History WesternAnimation / ThePagemaster

The paint descends on Richard, transforming him and the library into an animated world of illustrations where the mystical wizard, the eponymous Pagemaster (also voiced by Lloyd), tells him that in order to get home, the boy must face three challenges: The lands of Horror, Adventure and Fantasy. He is assisted by three books which personify those genres(colourfully voiced by Frank Welker, PatrickStewart and Whoopi Goldberg respectively). Along the way we see references to many classic books such as ''Literature/TreasureIsland'' and ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', along with a goodly heaping of puns, while Richard learns to confront his fears and to lead a life of bravery.

* TalkLikeAPirate: Adventure and the actual pirates from the ''Treasure Island'' part. PatrickStewart sounds like he's really enjoying himself.

The paint descends on Richard, transforming him and the library into an animated world of illustrations where the mystical wizard, the eponymous Pagemaster (also voiced by Lloyd), tells him that in order to get home, the boy must face three challenges: The lands of Horror, Adventure and Fantasy. He is assisted by three books which personify those genres(colourfully voiced by Frank Welker, PatrickStewart and Whoopi Goldberg respectively). Along the way we see references to many classic books such as ''TreasureIsland'' and ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', along with a goodly heaping of {{Incredibly Lame Pun}}s, while Richard learns to confront his fears and to lead a life of bravery.

* AwardBaitSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1GHMxADlQM "Whatever You Imagine"]], which plays during Fantasy's sequence.

* AxeCrazy: Mr. Hyde in the horror section, using a cane instead of an axe.

--> [[LargeHam My name is... Mr HYYYYYYDE !!!]]

* EvilLaugh / LaughingMad: Mr Hyde.

** Kind of clever when you consider the dragon is supposed to be Richard's fears incarnate and manifested into physical form. Get it? ''[[LamePunReaction He was consumed by fear?]]''

* LargeHam: George Hearn as Ahab, which isn't a surprise when one remembers his other roles. He is only on-screen for few minutes, [[OneSceneWonder but surely everyone remembers him.]]
** Considering how OTT Ahab got when even thinking about MobyDick, this characterization isn't too far off.
** PatrickStewart as Adventure also deserves mention.
* LogicalFallacies: "8% of all household accidents involve ladders. Another 3% involve trees. We're looking at 11% probability here". First, he's ignoring some overlap between the 8% and the 3%. Secondly he's assuming that an accident will happen, in which case the probability that it involves ladders is 8%, but that doesn't tell us anything about the chances that this ''specific'' ladder-climbing event will lead to an accident. What he needs is a statistic in the form of "X% of the time somebody climbs a ladder, they have an accident" rather than "X% of all accidents involve ladders."
** Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] given Richard's age (he can't be any older than junior-high age). Just because he knows statistics doesn't mean he understands how to calculate probability.

** PinballProtagonist: The Pagemaster said the whole point was for Richard to face his fears.

* RoomFullOfCrazy: More like "Boat full of crazy" for Captain Ahab; hoo boy, that is one mad man. Even Fantasy, who's out of her depth and section in the "Adventure Section" can see it!

* ShoutOut: Many classic books are referred to during the course of this movie, from full sequences to quick moments like [[Literature/TheRaven a raven]] cawing "Nevermore!" while swooping down from a bust of Pallas above the archway in Dr. Jekyll's manor.
** Don't forget the dozens of covers of the various books that we see during the film.

* ElephantInTheLivingRoom: After the climax, Richard escapes from the giant dragon's belly and enters a building. Its ''obviously not'' dead, and obviously very pissed. Its right outside. Yet the [[JustIgnoreIt characters converse with the titular Pagemaster as if they're now in the clear]].
** Hilariously, the Pagemaster even talks about it, telling Richard he's triumphed over it. ''Hello?'' ''He hasn't vanquished it!'' ''[[TooDumbToLive Its. Right. OUTSIDE!]]''

Beloved childhood classic to many children of TheNineties, despite being both a commercial and critical failure. It sadly holds a 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Lower than fellow Turner film, Tom & Jerry: The Movie).

!!!This film provides examples of:

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ThePagemaster_9413.jpg

Beloved childhood classic to many children of TheNineties, despite being both a commercial and critical failure.

Beloved childhood classic to many children of TheNineties.

** The satyr with the panpipes and the little dancing blue fairies are respectively references to the Pastoral Symphony and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in {{Fantasia}}.

* ActorAllusion: May be unintentional, but Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (played by LeonardNimoy) sound like [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]] and [[EvilTwin Evil Spock]] respectively.
* AllStarCast: Macaulay Culkin, PatrickStewart, WhoopiGoldberg, LeonardNimoy, and ChristopherLloyd.

** Also Mr Hyde at his best. [[HeyItsThatVoice This]] [[LeonardNimoy is]] [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Xehanort]] doing his voice after all.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** The film' poster has an image of Frankenstein's Monster right under Mr. Hyde. Originally, the creature was to appear after the struggle with Hyde, leading to a chase up the roof, ending with the monster falling off.
** From old storyboards, the enigmatic dragon was supposed to shape-shift after them again, upon leaving the realm of adventure. It forcibly takes over a [[MeatPuppet mere frog's body]] to transform into a rampaging monster. However, Fantasy now at full power in her native realm, easily defeats it by changing it back. Adventure loses his sword in process. Unfortunately this causes a [[PlotHole Plot Hole]] when he recovers his sword from the real dragon's mouth, [[TurnsRed who has decided to get serious this time]].

* SwallowedWhole: Richard by the dragon. [[JackAndTheBeanstalk A beanstalk]] saves him.

* The film' poster has an image of Frankenstein's Monster right under Mr. Hyde. Originally, the creature was to appear after the struggle with Hyde, leading to a chase up the roof, ending with the monster falling off.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The film' poster has an image of Frankenstein's Monster right under Mr. Hyde. Oringinally, the creature was to appear after the struggle with Hyde, leading to a chase up the roof, ending with the monster falling off.

* MightyGlacier: The dragon's [[NighInvulnerability invincibility]] and [[Shapeshifting raw power]] is matched only by its ''slooooow'' advancing.

* KillItThroughItsStomach: After Richard is eaten by a dragon, he makes a beanstalk appear by opening a book entitled ''Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk'' that was also inside the dragon's stomach, and uses it to escape.

* JustEatHim: The "Alive and Whole" subtype is enacted by the dragon.

* Room Full of Crazy: More like "Boat full of crazy" for Captain Ahab; hoo boy, that is one mad man. Even Fantasy, who's out of her depth and section in the "Adventure Section" can see it!

'''''The Pagemaster''''' is a 1994 film that features both Live Action and Animation, one of only two made by Turner Entertainment's animation unit before WarnerBros took over (''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance'' was the other). ''The Pagemaster'' tells the story of a young boy named Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin), who is -- to his parents’ annoyance -- timid to the point of neurosis. He is tremendously afraid of heights and generally obsessed with quoting the statistical risks invovled in countless everyday actions, which, of course, explains why he isn't the most popular guy. One day his father runs out of nails while building him a tree house and sends a very reluctant Richard to buy more.