"I don't know why grown ups don't believe what they did when they were kids. I mean, aren't they supposed to be smarter?" The innocent thought provoking words of 9-year-old Eric Applebaum, who happens to be the narrator of the film Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. This is a story that teaches that anyone can, and should, believe in themselves. Spoilers ahead.
Once upon a time, a young, talented pianist named Molly Mahoney, was working on her first concerto. She is also working as the manager and apprentice of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, a magical toy store owned by the magical but eccentic, 243-year-old, avid shoe-wearing, Mr. Magorium. Also working at the emporium is a somewhat lonely boy named Eric, and the recently hired Henry Weston, an accountant (or as our other characters call him, "the mutant"), who doesn't believe in magic.
In recent days, Mahoney has become unsure of herself, struggling to find the right notes for her concerto. It is at this time that Mr. Magorium reveals to Mahoney that the emporium is being left to her in his will, and that he is going to die soon. However, Mahoney doesn't think she can run the store because she doesn't have the same magic Mr. Magorium has. After he dies, Mahoney must now choose whether to sell or keep the store. With the help of a block of wood and an accountant, will Molly Mahoney be able to find the magic that has always been in her, or will she choose to sell Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium?
Henry Weston and Mahoney are in similar positions. They are both faced with a choice: For Henry, whether or not to believe in the magic of the store, and for Mahoney, whether or not to believe in herself. They both however, try to get coaxed out of their comfort zones by the same person: Eric. After Mr. Magorium passes, Eric knows that Mahoney can run the store. She doesn't think so, and says that "I cannot be a kid anymore." Eric simply responds with, "that's why Mr. Magorium gave you the store." As Eric becomes friends with Henry, he gets Henry to loosen up and do things such as play pretend. It is Eric that asks Henry to convince Mahoney that she should keep the store, even though he doesn't quite believe in it himself. 
In a way, Mahoney and Henry challenge each other. Henry seems to embody Mahoney's self doubt in her ability to run the emporium, as he thinks that "there's no such thing a magical toy store." At the same time, Mahoney is able to remind herself of what she truly believes when she testifies of the store's magic to Henry, never showing any doubt. Before Mr. Magorium reveals his plan to Mahoney, he gives her what he calls, "the congreve cube." To Mahoney and the audience, it looks like a simple block of wood. "Unlikely adventures," says Mr. Magorium, "require unlikely tools." Until Mahoney has to make her decision to sell the store, the congreve cube hasn't done anything. Only until Mahoney tries to explain to Henry Weston that it's magical, it starts to move and fly around the store, causing Henry to faint in disbelief. When Henry wakes up the next morning, the cube is nowhere to be found and Mahoney has no memory of it. But now Henry believes in the store and realizes that, as he tells Mahoney, "you are a block of wood." Throughout the movie, Mahoney believed in the cube. But in truth, Mr. Magorium gave it to her to teach her that she can do amazing things if she believes in herself the same way she believes in the block of wood. Now that Mahoney's belief in the cube has made it fly, she no longer remembers it and only needs to believe in herself.
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