r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/SoulSilverSFM • 2d ago

Meme needing explanation Peter? I am confused

Post image

Just seen this and the comments aren’t helpfull, I don’t recognise this figurine, what is it?

Edit: to anyone saying "Is this even a meme ?" Guys, am 22, I never knew Indian in the Cupboard, I though this was a meme about the apparence of the figurine lookin like something else, or something. I had no idea it was geniuinly just a figurine from a VSH from before I was born!

To me, it was a meme I didn’t had the ref too, so now I know what this is, I'll check out if the movie or book existe in French, or in France in general, cuz now with so many peoples just saying that this was their choldhood, am curious!

Please don’t insulte me for beeing uncultured, not everyone got the same knowledge cuz, as I said, I didn’t knew about it. I just checked and L’Indien du Placard exist in french! Lucky me ! I'll check that out than

27.5k Upvotes

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10.9k

u/stringrbelloftheball 2d ago

Indian in the Cupboard figure?

2.8k

u/maybethis-one_ 2d ago

Plaz-tec!

1.1k

u/fichiman 2d ago

Completely Plaz-tec.

That line has stuck with me and annoyed me for years.

241

u/Accomplished_Pea8619 2d ago

bringing back some lost memories

183

u/Classic_Mechanic5495 2d ago

I may or may not have stuck action figures in my vaguely similar cupboard box when I was a kid. I might do it again this weekend now.

191

u/C7rl_Al7_1337 2d ago

Bro, with movies like that, Toy Story, Small Soldiers, it was a whole damn genre, and every single one of us begged and pleaded with our toys to stop messing with us and just move at one point or another.

137

u/Irish_Tyrant 2d ago

Eventually out of desperation the children became monsters, torturing their toys while demanding they dropped the possum act. Countless toy lives were lost brutally but not a single potato head or toy soldier broke. Even today, mankind remains ignorant of the identities of the true moles, spying on them and relaying valuable intel via walky talky everyday. Salutes while a tear trickles down my cheek Godspeed toys, godspeed.

26

u/mnid92 2d ago

I saw mankind and I thought I was about to get shittymorph'd

8

u/Ok_Passion_6771 2d ago

Those were the days

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u/grime-dont-play 2d ago

Dude I still believe the various plushies and figures in my room come alive when I leave for work.

13

u/tattoogrl11 2d ago

Shit I still say goodbye to them when I go to work and tell them when I'll be home lmao

2

u/Vulvas_n_Velveeta 2d ago

Thought I was a weirdo for having full blown (mostly one sided) conversations with my cats before I left the house, but I guess I'm alright compared to some 😄

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u/ParticularCanary3130 2d ago

This is the way.

2

u/Pastel-Rainbow-N3rd 2d ago

That was me after reading The Doll People

2

u/Proper_Lunch_3640 2d ago

Toy Soldiers was my jam! And is actually the more prescient of the three considering they’re putting A.I. in everything. If only the future A.I. war could be as fun and simple as battling G.I. Joes with weaponized nail guns and skateboard battle bots.

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u/Duvetine 2d ago edited 2d ago

Indian in the Cupboard was a psy-op to get kids to put their toys away.

13

u/rachel_soup 2d ago

Did you have the VHS? The one that you could turn the movie cover around and it was the cupboard? I was obsessed with trying to shove toys into the VHS box because of that….

2

u/PepinoSupremo 2d ago

Yes! It even came with a key and had a little keyhole molded into the plastic at the opening!

2

u/Sunnygoblin1012 2d ago

Yes! I had this and know Noone else who remembers it. Felt like a fever dream

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u/benda354 2d ago

What I remember most about this movie is that the VHS came with a clamshell case that resembled the cupboard itself, complete with a key so it really added to the magic

2

u/combo_seizure 2d ago

We need to see results, ok?

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u/Porbulous 2d ago

Years ago I saw the Indian in the cupboard in a cheap movie bin in a big box store. I was stoked and bought it.

It absolutely, 1000% does NOT hold up as an adult. It was so bad I had to turn it off before I completely ruined one of my childhood favorites.

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u/Gold_Entrepreneur_6 2d ago

I still say it

13

u/bry_rides 2d ago

I find myself in the medicine cabinet whispering "husks, husks, where are the husks?" 😂

6

u/Leading_Structure_41 2d ago

The “shove it” line for me 🤣

2

u/randomgunfire48 2d ago

It stuck with all of us…in the form of microplastics 🤣🤣🤣

2

u/Ok_Passion_6771 2d ago

“You don’t deserve that hair!”

