Indiana Jones

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Indiana Jones character
Image:IndianaTempleDoom.jpg
Dr. Henry "Indiana" Walton Jones, Jr.[1]
First appearance Raiders of the Lost Ark
Portrayed by Harrison Ford (Ages 36-58)
River Phoenix (Age 13)
Corey Carrier (Ages 8-10)
Sean Patrick Flanery (Ages 16-23)
George Hall (Age 93)

Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. (born 1893)[2] is a fictional professor of archaeology, adventurer, and the main protagonist of the 1981 adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark, its prequel (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), and sequels (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). Jones is notable for his trademark bullwhip, fedora, leather jacket, and fear of snakes.

The character is most famously played by Harrison Ford; however, he has also been portrayed by River Phoenix (as the young Indy in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), and in the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles by Corey Carrier, Sean Patrick Flanery, and George Hall. Doug Lee has supplied Indy's voice to two LucasArts video games, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, while David Esch supplied Indy's voice to Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.

In addition to his film and television appearances, the character has been featured in novels, comics, video games, and other media. The fourth theatrical film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is currently in post production and scheduled for international simultaneous release on Thursday, May 22, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Appearances

Main article: List of Indiana Jones appearances

Since his introduction in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark (later retitled on VHS and DVD box covers as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark), he has made appearances in two more feature films, a three-season TV series, dozens of novels, comic books, video games, role-playing games, and even his own amusement park rides.

[edit] Feature films

Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford, was first introduced in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, set in 1936. He is portrayed as an adventurous throwback to the 1930s film serial treasure hunters, with an alter ego of Professor Jones, a respected archaeologist at a New England college. In this first adventure, he is pitted against the Nazis, traveling the world to prevent them from recovering the Ark of the Covenant (see also Biblical archaeology).

The 1984 prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, set in 1935, took the character into a more horror-oriented story, skipping his legitimate teaching job and globe trotting, and taking place almost entirely in India. This time, Jones attempts to recover children from a bloodthirsty cult.

The third film, 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, set in 1938, returned to the formula of the original, reintroducing characters such as Sallah and Marcus Brody, a scene from Professor Jones' classroom, the globe trotting element of multiple locations, and the return of the infamous Nazi mystics, this time trying to find the Holy Grail. The film's introduction, set in 1912, provided some back story to the character's fear of snakes, the scar on his chin (from the bullwhip incident in the lion car of a train) and his trademark fedora. The title is ironically fitting as, although Lucas intended at the time to do five films, this ended up being his "last crusade" for over 18 years, until Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[3]

[edit] Television

From 1992 to 1996, George Lucas executive produced a television series named The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles designed as an educational program for children, spotlighting historical figures and important events, using the concept of a prequel to the films as a draw. The show featured a standard formula of a 93-year-old Jones (George Hall) introducing a story, and then an adventure with either a 17-year-old Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) or a 10-year-old Jones (Corey Carrier). Historical figures featured on the show include Leo Tolstoy, Pancho Villa, Charles de Gaulle, and John Ford, in such diverse locations as Egypt, Austria-Hungary, India, China, and the whole of Europe. One episode, Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues, features an introduction by Harrison Ford, reprising his role as Indiana Jones.

The show provided some back story for the films. His relationship with his father, first introduced in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was further fleshed out with stories about his travels with his father as a young boy, and his activities during World War I were shown.

Since 1999, the canonicity of the episode introductions by George Hall has been called into question. At that time, George Lucas released a VHS collection of the series with the introductions removed, amounting to an implicit retcon of the segments out of existence.

[edit] Video games

The character has appeared in several officially licensed video games, beginning with adaptations of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and two adaptations of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - one action oriented, one with a more overt adventure bias.

Following this, the games branched off into original storylines with Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, and Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, which sets up Indy's companion Wu Han and the search for Nurhaci's ashes seen at the beginning of Temple of Doom. The first two games were developed by Hal Barwood and starred Doug Lee as the voice of Indiana Jones, while Emperor's Tomb had David Esch fill the role. There is also a small game from Lucas Arts Indiana Jones and His Desktop Adventures.

A new Indiana Jones video game is in development by LucasArts, and is expected to coincide with the release of the upcoming fourth film.[4]

Another game, Lego Indiana Jones: The Videogame is scheduled for Summer 2008.[5]

[edit] Concept and creation

Indiana Jones is modeled after the strong-jawed heroes of the matinée serials and pulp magazines that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg enjoyed in their childhoods (such as the Republic Pictures serials, and the Doc Savage series). The two friends first discussed the project in Hawaii around the time of the release of the first Star Wars film.[6] Spielberg told Lucas how he wanted to direct a James Bond film — Lucas responded that he "had something better than that".[6]

The character was originally named Indiana Smith, after an Alaskan malamute Lucas owned in the 1970s ("Indiana"); however, Spielberg disliked the name "Smith", and Lucas casually suggested "Jones" as an alternative.[6]

[edit] Costume and equipment

The general appearance for the character of Indiana Jones was chosen before anyone was even cast. He was envisioned as an amalgam of several characters — most notably treasure hunter Fred C. Dobbs (as played by Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), and adventurer Harry Steele (as played by Charlton Heston in Secret of the Incas[7]).

