SnoopyStyle
In NYC, Omri (Hal Scardino) gets a cupboard among other things on his 9th birthday. His friend Patrick gives him a plastic Indian. He puts the Indian in the cupboard and locks it overnight. The next morning, he finds the Indian figure actually alive. The Indian is an Iroquois named Little Bear who was fighting the French for the English in 1761. When Little Bear gets hurt, Omri reanimates WWI British Army medic Tommy Atkins (Steve Coogan) to treat him. Patrick figures out the secret and reanimates cowboy Boone (David Keith). This is a sweet kids movie. It has some fun stuff. Hal is really goofy looking and fits as a gawky kid. There isn't enough drama to interest the adults. This could be a good Twilight Zone episode. As a movie, it doesn't have the excitement or the adventure that this needs.
SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain
Underrated and highly involving movie for kids. A young boy finds out that his cupboard has magical powers and can turn plastic into reality. He first turns a plastic Indian into a real human being. The movie teaches about responsibility but in an understandable way. It isn't patronizing nor childish, which means older audiences should relate to it also. It also mediates on life and death at certain points, and was the first film in a long time to be genuinely emotionally shocking. The relationship between the Indian and the cowboy was very well developed as they started to bond over their tragedies. The film does have a number of loose edges. Rishi Bhat was particularly annoying at times, but in a way he was necessary to play off Scardino. Even Scardino wasn't always a lovable protagonist. In one scene he kicks his brother's pet rat down the stairs, in an event where the rat clearly would have died. As the film hadn't relied on cartoon logic up until that point it was a bit out of place. Great effects, and seeing Darth Vader vs. a T-Rex kind of made up for those moments. A more innocent time when children's movies didn't have to be loud and crass.
gannont
On this one, I am surprised that viewers are so critical as to miss the big picture of the magical moments and concepts of the movie. I agree, there are quite a few flaws overall, but some are just direction or editing oversights. However, this film deserves to be recognized as a really good family film as is. There are so many good "teaching moments" for parents regarding what kids go through growing up. The effects were well done for the time, playing the small vs. big people visuals. I was absorbed in the story well beyond picking on every detail. Omri was decent, not great, but believable as the kid star; the casting and scripting both for Little Bear are compelling, fascinating, and wonderful. I would recommend this film to almost anyone, if their reality can be suspended for 96 minutes. It is a great story, if only a good film. Entertaining and more gripping than many films since.
wes-connors
For his ninth birthday, slightly geeky but wholly appealing Hal Scardino (as Omri) receives cool wooden cupboard from his brother. There is no key to lock the cupboard, but mother Lindsay Crouse lets young Mr. Scardino try some stray keys from her collection. Happily, it turns out that Scardino's great-grandmother gifted a key to his mother, which perfectly fits the cupboard. Scardino locks up a Native American Indian toy figure, a "antique" gift from best friend Rishi Bhat (as Patrick), overnight. When he wakes up, Scardino discovers that Iroquois Litefoot (as Little Bear) has come to life, in miniature form, from the year 1761.The simple but effective special effects used throughout "The Indian in the Cupboard" have, surprisingly, made this film seem more natural looking than the special effects extravaganzas which blew it out of the theaters, back in the 1990s. Michael Lantieri, Eric Brevig, director Frank Oz, and their team make Scardino's little friends look very real. The story is based on a charming series of books by Lynne Reid Banks; the several sequels blunt the impact of the final door closing on the magical years of childhood, but the additional stories have no impact on this charming children's story. Grown-ups and some kids should see subtleties.******* The Indian in the Cupboard (7/14/95) Frank Oz ~ Hal Scardino, Litefoot, Rishi Bhat, David Keith
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