History Literature / TheIndianInTheCupboard

* CatsAreMean: Implied but in the end averted. While the scene where Kitsa [[spoiler:kills Boone's horse]] is quite upsetting and has Omri shouting at her and threatening her, Boone points out that she was merely following her instincts and not being malicious about it. Which leads Omri to realize what happened was his fault in the first place for not being more cautious. One of many scenes where An Aesop is taught without being heavy-handed, instead being quite effective and realistic.

* CatsAreMean: Implied but in the end averted. While the scene where Kitsa [[spoiler:kills Boone's horse]] is quite a TearJerker and has Omri shouting at her and threatening her, Boone points out that she was merely following her instincts and not being malicious about it. Which leads Omri to realize what happened was his fault in the first place for not being more cautious. One of many scenes where An Aesop is taught without being heavy-handed, instead being quite effective and realistic.

* {{Deconstruction}}: A child discovers his 'secret cupboard' can [[LivingToys magically bring his toys to life]]. Sounds like a huge amount of wish fulfillment and fun, [[SchmuckBait right]]? [[ComesGreatResponsibility Not]] [[NightmareFuel so]] [[TheMasquerade much]].

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: This is actually ''true'' for Omri when he tells the story of what happened with Little Bear but claims it as his own work for the contest. [[CassandraTruth But of course no one believes it]], [[RefugeInAudacity thinking it merely an incredible piece of fiction]]. This actually causes him some angst for a while, since he feels guilty for pretending it was all made up; he reconciles this by pointing out that even if the ''events'' actually happened, it was still his own words he used to tell them, including some embellishments or alterations he made to either hide the truth, for artistic license, or because he couldn't remember the exact words which were spoken. The implication is also there that Omri's story is the very book the reader is reading. Which if so could also explain some of the inconsistencies, mistaken beliefs and stereotypes--Lynne Reid Banks wrote the books with this idea in mind, from Omri's point of view. It could even explain Little Bear's broken English as some sort of TranslationConvention (i.e., Omri wrote his speech the way he'd been taught Native Americans should speak, or the way his readers would expect them to.)

''The Indian In the Cupboard'' is a series of books by Lynne Reid Banks. An English boy named Omri finds that when he locks a toy plastic Indian in an old bathroom cupboard, it comes to life.

* TropesAreTools: InjunCountry, TheWildWest, LivingToys, DeusExMachina...and they all either make perfect sense within the world of the books, or show the true consequences if these events really happened. There are stereotypes, but they are equally distributed in all time periods and cultures, not just against the Native Americans, and one of the main points of the story is proving these misconceptions wrong--in the first book alone, Omri goes from a British kid who knows only Old West depictions of "redskins" who all live in teepees to one who corrects his bigoted headmaster on the proper term for Native Americans, and immerses himself in research, coming to respect and admire the Iroquois culture in the process. By the last book he is actively working with his father to try and save Little Bear's people from the encroachment of the American colonists. Meanwhile, Little Bear and Boone each learn their own prejudices are based on complete misconceptions, Patrick finds out the Old West [[YeGoodeOldeDays wasn't all it cracked up to be]], and the disaster which stops TheMasquerade from being broken doubles as a WhatTheHellHero moment that [[NotAGame underscores the true danger of what the children have been doing]].

''The Indian In the Cupboard'' is a series of books by Lynne Reid Banks. A boy named Omri finds that when he locks a toy plastic Indian in an old bathroom cupboard, it comes to life.

** In TheMovie 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 StarWars isn't real?

* AllJustADream: How the boys first keep Matron from passing out and willing to help them with the injured Little Bear (named Little Bear in some editions) and his men. Eventually subverted as she reveals to them she isn't stupid, and the reality of the wounds and the dead are something she cannot deny as fact. When they confess the truth, although skeptical at first she handles it surprisingly well.

* AllJustADream: How the boys first keep Matron from passing out and willing to help them with the injured Little Bull (named Little Bear in some editions) and his men. Eventually subverted as she reveals to them she isn't stupid, and the reality of the wounds and the dead are something she cannot deny as fact. When they confess the truth, although skeptical at first she handles it surprisingly well.

