Simple, schmaltzy, moralizing kiddie film, from a novel by Lynne Reid Banks, about a boy who, through the agency of a magic cupboard and/or magic key, has the power to animate miniature plastic figures of an Iroquois Indian, a Texas cowboy, a WWI medic, among (very briefly) others. But a fearful responsibility attaches to this power, because apparently in another dimension these little toys have ongoing lives that are interrupted when they are thus "brought to life." The lesson: live and let live. The tricks of scale, in the Incredible Shrinking Man and Amazing Colossal Man vein, are enjoyable, but the possibilities are explored very timidly: the tiny Indian's evasion of a white rat takes place (talk about incredible! talk about amazing!) entirely off screen. With Hal Scardino, Litefoot, David Keith, Lindsay Crouse; directed by Frank Oz. (1995) — Duncan Shepherd
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