The Indian in the Cupboard

The Indian in the Cupboard
Developer: Viacom New Media Publisher: Viacom New Media Platform: PC Released in US: December 1995 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text.

The Indian in the Cupboard is a game based on a movie based on a book by Lynne Reid Banks in which a boy named Omri discovers he can bring his toys to life with a magical key. The game is probably most notable for containing the first soundtrack ever scored by Kevin Manthei, who went on to compose for Invader Zim. Otherwise, it's a bog-standard edutainment game.

Unused Text

Clumped in with all the other resources in the file INDIAN.DTA are a number of strings from an early version of the game's script. Most of them differ from the final to some degree, and most of them were extended for clarity. Since the game is entirely voiced and contains no subtitles, even lines that are unedited are unused.

Blooming Flower's Scenario

Choose the younger or older kids or the cupboard...
Welcome to my village! Want to play a creative game?
All done for now?...
Go ahead! Choose a game!
You can begin by coloring freeform with beads...
...Choose the green rock and let's get started!
(P.F.) You want to make a picture without an outline?
(L.B.) You can color free form on the blank screen...
Oh? You don't like this one? I'll do another.
Okay, you can start!
We haven't started a picture yet! Try the green rock.
We haven't started a picture yet! Try the green rock.
That looks great!
You're pretty good at this!
That's beautiful! Let's try another, okay?
Oh, you don't want to quit yet, do you?
But you didn't color very much! Keep going...!
Hmmm, you could fill in some more, I think...

The lines prefixed with "(P.F.)" and "(L.B.)" are most notable. L.B. obviously stands for Little Bear, but the initials P.F. suggest that Blooming Flower had a different name during development.

Keeper of the Words' Scenario

You want to search for more feathers? ...
You've done well! Meet me back where we started.
Greetings. Pick the style of headdress you'll make.
I am from the Seneca Nation, ...
I am from the Cayuga Nation, ...
I am from the Onondaga Nation, ...
I am from the Oneida Nation, ...
I am from the Mohawk Nation, ...
I am from the Tuscarora Nation, ...

Runs With the Wind's Scenario

Choose the younger or older kids or the cupboard.
Choose the various buttons to do various things.
The first pattern is for player 1, the next for player 2.
Welcome to my village!...Which one do you want to play?
All done for now?...
Go ahead! Choose a game!
I'm going to show you a pattern of seeds and beans...
...Choose the green rock and let's get started!
One, two, ... , ten
One, two, ... , five
We haven't started yet! Try the green rock.
Not bad, but it wasn't exactly the same. See?
Let's try another, okay?
Try it again...
Great! Let's try another!
Good work!
You're pretty good at this!
That's great, Hehnuyeha!
We haven't started yet! Try the green rock.
Player 2's turn
Player 1's turn
One, two, ... , ten
One, two, ... , five
It's a tie!
Player 1 wins!
Player 2 wins!
Okay, decide which one is player 1 and player 2...
...Choose the green rock when you're ready.
I'm going to show you a pattern of seeds and beans...
...Choose the green rock and let's get started!

There is also placeholder text for this section's sound effects:

sfx for INCORRECT seed positions
sfx for CORRECT seed position

Boone's Scenario

Little Bear's Hints

You are facing the right way again, my friend.
As you say, you are warmer once again.
My instincts tell me you are on the right track again.
I think you have turned the wrong way, my friend.
You have just turned away from your goal, Boone.
My instincts tell me you are facing the wrong way, my friend.
You are almost there, blood brother! Almost there!
As you say, you are very hot. Boiling like water over a campfire.
My instincts tell me that you are almost upon your goal, Boone!
You are facing the right way again, my friend.
As you say, you are warmer once again.
My instincts tell me you are on the right track again.
I think you have turned the wrong way, my friend.
You have just turned away from your goal, Boone.
My instincts tell me you are facing the wrong way, my friend.
My instincts tell me that you are close to your goal, my friend.
As you say, you are very warm, blood brother.
You do not have to travel much further, Boone.
You are getting nearer to your destination, my friend.
As you say, you are getting warmer, Boone.
The distance you must travel is much shorter now, blood brother.
You are still far from your goal, my friend.
As you say, you are very cool, blood brother. Cool as the wind.
You must travel far to reach where you're going, Boone.
My instincts tell me that you are no where near what you are seeking.
As you say, you are very cold, blood brother. Very cold.
I believe that you must travel a much greater distance, my friend.