* BloodlessCarnage: Also averted. Aside from the arrow wound Boone receives in the first book, and the musket wound Little Bull has in the second, the massacre of the Indian braves is depicted in, if not graphic detail, at least more than enough realism to make the horror of war hit home, for Omri and Patrick and for the reader.

* CatsAreMean: Implied but in the end averted. While the scene where Kitsa [[spoiler:kills Boone's horse]] is quite a TearJerker and has Omri shouting at her and threatening her, Patrick points out that she was merely following her instincts and not being malicious about it. Which leads Omri to realize what happened was his fault in the first place for not being more cautious. One of many scenes where AnAesop is taught without being heavy-handed, instead being quite effective and realistic.
* ComesGreatResponsibility: What Omri realizes fairly quickly in the first book, once he comes to understand that the cupboard isn't bringing toys to life but actually bringing real people to him through time. It is a lesson [[AesopAmnesia he has to learn again]] in book two after his attempts to help Little Bull protect his people blow up in his face. Patrick, however, never seems to learn it--or even when he does, his IdiotBall moments still manage to get the little people in trouble anyway. A related moment occurs when Jessica Charlotte offers to pour the lead for Omri, but he refuses to learn what his future may hold, a decision she commends as very wise indeed.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the more ominous, if heavy-handed, versions appears when, after Omri accidentally jostles the cupboard, almost all the Indian braves he sent back with Little Bull fall over, so that it looks as if they have been slaughtered. This, of course, is precisely what happens.

* InjunCountry: Both played straight ''and'' subverted at the same time. The author [[ShownTheirWork did her research]] and properly displays the culture, building practices, food, language, and even religion of the Iroquois, delves into the history of the French and Indian War (especially for the last book of the series), and portrays the Algonquin as TheSavageIndian who were mortal enemies of the more peaceful and democratic Iroquois. Yet while elements of the NobleSavage are applied to the Iroquois, enough care is given to characterize the Native Americans with more depth, especially Little Bull, so that he and his people come off as neither paragons of virtue nor wicked slaughterers--but just people. At the same time, the trope is played with in having Little Bull use the dead Indian chief's feathered headdress, while [[{{Cowboy}} Boone]], meanwhile, at first believes Little Bull to be a 'dirty redskin' and views him through the distorted lens of his own time period. Nowhere is this contrast shown more clearly than when they are watching TheWestern on TV, with each of them cheering on their own side. In the end, however, Boone ends up becoming Little Bull's [[BloodBrothers blood brother]] (itself something which is lampshaded as not being an original Native practice but something invented by white men) after he saves his life, and both of them learn their prejudices and preconceptions were wrong.
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: This is actually ''true'' for Omri when he tells the story of what happened with Little Bull but claims it as his own work for the contest. [[CassandraTruth But of course no one believes it]], [[RefugeInAudacity thinking it merely an incredible piece of fiction]]. This actually causes him some angst for a while, since he feels guilty for pretending it was all made up; he reconciles this by pointing out that even if the ''events'' actually happened, it was still his own words he used to tell them, including some embellishments or alterations he made to either hide the truth, for artistic license, or because he couldn't remember the exact words which were spoken. The implication is also there that Omri's story is the very book the reader is reading. Which if so could also explain some of the inconsistencies, mistaken beliefs and stereotypes--Lynne Reid Banks wrote the books with this idea in mind, from Omri's point of view. It could even explain Little Bull's broken English as some sort of TranslationConvention (i.e., Omri wrote his speech the way he'd been taught Native Americans should speak, or the way his readers would expect them to.)

* TheMagicGoesAway: Repeatedly throughout the series this is threatened, whether by the adults taking away the key and cupboard to study them ForScience, the key being lost, or Omri deciding to seal it and the cupboard away so he won't be tempted to use them anymore. This last one almost sticks at the end of book three thanks to all the innocent people of England who suffer because of it, until Omri has to bring the cupboard out so he can use the key to open Jessica's lockbox. After he and his father finally help set things as right as they can ever be with Little Bull and his people, it looks like the magic really will be locked away for good, to prevent any more danger (like what happened to them and Gillon).

