The Indian in the Cupboard



The Indian in the Cupboard is a theatrical film, geared towards family audiences, based on a 1980 children's books. The story focuses on a young boy, Omri, who receives a magic cupboard through which he can bring his toy figures to life. He does so, beginning with an Indian, Little Bear, but soon finds that his "toys" have lives of their own and that there's a great responsibility involved.

George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic supplied most of the visual effects on the film, notably a sequence in which other action figures come to life, amongst them Darth Vader having a light-sabre battle with a dinosaur (A Cardassian and Ferengi from Star Trek are also featured). Though uncredited, Jim Henson's Creature Shop worked on a couple of sequences, involving a pet rat (as acknowledged on the official Henson website and in the company's promotional copy in various film presskits). Julianne Buescher operated the rat.

In audio commentary on the film's DVD, and in interviews, director [[Frank Oz expressed initial reluctance to helm a family film, hoping to gravitate towards drama: "I'm not a children's director... I wouldn't know how to direct a children's movie. I didn't know what children wanted when I was a child, and I don't know at 50 years old. I just try to make good movies."

Cast

 * Hal Scardino as Omri
 * Litefoot as Little Bear
 * Lindsay Crouse as Jane
 * Richard Jenkins as Victor
 * Rishi Bhat as Patrick
 * Steve Coogan as Tommy Watkins
 * David Keith as Boo-hoo Boone
 * Sakina Jaffrey as Lucy
 * Vincent Kartheiser as Gillon
 * Nestor Serrano as Teacher