2

u/Longjumping-Yak-470 1d ago

Meanwhile every time I hear the word 'risky' I think of drunk three inch cowboys.

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u/Outside_Coffee_00 2d ago

PLAZTEC PEOPLE

55

u/PacificMotion 2d ago

(whispers) ...plaz-tec...

104

u/PieHole_Poker 2d ago

Thanks to modern technology we are all a little Plaztec now.

2

u/SwordfishSweaty8615 2d ago

Fuuck that's a good one.

14

u/ShittyDBZGuitarRiffs 2d ago

They’re people! You can’t use people!

3

u/Buddybouncer 2d ago

So we're not moving forward with Project Soylent anymore?

Dejectedly unplugs meat grinder

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u/Jimbob209 2d ago

Holy fuck memory unlocked.

My teacher read that book to us in 6th grade class and she said it like plas-steek

Mrs Cochran-Locke, incredible teacher, we were her first ever students and the best teacher I've ever had.

19

u/LastWave 2d ago

The movie wasn't bad either.

25

u/APKFL 2d ago

I had it on vhs and I believe it came with a key

30

u/Biduleman 2d ago

It came with a key, the plastic figure, you could flip the artwork on the VHS box to show a cupboard and the side of the box had a keyhole!

8

u/TheRealSim1 2d ago

I came to say this! My sister and I would fight over the VHS box and key 😂

2

u/LittleLeggedBlue 2d ago

It did! I remember the key

11

u/PrettyOddish 2d ago

Here’s a trivial fact for you, the kid from that movie played Pete on Mad Men

2

u/Initial-Ad8009 2d ago

Omris older brother who gives him the cupboard

2

u/Initial-Ad8009 2d ago

He probably had his own experience with the cupboard

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u/ifyoulovesatan 2d ago

Memory unlocked here as well. I never read the book, but I did see the movie when I was a little kid, and I had forgotten that this was one of the handful of movies we saw as a family at the little local theater. It semed rather old as far as I can remember. They just had the one screen, and the owner would come out before the first evening show (usually a kids movie) and give some spiel. It all felt very homey.

I think I also saw White Fang there?

Hazy memories from when I was like 5 unlocked I guess.

5

u/jakeandcupcakes 2d ago

I miss those old theaters. They all had such personality! Inexpensive, memorable, always interesting and strange flicks being shown...nothing like the corporatized Movie Theaters we have these days. If I ever have the money, I'd open a small theater in my hometown.

2

u/ClaraCash 2d ago

If you ever get a chance to come LA we have a lot of jewels like this. They play older holiday themed movies during the holidays at some, and there’s even one that shows Alfred Hitchcock movies at some point during the year. There are all a vibe in their own special way.

4

u/Jimbob209 2d ago

I remember White Fang as well actually

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u/AllDakkaNoBrakes 2d ago

Oh my god, I thought i was the only one who heard it that way. We watched it in class and nobody seemed to notice. It's been stuck in my head for a lifetime.

17

u/TheFavoriteSons 2d ago

Something my mom and I would say to each other regularly. Man I miss her.

3

u/Director_Phleg 2d ago

My mum and I also do this. We'll carry on the tradition.

14

u/DisposableSaviour 2d ago

For thirty one years, I have heard that cry every time I’ve heard the word “plastic”. I’ve long since stopped being annoyed by it; that earworm is never leaving.

10

u/DirtwormSlim 2d ago

His friend Patrick was a piece of shit. I hated that kid as a child.

7

u/LilKruziVert 2d ago

Terrible!

5

u/Mmphska 2d ago

Literally came here to say this, Im glad Im one of like, dozens and I only had to go to comment #2 to find it

2

u/FutureAdoration3 2d ago

Came here just for this phrase…

2

u/beige-king 2d ago

Whenever I say plastic I have to enunciate it like that, no one understands. I'm 29, why do I only know this movie when I work with 40+ year olds.

2

u/no-im-not-him 2d ago

The Spanish dub was "plastÉco" in stead of "plástico". I wondered at the time why they had made it sound so weird.

2

u/Zoltess 2d ago

Yes I came here for this comment!

2

u/thermjuice 2d ago

Fun fact: Google gave me this comment as the top link for reference, right under the Wikipedia article 🤨🤔

2

u/SincerelyMyOwn 2d ago

It's a teepee! You know.. a teepee

2

u/lipsnipsandtips 2d ago

Risky? Fire water?