* SecretChaser: The headmaster, Mr. Johnson, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero once Omri's story makes him recall the moment]] Patrick showed him Little Bull and Boone, and he realizes [[BrokenMasquerade it was all true]].

* TipisAndTotemPoles: Averted. When Omri uses the cupboard on a toy tipi so Little Bull has a place to live, the miniature Amerindian has no idea what he's looking at and points out that he lives in a longhouse.

* TropesAreTools: InjunCountry, TheWildWest, LivingToys, DeusExMachina...and they all either make perfect sense within the world of the books, or show the true consequences if these events really happened. There are stereotypes, but they are equally distributed in all time periods and cultures, not just against the Native Americans, and one of the main points of the story is proving these misconceptions wrong--in the first book alone, Omri goes from a British kid who knows only Old West depictions of "redskins" who all live in teepees to one who corrects his bigoted headmaster on the proper term for Native Americans, and immerses himself in research, coming to respect and admire the Iroquois culture in the process. By the last book he is actively working with his father to try and save Little Bull's people from the encroachment of the American colonists. Meanwhile, Little Bull and Boone each learn their own prejudices are based on complete misconceptions, Patrick finds out the Old West [[YeGoodeOldeDays wasn't all it cracked up to be]], and the disaster which stops TheMasquerade from being broken doubles as a WhatTheHellHero moment that [[NotAGame underscores the true danger of what the children have been doing]].
* ValuesDissonance: [[invoked]] Omri is horrified when he learns Little Bull has scalped thirty men, a fact which Little Bull either boasts of with pride or dismisses as unremarkable because it was something so many in his time did (and was a practice first learned from ''the whites''); Boone isn't surprised when he learns of it, thanks to his prejudices. Omri's eventual rationalization of this, which allows him to still call Little Bull his friend and realize he is not a bad person ([[FairForItsDay or no worse than any in his time]]) puts things in clear perspective for the reader, even if it does partake of HumansAreBastards:

* YouDirtyRat: Gillon's rat that almost kills Little Bull, despite being a perfectly tame pet for most of the first book, is treated with suspicion, scorn, and nastiness from the beginning, and what it does at the climax is merely motivated by instinct (a small 'creature' scurrying before it is acting like prey).

There was a 1995 [[Film/TheIndianInTheCupboard film adaptation]] by Creator/Paramount and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, featuring Hal Scardino as Omri and rapper/actor Litefoot as Little Bear.

There was a 1995 [[Film/TheIndianInTheCupboard film adaptation]] by Creator/ParamountPictures and Creator/ColumbiaPictures, featuring Hal Scardino as Omri and rapper/actor Litefoot as Little Bear.

There was a 1995 [[Film/TheIndianInTheCupboard film adaptation]], casting Hal Scardino as Omri and Litefoot as Little Bull.

* AllJustADream: How the boys first keep Matron from passing out and willing to help them with the injured Little Bull and his men. Eventually subverted as she reveals to them she isn't stupid, and the reality of the wounds and the dead are something she cannot deny as fact. When they confess the truth, although skeptical at first she handles it surprisingly well.

* BornOfMagic: It was originally a lifeless plastic child's toy, until Omri put him in an old curio cabinet. The figure emerged as live human Indian Little Bear, though still only four inches tall. This also happened to some of Omri's other toys, but he undid the magic when they began clashing with one another. Little Bear even admonishes Omri, "You should not do magic you do not understand!" This is also how the cowboy figure Boone came to life. Adapted into a feature film by Columbia Pictures in 1995.
* BrattyHalfPint: Oh my God, ''Tamsin''.

