'The Indian in the Cupboard' invokes a sense of childish wonder

When I was a kid, I was fascinated with the idea of miniature people and how fun it would be to shrink down and play with my toys as though they were regular sized. Like how fun it would be to ride inside my dad's Christmas train set, for instance.

"The Indian in the Cupboard" captured that same feeling when I watched it, along with the added intrigue of interacting with history.

A young boy puts regular toys into a cupboard, then after locking and unlocking it, they come to life with all the knowledge of real people from various times in history. The most prominent toys to come to life are the titular Iroquois Little Bear (Litefoot) and a cowboy named Boohoo Boone (David Keith).

The idea of a cupboard bringing toys to life by plucking real people out of their time period is a fun and fascinating idea that's been stuck in my brain so long that even thinking about it gives me '90s nostalgia.

Another thing I find interesting is that Litefoot insisted on having an Onondaga expert to make Little Bear's performance as culturally accurate as possible. That sort of representation is always interesting to me.

I admit, even with the nostalgia, I still found the movie boring sometimes. But it's worth watching at least once for its creativity and how it invokes a sense of childish wonder.