On Behind the Bin, a making-of documentary about Dustbin Baby, Wilson said that "lots and lots of people will identify with" the central theme of adoption, as at fourteen "you start to look at your mum and dad and think 'I'm nothing like them', and everyone seems to have fantasies about that they were adopted or something, and so I think that it's a typical teenage thing that you question who you are".[15] Richards says that she likes the idea that April "went on a journey to try and find herself" as "a lot of people [her age] try and do that because a lot of people get to the point where they're not really sure who they are any more".[16] Richards also discusses the motif of April's paper dolls, saying that April can relate to them as in different places, she is "still the same person", but that she is "coloured in differently by different people and different surroundings".[17] Alexandra Hewett, who played the Young April, described the dolls as April's "only real friends".[18]

Stevenson described the character of Marion as "cranky, stubborn and lonely", saying that living alone has made her "become quite idiotic and eccentric". When the character of April arrives, Stevenson explains that "Marion has to go from nought to 80 in terms of parenting. There are lots of reasons she wouldn't get it right" which leads on to the guilt and anxiety that Marion suffers when April runs away.[5] Stevenson compared her own difficulties of parenting to Marion's, saying "it is easier for me than someone like Marion because I have had 14 years experience".[5] Richards spoke of the character of April, saying that "the residential schools and children's homes were completely different from my life. [April] doesn't feel connected to anybody and she struggles to know who she is"canadian pharmacies
mining stock