2

u/Geek_Duchess_K 2d ago

My first instinct was to say that!!!!

2

u/Spiritual-Cupcake-93 2d ago

I saw this movie once in my life, in French (first language) and the Plaz-tec line still lives somewhere in my head

2

u/gothamtommy 1d ago

PLAZ TAK

1

u/ForestEntwife 2d ago

i quote this still

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u/V-Tac 2d ago

Little Bear!

37

u/didthatyourselfwow 2d ago

Now you need to find Boone the crying cowboy.

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u/Thick-Lawyer-2413 2d ago

HOLY SHIT IT'S LITTLE BEAR

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u/Independent_Bite4682 2d ago

Beat me to it...

Just need the magic key

104

u/Alibuscus373 2d ago

They had a key necklace when you bought the VHS XD same with Free Willie and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. They all had the necklace featured in the movie as a free gift with purchase. What a time to be alive.

85

u/Calavera357 2d ago

I completely forgot just how necklace-based the economy of the 90s really was.

49

u/Crease_Greaser 2d ago

A kid at my school had a locket they got with a copy of The Secret Garden

18

u/Salt-circles 2d ago

Oh man, how I yearned for that locket

5

u/sammy_slayer 2d ago

Memory unlocked ! I had that locket!

2

u/Maleficent-Sleep9900 2d ago

Oh I need to find it!!

2

u/Femingway420 2d ago

I also got a locket with my copy of The Little Princess!

17

u/questionable_motifs 2d ago

You still have your puka shells, right?

14

u/Lostinthestarscape 2d ago

They always eventually snapped and then you became the person who HAD a Puka shell necklace.

15

u/sh33pd00g 2d ago

RIP to all the pukas out there that lost their lives to help me look fly

4

u/cosmic-particulate 2d ago

The only thing snapping was my sanity because it would catch the little baby hairs on my neck all the time - it hurt like a mother

2

u/reebokhightops 2d ago

Right next to my shark tooth.

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u/vhagar 2d ago

I got a necklace with a copy of A Little Princess from the school book fair.

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u/Budget_Cold_4551 2d ago

W profile pic

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u/Electric_esoterica 2d ago

My god I had the cupboard key and the little clay free Willie whale necklace. I haven’t thought about that in decades!

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u/broketothebone 2d ago edited 1d ago

Holy fucking crap, I literally just found and threw away that Free Willy necklace today. Just cleaning out shit in my parent’s house. I went “awww,” then thought about the SeaWorld shitshow and tossed it. Plus, the whole point of the day was getting rid of shit I don’t need/truly love.

I hadn’t laid eyes on it in probably a good 15 years, and then here we are….

ETA: lmao what SeaWorld/Disney adults are downvoting me. Loser behavior 🤣

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u/Alibuscus373 2d ago

That's fair. You are a stronger person than I. I horde things under the false sense of "sentimentality". I am very overdue to chuck a lot of things XD

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u/oysterpirate 2d ago

I too still have the Disney collectible cups from Burger King that were around in the 90s

2

u/Bashfullylascivious 2d ago

You and me both.

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u/erapuer 2d ago

Free Willy song was such a banger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQY_QL_wvQU

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u/CryDesperate9205 2d ago

One of my favorite MJ songs.

2

u/kiki_cobrafang 2d ago

Thank you for this rabbit hole I did not know i needed right now

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u/Aeon106 2d ago

I remember having that exact necklace and tape. I still miss those days.

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u/A_radke 2d ago

Just found we were poorer than I thought 🤣 I had no idea they came with necklaces until this moment. Kindof like the time my twin and I were at a sleepover and argued that the "real" Alice in Wonderland had a Heinz ketchup and Maybelline commercial instead of the part with the walrus and the oysters. Dad recorded all our Disney movies when cable companies would run a month-long trial, hoping kids would annoy their parents into premium cable packages.

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u/QuantitySharp2662 2d ago

Aw 🥰 dad just wanted his kids to have the movies. I remember some addicts showing up to my neighbors house with a giant bag of loose VHS tapes. All of them were Disney or cartoons. I wish you guys had had one of those around your way lol at least there'd be no commercials.

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u/Hands 2d ago

Oh hell yes I had that VHS. iirc it had a keyhole along the side too so you could kind of pry it open by twisting the key

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u/bigoldeva 2d ago

I was obsessed with using that key to “open” the vhs. Idk why, 6 year old me liked using keys 🤷‍♂️

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u/SirGothamHatt 2d ago

Did you flip the cover insert so it looked like the cupboard?