* TropesAreNotBad: InjunCountry, TheWildWest, LivingToys, DeusExMachina...and they all either make perfect sense within the world of the books, or show the true consequences if these events really happened. There are stereotypes, but they are equally distributed in all time periods and cultures, not just against the Native Americans, and one of the main points of the story is proving these misconceptions wrong--in the first book alone, Omri goes from a British kid who knows only Old West depictions of "redskins" who all live in teepees to one who corrects his bigoted headmaster on the proper term for Native Americans, and immerses himself in research, coming to respect and admire the Iroquois culture in the process. By the last book he is actively working with his father to try and save Little Bull's people from the encroachment of the American colonists. Meanwhile, Little Bull and Boone each learn their own prejudices are based on complete misconceptions, Patrick finds out the Old West [[YeGoodeOldeDays wasn't all it cracked up to be]], and the disaster which stops TheMasquerade from being broken doubles as a WhatTheHellHero moment that [[NotAGame underscores the true danger of what the children have been doing]].

There was a 1995 [[Film/TheIndianInTheCupboard film adaptation]], casting Hal Scardino as Omri and Litefoot as Little Bear.

* AllJustADream: How the boys first keep Matron from passing out and willing to help them with the injured Little Bear and his men. Eventually subverted as she reveals to them she isn't stupid, and the reality of the wounds and the dead are something she cannot deny as fact. When they confess the truth, although skeptical at first she handles it surprisingly well.

* BloodlessCarnage: Also averted. Aside from the arrow wound Boone receives in the first book, and the musket wound Little Bear has in the second, the massacre of the Indian braves is depicted in, if not graphic detail, at least more than enough realism to make the horror of war hit home, for Omri and Patrick and for the reader.

* ComesGreatResponsibility: What Omri realizes fairly quickly in the first book, once he comes to understand that the cupboard isn't bringing toys to life but actually bringing real people to him through time. It is a lesson [[AesopAmnesia he has to learn again]] in book two after his attempts to help Little Bear protect his people blow up in his face. Patrick, however, never seems to learn it--or even when he does, his IdiotBall moments still manage to get the little people in trouble anyway. A related moment occurs when Jessica Charlotte offers to pour the lead for Omri, but he refuses to learn what his future may hold, a decision she commends as very wise indeed.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: One of the more ominous, if heavy-handed, versions appears when, after Omri accidentally jostles the cupboard, almost all the Indian braves he sent back with Little Bear fall over, so that it looks as if they have been slaughtered. This, of course, is precisely what happens.

* InjunCountry: Both played straight ''and'' subverted at the same time. The author [[ShownTheirWork did her research]] and properly displays the culture, building practices, food, language, and even religion of the Iroquois, delves into the history of the French and Indian War (especially for the last book of the series), and portrays the Algonquin as TheSavageIndian who were mortal enemies of the more peaceful and democratic Iroquois. Yet while elements of the NobleSavage are applied to the Iroquois, enough care is given to characterize the Native Americans with more depth, especially Little Bear, so that he and his people come off as neither paragons of virtue nor wicked slaughterers--but just people. At the same time, the trope is played with in having Little Bear use the dead Indian chief's feathered headdress, while [[{{Cowboy}} Boone]], meanwhile, at first believes Little Bear to be a 'dirty redskin' and views him through the distorted lens of his own time period. Nowhere is this contrast shown more clearly than when they are watching TheWestern on TV, with each of them cheering on their own side. In the end, however, Boone ends up becoming Little Bear's [[BloodBrothers blood brother]] (itself something which is lampshaded as not being an original Native practice but something invented by white men) after he saves his life, and both of them learn their prejudices and preconceptions were wrong.
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: This is actually ''true'' for Omri when he tells the story of what happened with Little Bear but claims it as his own work for the contest. [[CassandraTruth But of course no one believes it]], [[RefugeInAudacity thinking it merely an incredible piece of fiction]]. This actually causes him some angst for a while, since he feels guilty for pretending it was all made up; he reconciles this by pointing out that even if the ''events'' actually happened, it was still his own words he used to tell them, including some embellishments or alterations he made to either hide the truth, for artistic license, or because he couldn't remember the exact words which were spoken. The implication is also there that Omri's story is the very book the reader is reading. Which if so could also explain some of the inconsistencies, mistaken beliefs and stereotypes--Lynne Reid Banks wrote the books with this idea in mind, from Omri's point of view. It could even explain Little Bear's broken English as some sort of TranslationConvention (i.e., Omri wrote his speech the way he'd been taught Native Americans should speak, or the way his readers would expect them to.)

