999). Sadly Home Alone 2 was his last acting credit. Foody died a few short years later at the age of 71.

Fans of the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers might recognize Foody. He had a small but memorable role in the film. He played the Chicago police dispatcher that famously said “Use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers HAS been approved.”

NERD NOTE: Even Hollywood actors like Chris Evans and Seth Rogan thought “Angels with Filthy Souls” and “Angels with Even Filthier Souls” were real movies. Part of what makes the illusion so convincing is how warm and richly textured the lights and shadows appear on film. The clips were filmed using a carbon-arc lighting system. This technique was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s and gave movies of this era their distinctive look.

Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal GIF, Memes, And Merchandise

Many years later, the Home Alone 2 movie quote “Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal” has taken on a life of its own. You can find GIFs, memes, and all sorts of “filthy animal” merchandise on the Internet including a Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Sweater.

• Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal GIF (Giphy)
• Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Shirt (Amazon, $15-25)
• Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Sweater (Amazon $20-40)
• Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Mugs (Amazon, $15-20)
• Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal Doormats (Amazon, $25)