History Film / TheIndianInTheCupboard

* ChekhovsGun: Omri's brother's pet rat. Omri already has a clear dislike for it, but it becomes a serious threat later on.

* DangledByAGiant: Omri picks up a toy cowboy by his fingers after he came to live with a magic cupboard.

* EmbarrassingNickname: "Boo-hoo" Boone.

* AdaptationalNationality: The setting is changed from London to New York City, making Omri and his family and friends American instead of British. Patrick is also of East Indian descent.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: Little Bear is calmer, more dignified, and less of a belligerent JerkWithAHeartOfGold than in the novel. The fact that his original [[YouNoTakeCandle broken English]] is replaced by more fluent English enhances this change.

* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:Omri burying the dead Indian chief (well, his plastic figure anyway).]]

* {{Cute Giant}}s: Omri and Patrick, in context. Boone addresses them as "friendly giants" in parting.

* TemptingFate: Patrick says the word "Indian" in front of Boone. This causes Boone to become aware of Little Bear's presence, and they start attacking each other.

--> "You don't deserve that hair!''"

* AdaptationDyeJob: Boone is described as having red hair in the book, and is played by dark-haired Creator/DavidKeith in the film.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Why else would there be a brief scene of Darth Vader fighting a T.rex?

* ProductPlacement: Aside from the Star Wars[=/=][=RoboCop=] example above (it also has a Cardassian and a Ferengi from ''Franchise/StarTrek''). Aracula from ''WesternAnimation/SkeletonWarriors'' and Limburger from ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' are prominently shown and used as replacements in the school's diorama.

!! Provides Examples Of:

* LivingToys: The cupboard turns plastic toys into the things they stand in for, real flesh and blood and fabric. Little Bear, the old Mohawk, Boone, and Tommy seem to have been summoned out of their respective time periods, and they are shocked to find themselves in a differently-scaled world. However, Omri also briefly experiments with animating action figures of [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], Franchise/RoboCop, a T-rex, and a [[Franchise/StarTrek Cardassian and Ferengi]], for which no explanation is offered (on account of Omri going "OhCrap" when they all stop attacking each other and turn to look at him, and slamming the cupboard door shut).

* KickTheDog: In a fit of anger and frustration, Omri kicks the rat's exercise ball down a flight of stairs. You can see the rat spinning around inside of it afterward.

* LivingToys: 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 Franchise/RoboCop, which would seem to break the basic rules.
*** No, it just brought Vader forward in time, from before his...what? Are you saying Franchise/StarWars isn't real?

--> "You should not do magic you do not understand!"

--> "They're people! You ''can't'' use people!"

* YouDirtyRat: Gillon's rat, which Omri hates with a passion.

--> ''Omri (reading aloud):'' I put a plastic ''Indian in the cupboard''...