“Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal”: what film did this recent Yuletide greeting come from?

It feels sometimes that there are a lot of Christmas greetings that we are bombarded with this time of year, and some of them just feel a little… well... boring if we’re being honest. “Goodwill to all mankind,” “Warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season,” and “Seasons greetings” all seem a little bit played out and for some a little too “Hallmark”-esque. So what of the alternatives?

We could look to other television shows and films for that perfect way to express our joy this time of year: “Seinfeld” for example popularised the phrase “Happy Festivus for the rest of us” a a secular greeting when it first was uttered in the episode “The Strike." Americans might be familiar with using the phrase “You'll shoot your eye out!” with regards to a new toy opened on Christmas Day, by virtue of the holiday classic “A Christmas Story.” You could even get Dickensean with your disapproval of what’s on offer at the Company Christmas party by uttering Ebenezer Scrooge’s iconic “Bah, Humbug!”

But one phrase that has been doing the rounds this Christmas especially, after the star of the film earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week, seems to be in particular a popular recent addition to the Christmas greeting lexicon - “Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal.” So what film did the phrase originate from, and where can you watch said film this Christmas?

What movie did the phrase “Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal” originate from?

If you said “Home Alone,” you’re wrong. If you said “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” we’ll give you a point. But to be pedantic, the phrase comes from the film within a film that features in both “Home Alone” and its sequel in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

The phrase comes from the film Kevin McCallister watches while stuck in a luxury hotel that looks to be frequented by Donald Trump (he had a cameo in the “Home Alone 2” when Kevin asks if the hotel is any good). That film is “Angels with Even Filthier Souls,” the Yuletide sequel to the black-and-white gangster movie “Angels with Filthy Souls” that scared Kevin in the first film.

The Tommy-gun-toting Johnny ended up gunning down the “Dame” in the sequel, uttering a Christmas version of his immortal line within the film: “Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal,” before firing a few more shots with the gun and ending with “... and a Happy New Year.”

That appearance would be the final film role for the actor portraying the mobster, Ralph Foody, who retired from acting shortly after its release. Foody died aged 71 in 1999.

Where can I watch the “Home Alone” series?

The entire “Home Alone” franchise, including “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” can be streaming on Disney+ this Christmas.