* TheMagicGoesAway: Repeatedly throughout the series this is threatened, whether by the adults taking away the key and cupboard to study them ForScience, the key being lost, or Omri deciding to seal it and the cupboard away so he won't be tempted to use them anymore. This last one almost sticks at the end of book three thanks to all the innocent people of England who suffer because of it, until Omri has to bring the cupboard out so he can use the key to open Jessica's lockbox. After he and his father finally help set things as right as they can ever be with Little Bear and his people, it looks like the magic really will be locked away for good, to prevent any more danger (like what happened to them and Gillon).

* SecretChaser: The headmaster, Mr. Johnson, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero once Omri's story makes him recall the moment]] Patrick showed him Little Bear and Boone, and he realizes [[BrokenMasquerade it was all true]].

* TropesAreNotBad: InjunCountry, TheWildWest, LivingToys, DeusExMachina...and they all either make perfect sense within the world of the books, or show the true consequences if these events really happened. There are stereotypes, but they are equally distributed in all time periods and cultures, not just against the Native Americans, and one of the main points of the story is proving these misconceptions wrong--in the first book alone, Omri goes from a British kid who knows only Old West depictions of "redskins" who all live in teepees to one who corrects his bigoted headmaster on the proper term for Native Americans, and immerses himself in research, coming to respect and admire the Iroquois culture in the process. By the last book he is actively working with his father to try and save Little Bear's people from the encroachment of the American colonists. Meanwhile, Little Bear and Boone each learn their own prejudices are based on complete misconceptions, Patrick finds out the Old West [[YeGoodeOldeDays wasn't all it cracked up to be]], and the disaster which stops TheMasquerade from being broken doubles as a WhatTheHellHero moment that [[NotAGame underscores the true danger of what the children have been doing]].
* ValuesDissonance: [[invoked]] Omri is horrified when he learns Little Bear has scalped thirty men, a fact which Little Bear either boasts of with pride or dismisses as unremarkable because it was something so many in his time did (and was a practice first learned from ''the whites''); Boone isn't surprised when he learns of it, thanks to his prejudices. Omri's eventual rationalization of this, which allows him to still call Little Bear his friend and realize he is not a bad person ([[FairForItsDay or no worse than any in his time]]) puts things in clear perspective for the reader, even if it does partake of HumansAreBastards:

* YouDirtyRat: Gillon's rat that almost kills Little Bear, despite being a perfectly tame pet for most of the first book, is treated with suspicion, scorn, and nastiness from the beginning, and what it does at the climax is merely motivated by instinct (a small 'creature' scurrying before it is acting like prey).

* RealitySubtext: Happens a number of times, most memorably and effectively when in book two Omri tries to bring Tommy back to heal Little Bear, only to find he'd been killed in WorldWarOne, and again in book four when awakening the figures belonging to Jessica Charlotte reveals Sergeant Ellis died at Trafalgar. The last book, dealing with the RealLife fate of the Iroquois versus the American colonists, is even more about this.

Books in the series are ''The Indian In The Cupboard'', ''The Return of the Indian'', ''The Secret of the Indian'', ''The Mystery of the Cupboard'', and ''The Key to the Indian''.

* {{Forgiveness}}: One of the overarching themes of the series, which becomes most prominent in book four. Helped along by the fact that Jessica Charlotte is more of an AntiVillain than anything else, and genuinely shows remorse for her actions. At the same time Omri needs to learn to forgive Bert and accept that his family has the lot in life they do [[BecauseDestinySaysSo for a reason]], something which has UnfortunateImplications but is perhaps justifiable after all because in the end, MiseryBuildsCharacter, [[AnAesop being rich isn't everything]], and [[EarnYourHappyEnding more good than harm is done]] through the [[CharacterDevelopment enrichment of lives that would otherwise never have intersected]].