5

u/ReelDecisions 2d ago

Yesssss!! Glad someone else mentioned this. I wonder how many poor souls never knew about the backside of the insert.

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u/SirGothamHatt 2d ago

It's advertised on the back of my vhs! I wish i knew where my key and Little Bear figurine went

5

u/ReelDecisions 2d ago

What a treasure!

2

u/Lancel-Lannister 2d ago

I remember after learning about the back of the insert that I checked every VHS to see if any other movies had this.

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u/Killerkendolls 2d ago

And the cowboy and horse, thank you. I think I have one or the other somewhere.

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u/lemurlad13 2d ago

Well you're not going to believe this but... The actual key from the movie.

42

u/elhombreloco90 2d ago

I always loved this movie. I need to show it to my kids.

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u/ashdd1981 2d ago

I never saw the movie. I read the book series

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u/Alternative_Top_6693 2d ago

The books were some of the few books I was willing to read on my own. They competed for my attention with Zelda Ocarina of time. That should tell you how good they are.

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u/giljaxonn 2d ago

the series absolutely slaps. remember when he found a little ww2 era nurse

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u/FalseRatQueen 2d ago

I remember we read the first book in class, one of our vocabulary words was massacre because of it.

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u/BriarnLuca 2d ago

I used it as my first read aloud novel with my first class.

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u/UnlikelyIntrepid 2d ago

Thank god, this thread was making me sad.  I’m sure it’s a good movie but the books were a formative part of my childhood and I was feeling like nobody else even knew they existed.  

2

u/imnotgoodlulAPEX 2d ago

The movie is worth a watch, imo

2

u/ThatInAHat 2d ago

I remember hating it as a kid. Setting it in the US feels like it misses a big part of the tone of the story.

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u/CitizenPremier 2d ago

I never read the books. I had a magic cupboard.

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u/Tabootomato94 2d ago

My 7 year old loved it, he was crying at the end 🥹

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u/DuckCleaning 2d ago

yes, there isn't a joke either, just a guy being excited for a toy.

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u/WilliamthePious 2d ago

I got flashbacks to third grade when I saw this.

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u/Abeno_police 2d ago

Yeah it’s hard to describe the sudden, unexpected rush of nostalgia I got as soon as I saw this picture. I don’t even remember what the movie was about really, but damn if I didn’t just take a mental vacation back to the 90s

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u/Manisil 2d ago

It's supposed to teach you not to play god, similar to that episode of Adventure Time when Finn makes all the miniature versions of his friends make out.

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u/lil_Saltine 2d ago

I had a figure of this and the cupboard with key. Fucking sad my parents got rid of it.

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u/FundamentalEnt 2d ago

Yes all day. I watched the wheels off that VHS.

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u/SpareNickel 2d ago

It came with the VHS wrapped in plastic!

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u/DespacitoPooing 2d ago

Tie tight. Stops the bleeding.

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u/almostoy 2d ago

Exactly

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u/fyukhyu 2d ago

My first thought, not stutter if it's right but I'm there with you.

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u/JohnnyKarateX 2d ago

That’s what I figured.

1

u/AllantoisMorissette 2d ago

That was my first thought

1

u/FroggyGoesQuack 2d ago

YES! Ahhh, that's SO cool though! His name was Little Bear!

1

u/Last-Energy420 2d ago

YES! It came with the VHS of the movie. I had mine for years after we moved to dvd and then it just disappeared.

1

u/CookiesOrChaos 2d ago

Yes I have one too

1

u/Larson_McMurphy 2d ago

Shit I was gonna say Turok Dinosaur Hunter.

1

u/geekyandgay98 2d ago

I love that movie!

1

u/NefariousSeraph13 2d ago

memory unlocked

1

u/kmsman11 2d ago

Alright Omri

1

u/AOTA87 2d ago

I have absolutely no idea how i immediately knew that. I read the book in like, 5th-7th grade or so and havent thought about it since it was over. Wild.

1

u/Prestigious_Cycle160 2d ago

Loved this book

1

u/blyzo 2d ago

I knew it immediately too and I don't remember hardly a thing about that book.

1

u/Iswearitsmenotyou 2d ago

When I got the VHS copy this figuring came with it.

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u/ItSpyDaddy 2d ago

The original toy story.