Little Bear's comments were heavily edited for the final. All of his references to Boone as a "blood brother" were either eliminated or changed to the more generic "my friend." Most of his lines were also shortened, apparently to be less stereotypically "Indian" (e.g. "My instincts tell me that you are almost upon your goal, Boone!" became simply "You are almost upon your goal, Boone!")

Boone's Hints

That's better. You're warmer now.
Yep, that's the right way.
There you go. You're warmer now.
Oh, you just got colder.
Whoa, you just turned colder.
Uh oh, you just went colder.
You're meltin' my friend! You're so hot, you're meltin'!
You're almost there, Little Bear! Almost there!!
You're so close you should be burnin' up, pardner!!
That's better. You're warmer now.
Yep, that's the right way.
There you go. You're warmer now.
Oh, you just got colder.
Whoa, you just turned colder.
Uh oh, you just went colder.
You're getting pretty warm now, pardner.
I think you're very close, pal! Keep going!
You should be sweatin', pardner--you're really warm now!
You're gettin' warmer, buddy. Gettin' warmer.
I think you're gettin' closer to it, pardner.
Looks like you're headin' in the direction, Little Bear!
It's cool where you are, fella. Pretty darn cool.
Pretty chilly where you're at, Little Bear. Not even close.
Brrrr... you ain't freezin', but you ain't at all warm.
You're mighty cold, pardner. Mighty cold!
I don't think you're anywhere near where you're supposed to be!
You're freezin', my friend! Freezin'!

Boone's lines were also much changed, though not to the extent of Little Bear's. Most of Boone's uses of "pardner" were changed to "amigo," and some of his lines were shortened or rephrased ("You're meltin' my friend! You're so hot, you're meltin'!" became "You're so hot, you're meltin', my friend!")

Little Bear's Time Warnings

You have used one portion of your fifteen minutes of time, my friend.
You have thirteen units of time left, Boone.
You have twelve units of time left, my friend.
You have eleven units of time left, Boone.
You have ten units of time left, cowboy.
Nine units of time are all you have left, Boone.
Eight units of time are left, cowboy.
Seven units of time are remaining!
You have used all but six units of time, my friend.
You have used all but five units of time, my friend.
You have used all but four units of time, Boone.
You must hurry, Boone.  Three units of time remain!
Quickly, (friend).  You have only two units of time left!
One unit of time is left, Boone! Be swift!
Your time is nearly up, Boone! Hurry!

Again, Little Bear's lines were heavily edited. His rather silly references to "time units" were changed to the more sensible "minutes," and his reminders were generally shortened.

Boone's Time Warnings

You have about 14 minutes left, Little Bear!
Thirteen minutes, pardner.
Twelve minutes to go!
You have eleven more minutes.
I'd say you have ten minutes left, Little Bear!
Nine more minutes!
You got about eight minutes left, pardner!
Seven minutes!
Six minutes to go, pardner!
I think you got five minutes left!
You got about four minutes left, Little Bear!
Three minutes to go, pardner!
Only two more minutes! Hurry!
One minute to go, Little Bear! Get along! Get along!
Thirty seconds left!

Boone's lines stayed mostly the same, but most of his and Little Bear's warnings went unused anyway -- see below under "Unused Voice Acting."

Little Bear's Ending Messages

Boone! Your time has run its course! Shall we try again?
The time you had is all gone, cowboy! Let's try this again!
Look out, my friend! Time is up. Why don't we start from the beginning?

Again, these lines were generally cut down for the final.

Boone's Ending Messages

Oh no! You ran out of time! Let's start again!
Look out! We better start again, whadaya say?
Time's up, pardner! Let's try again, okay?

Mostly untouched.