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: This is actually ''true'' for Omri when he tells the story of what happened with Little Bear but claims it as his own work for the contest. [[CassandraTruth But of course no one believes it]], [[RefugeInAudacity thinking it merely an incredible piece of fiction]]. This actually causes him some angst for a while, since he feels guilty for pretending it was all made up; he reconciles this by pointing out that even if the ''events'' actually happened, it was still his own words he used to tell them, including some embellishments or alterations he made to either hide the truth, for artistic license, or because he couldn't remember the exact words which were spoken. The implication is also there that Omri's story is the very book the reader is reading. Which if so could also explain some of the inconsistencies, mistaken beliefs and stereotypes, and UnfortunateImplications--Lynne Reid Banks wrote the books with this idea in mind, from Omri's point of view. It could even explain Little Bear's broken English as some sort of TranslationConvention (i.e., Omri wrote his speech the way he'd been taught Native Americans should speak, or the way his readers would expect them to.)

* TropesAreNotBad: InjunCountry, TheWildWest, LivingToys, UnfortunateImplications, DeusExMachina...and they all either make perfect sense within the world of the books, or show the true consequences if these events really happened. There are stereotypes, but they are equally distributed in all time periods and cultures, not just against the Native Americans, and one of the main points of the story is proving these misconceptions wrong--in the first book alone, Omri goes from a British kid who knows only Old West depictions of "redskins" who all live in teepees to one who corrects his bigoted headmaster on the proper term for Native Americans, and immerses himself in research, coming to respect and admire the Iroquois culture in the process. By the last book he is actively working with his father to try and save Little Bear's people from the encroachment of the American colonists. Meanwhile, Little Bear and Boone each learn their own prejudices are based on complete misconceptions, Patrick finds out the Old West [[YeGoodeOldeDays wasn't all it cracked up to be]], and the disaster which stops TheMasquerade from being broken doubles as a WhatTheHellHero moment that [[NotAGame underscores the true danger of what the children have been doing]].

* ComesGreatResponsibility: What Omri realizes fairly quickly in the first book, once he comes to understand that the cupboard isn't bringing toys to life but actually bringing real people to him through time. It is a lesson [[AesopAmnesia he has to learn again]] in book two after his attempts to help Little Bear protect his people blow up in his face. Patrick, however, never seems to learn it--or even when he does, his IdiotBall moments still manage to get the little people in trouble anyway. A related moment occurs when Jessica Charlotte offers to pour the lead for him, but he refuses to learn what his future may hold, a decision she commends as very wise indeed.

* [[PaperThinDisguise Paper Thin]] [[TheMasquerade Masquerade]]: At first it appears to be played straight--how could anyone, even the most trusting parents, believe that two young boys could drive off a group of knife-wielding, much older skinheads all by themselves? Not notice the bullet and ''rocket launcher'' holes in the walls, even if they were on a very small scale? Allow Patrick to go missing for days because each set believes the other family has him? Forget about this, as well as the secret Mr. Johnson tries to reveal to them, all because of [[spoiler:a freak cyclone]], which is also never explained? Or just plain not notice the similarities between his prize-winning story and events that happened in their house? But all of this, which comes across as a combination of AdultsAreUseless, IdiotBall, and PlotInducedStupidity is eventually subverted: it turns out Omri's mother knew the truth as soon as she read the story but said nothing because she trusted him to handle things responsibly and come to her if he needed help, while his dad suspected but brushed it off through ItsProbablyNothing and CassandraTruth.

Lynne Reid Banks is the author of two books about the [[CharlotteBronte Brontë children]], who played a sustained imaginative game initially based on a box of toy soldiers which they said would come to life for adventures and exploration. The soldiers regarded the children as "genii" who directed their destinies.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Indian_in_the_Cupboard_7429.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Adventure Awaits With the Turn of a Key]]

** In TheMovie this briefly includes Darth Vader and RoboCop, which would seem to break the basic rules.

IndianInTheCupboard is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_in_the_Cupboard a series of books]] by Lynne Reid Banks. A boy named Omri finds that when he locks a toy plastic Indian in an old bathroom cupboard, it comes to life.