The Indian in the Cupboard (film)

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The Indian In The Cupboard is a 1995 film adaptation of the book series by the same name. The story follows the first book, documenting Omri's acquiring the cupboard and his initial encounters with the magic it contains.


Tropes used in The Indian in the Cupboard (film) include:
  • All Just a Dream: Every time Omri brings Tommy to treat wounds he reassures him that he's just dreaming.
  • Comes Great Responsibility: Omri learns quickly and harshly that he's actually dealing with real people. It hits him hard when he accidentally kills the elderly Indian. It takes Patrick much longer to figure it out.
  • Embarrassing Nickname: Boo-hoo Boone.
  • Happy Birthday to You: Omri receives the cupboard for his birthday from his older brother. It's heavily implied that he dumpster dove it.
  • Idiot Ball: Patrick, just like in the books, is incredibly prone to this. Most notably when he starts bragging about the little men when he gets them at school.
  • Ignored Confession: Omri's chronicling of Little Bear in his writing class is dismissed as a good imagination.
  • Living Toys: The cupboard turns plastic toys into the things they stand in for, real flesh and blood and fabric. However, these are people fetched from a different period in time, and they are shocked to find themselves in a differently-scaled world.
    • This briefly includes Darth Vader and RoboCop, which would seem to break the basic rules.
      • No, it just brought Vader forward in time, from before his...what? Are you saying Star Wars isn't real?
  • Not a Game

Omri, to Patrick: They're people! You can't use people!

  • Shown Their Work: Omri starts out with a normal child's knowledge of Indians. When he offers Little Bear a tee pee to sleep in, he is understandably confused as Iroquois lived in long houses.
  • You Dirty Rat: Omri's brothers' rat, which he hates with a passion.