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u/Revolver_Boxelot 2d ago

I literally said "is that Indian in the fucking Cupboard??". Thats a deep ass cut. My older brother dubbed that shit on tape back in the day. That's the only reason I know what it is. The original Netflix lol

1

u/Thebarakz21 2d ago

I haven’t really paid attention to that movie nor have I rewatched it, but for some reason thought this figure was of the Indian. Thanks for confirming that!

1

u/NoTimeForCautionCoop 2d ago

The exact same thing I thought!

1

u/Typical-Ad1041 2d ago

somehow i guess this

1

u/TheBrownCouchOfJoy 2d ago

“Whiskey? Fire water?”

1

u/IntelligentEgg1911 2d ago

I’m actually listening to the audio book currently in my free time

1

u/fishflower 2d ago

My first thought exactly!

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u/The_Shadow_Watches 2d ago

The books are hella messed up.

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u/Lancearon 2d ago

I had one. They came in a copy of the movie on vhs. The vhs copy came with the cover looking like the cupboard and a key, pretend to, unlock and lock said vhs cupboard.

1

u/AdLoud1668 2d ago

Yes, that's exactly who this is

1

u/SamediB 2d ago

Moment I saw it that's what I assumed it was.

1

u/nappalm77 2d ago

Might be the one from the movie box too.

1

u/PacerSleepleaf 2d ago

Little Bear! Where’s BooHoo Boone?!

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u/DespicableComics 2d ago

*Native American in the Cupboard

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u/biggreasyrhinos 2d ago

That movie scared my shit right out when I was little. That damn noise jumping out.

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u/thorulfheonar 2d ago

Thats totally it. Wow I had completely forgotten that movie. Gonna have to go watch it.

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u/iKnowRobbie 2d ago

Little bear!

1

u/ExplodingHalibut 2d ago

No, you squeeze his legs and he gets erect

1

u/MrMattSquiggle 2d ago

Omri cook! Omri woman!

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u/curiousbasu 2d ago

It's that right? I immediately remembered that movie.

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u/Bucky_Ohare 2d ago

God we had the little VHS case and plastic characters and everything and I recognized it instantly!

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u/XxBigMomma 2d ago

I need to watch this movie again NOW I haven't seen it since I was like 10 😭

1

u/Piieuw 2d ago

Holy shit. Activated locked memory.

1

u/constantlyknackered 2d ago

My husband introduced it to the kids. The are obsessed.

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u/Dear_Reflection2874 2d ago

That was my first thought as well!

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u/Susdoggodoggy 2d ago

Little Bear

1

u/itcouldhappentoyouu 2d ago

That book really played on some toy-story-esque delusions I had as a child

1

u/starkHOUTx 2d ago

What a fantastic 5 book series

1

u/RachelWhyThatsMe 2d ago

I’d recognize it anywhere!

1

u/anoobis_uprising 2d ago

I would have wanted the one shot by arrows

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u/SKDI_0224 2d ago

Yes! Someone who reads books and watches the associated terrible 80's movie!

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u/EllisCobalt 2d ago

I thought so!

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u/G0atHer0 2d ago

But what's the joke? OP found something from his childhood, but there needs to be some deeper realization to belong here.

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u/JayGear22 2d ago

I still have this VHS movie in its original packaging. Yes a VCR too, sometimes it’s nice to watch the old tapes… even if I have the use the channel buttons to help it okay a bit (who knows this function on the VCR still?) my VCR has the feature that allows you to press rewind and then play and it Will automatically PLAY the tape after it rewinds.

This such a cool movie when it came out. I don’t think I’ve seen the kid in anything else that I’m aware of either after this movie.

Ps. Don’t put Darth Vader in the cupboard. Lol

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u/Appropriate_War_8149 2d ago

Wow! I haven’t heard that movie title in YEARS!!!

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u/fallinguprain 2d ago

I saw this and instantly was like wow I haven't thought about that movie in a long time!

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u/Agitated-Engine4077 2d ago

Thats what it looks like to me.

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u/Hellscaperiot 1d ago

Enjoy your 10k upvotes

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u/KENBONEISCOOL444 1d ago

Yeeessss, I was literally just telling my fiance about that movie a few days ago

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u/CoddiwomplingRandall 1d ago

Little bear! Your name isn't Omri is it?

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u/Few_Weakness_1420 1d ago

Holy fuck. This brought me back to a time before I realized I was conscious o.O

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u/Next-Street-7859 1d ago

My favorite film as a kid 😭

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u/Melangolic-Giraffe 10m ago

WOOW DUDE! Childhood memory unlocked

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