Unused Placeholder Endings

Sprite animation of The Pet Rat appearing (GROWL) Dramatic music flare!
Sprite animation of Mom's shoe appearing... Dramatic music flare!
Sprite animation of Dad's shoe appearing... Dramatic music flare!
Sprite animation of Brother's shoe appearing... Dramatic music flare!

Both the text and the animation went unused. In the final, running out of time simply triggers a message from Little Bear or Boone and a restart. This is probably because so many of the locations in Boone's scenario are in places where it wouldn't make sense for a shoe to appear (underground, on a toy shelf, etc.) The "dramatic music flare" made the cut, though.

Unknown

(RAT PRESENT)

Found in a gap between the ending messages and the start of Blooming Flower's Scenario. Use unknown.

System messages

his plug-in function has not been properly installed.
Unknown SMPTE frame format!
There are no snd resources in this file!
Select a snd resource:
Could not open this resource file!
Could not get a DSP Card!
You must choose a different name for the de-comp

These come just before the AIFF files for Boone's scenario, truncation and all.

is compressed, and requires a DSP card to open it.�Open a de-compressed copy of
Not enough free memory to pre-allocate the HD buffers!
Only one copy of this application can run at one time!
None�Create de-compressed file: DeCompr�MediaTimeª Card�Digidesi

These come just before the AIFF files for He Knows the Sky's scenario.

Unused Voice Acting

Little Bear

This would be used at the beginning of the game, before the player has brought Little Bear to life. It can never be triggered since Little Bear doesn't give hints until he comes to life, and it's impossible to turn him back to plastic until the end of the game.

Omri

This message indicates that in an early version of the game, it was only possible to open the cupboard before picking up a figure. Probably changed for being needlessly frustrating and not making sense in the first place (doesn't Omri have two hands?)

Omri reacts to finding feathers. In the final, Omri always specifies the type of feather he found, so these are unused.

Shortened Character Introductions

There are two versions of the introduction each character gives when the player first brings them to life: the in-game version, consisting of a gasp or yell followed by an introduction, and the above versions, which cut out the reaction (and, strangely, are much quieter). The latter versions are never used.

Additionally, Shares the Songs' shortened introduction adds in an Iroquois translation for "music" that is not present in-game.

Tracking Messages

300px 300px 300px 300px 300px 300px 300px 300px 300px Swift Hunter's animal tracking messages, but with Iroquois translations. The final only uses the English names.

Runs With the Wind's Game

6 patterns

11 patterns

16 patterns

20 patterns

The two-player mode of Runs With the Wind's seed game has voiceovers for unused variations in which players would compete in anywhere from six to twenty matches per round. Only a few are included here, but there is a corresponding file for each number of matches. This was probably eliminated because playing even the normal five matches takes long enough. At about thirty seconds per match, a full round of twenty matches would entail at least ten minutes of rote pattern memorization -- a grueling feat even for the game's target audience.

Boone's Scenario

Boone's scenario has warnings recorded for every minute remaining out of the fifteen-minute time limit, but the game only uses those for when there are 14, 11, 8, 5, 2, 1, and half a minute remaining. Having the warnings pause the game every minute was probably too annoying and removed.

Little Bear's Time Warnings

13 minutes

12 minutes

10 minutes

9 minutes

7 minutes

6 minutes

Boone's Time Warnings

13 minutes

12 minutes

10 minutes

9 minutes

7 minutes

6 minutes

4 minutes

3 minutes

Hidden Messages

Artist's Story

A strange message at the tail end of He Knows the Sky's scenario, before the hidden messages at the very end of INDIAN.DTA. It seems to be an improvised parody of the stories from that part of the game, but it's not clear if there is any way to trigger it in-game. This is spoken by the same person as the hidden message below.

Artist's Story 2

Seemingly another parody of the game's Iroquois stories, but much more bizarre. Again, it's unclear if this can be accessed in-game. Judging from the content, probably not.

Unused Music

A Brief Musical Interlude

Two unused pieces of music segued together with a faux radio announcement. This is the very last data in the game's resource file, so it's probably an unused extra tacked on as an easter egg.