Upon requests by Spielberg and Lucas, the costume designer gave the character a distinctive silhouette through the styling of the hat; after examining many hats, the designers chose a tall-crowned, wide-brimmed fedora. Although other hats were also used throughout the movies, the general style and profile remained the same. Other elements of the outfit include:

  • The fedora - Made by Herbert Johnson hatters in England for the first three films. An Adventurebilt fedora is used in KOTCS.
  • The leather jacket — a hybrid of the "Type 440" and the A-2 jacket, made by Wested Leather Co.
  • The bag — a modified Mark VII British gas mask bag.
  • The whip — a 10-foot bullwhip crafted by David Morgan (although different lengths were used in specific stunts)
  • The pistol — usually a World War I-era revolver. Examples include the Webley Mk VI (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), or a .45 ACP Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector 2nd model revolver (Raiders of the Lost Ark). He has also been seen using a M1917 revolver, and a 9mm Browning Hi-Power.[8]
  • The shoes — "Indy Boots" made by Alden Shoes, which are still sold today (though in a lighter shade of brown than seen in the movies).[9]

Jones' fedora and leather jacket (as used in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) are on display at the Smithsonian's American History Museum in Washington, D.C.[10] The collection of props and clothing from the films has become a thriving hobby for some aficionados of the franchise.[11]

[edit] Casting

Originally, Spielberg suggested Harrison Ford; Lucas resisted the idea, since he had already cast the actor in three of his movies (American Graffiti, Star Wars, and its sequel The Empire Strikes Back), and did not want Ford to become known as his "Bobby De Niro" (in reference to the fact that fellow director Martin Scorsese regularly cast Robert De Niro in his films).[6] During an intensive casting process, Lucas and Spielberg auditioned many actors, and finally cast then little-known actor Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones. Shortly afterward pre-production began in earnest on Raiders of the Lost Ark.[6]

However, CBS refused to release Selleck from his contractual commitment to Magnum, P.I. (which was gradually gaining momentum in the ratings), forcing him to turn down the role.[6] After Spielberg suggested Ford again, Lucas finally capitulated, and he was cast in the role — less than 3 weeks before principal photography began.[6]

[edit] Models

Many people are said to be the real-life inspiration of the Indiana Jones character — although it should be noted that none of the following have been confirmed as inspirations by Lucas or Spielberg. In alphabetical order by last name:

[edit] Characterization

In his guise as a College professor, Henry Jones Junior is an average joe, who can also rise to the occasion in the guise of "Indiana", a superhero image he has concocted for himself.[18] Producer Frank Marshall said, "Indy [is] a fallible character. He makes mistakes and gets hurt. [...] That's the other thing people like: He's a real character, not a character with superpowers."[19] Spielberg said there "was the willingness to allow our leading man to get hurt and to express his pain and to get his mad out and to take pratfalls and sometimes be the butt of his own jokes. I mean, Indiana Jones is not a perfect hero, and his imperfections, I think, make the audience feel that, with a little more exercise and a little more courage, they could be just like him."[20] According to Spielberg biographer Douglas Brode, Indiana is a childish man who created his heroic figure so to escape the dullness of teaching at a school. Both of Indiana's personas reject one another in philosophy, creating a duality.[18] Harrison Ford said the fun of playing the character was because Indiana is both a romantic and a cynic.[21]

Like many characters in his films, Jones has some autobiographical elements of Spielberg. Indiana lacks a proper father figure because of his strained relationship with his father, Henry Senior (played by Sean Connery). His own contained anger is misdirected at the likes of Professor Abner Ravenwood, his mentor at the University of Chicago, leading to a strained relationship with his daughter, Marion Ravenwood (played by Karen Allen in Raiders of the Lost Ark).[18] The teenage Indiana bases his own look on a villainous figure from the prologue of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, after being given his hat when told he has lost the battle for the Cross of Coronado.[22] Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott) acts as Indiana's positive role model at the College.[22] Indiana's own insecurities are made worse by the absence of his mother.[23] In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the character becomes the father in a temporary family unit with Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw) and Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan) in order to survive. Indiana is rescued from the evil of Kali by Short Round's self-confessed love for him and being burned in the torso with a torch wielded by his child companion. Indiana also saves many children from slavery.[23]

Douglas Brode argued that because of Indiana's strained relationship with his father, a Christian searching for the Holy Grail, the character rejects the spiritual side of the profession he has followed in. The inconsistency of the three films is that after becoming a believer in Judaism (in Raiders), Hinduism (in Doom) and Christianity (Crusade), Indiana reverts back in the next film.[22] Temple of Doom, chronologically the earliest of the films, has Indiana as a mercenary, searching for "fortune and glory". Indiana uses his belief in Shiva to ultimately defeat Mola Ram (Amrish Puri).[23] In Raiders, the cynical Indiana accepts humility and refuses to open his eyes in the presence in the spirits who have been disturbed by their slumber in the Ark of the Covenant. By contrast, his rival Rene Belloq (Paul Freeman) is killed for his attempt to communicate directly with God.[18] In Crusade's prologue, Indiana's intentions are revealed as social, as he believes artifacts "belong in a museum". In the film's climax, Indiana undergoes literal tests of faith to retrieve the Grail and save his father's life. He also recognizes Jesus as a humble carpenter when he recognizes the simple nature and tarnished appearance of the real Grail amongst a large assortment of much more desirable ones. Henry Senior returns the favor by rescuing his son from falling to his death when reaching for the fallen Grail, telling him to "let it go", overcoming his mercenary nature.[22]

[edit] Influence on popular culture

Whilst himself arguably a pastiche of various prior adventurers, the character can also be seen as a forerunner to (or in some cases direct influence on) other more recent fictional adventurers of a similar nature. These include:

[edit] References

  1. ^ The character's full name is stated in the Corey Carrier narration of the feature-length episode My First Adventure from the The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
  2. ^ It was said that in the new fourth upcoming sequel being set in the year of 1957, also saying that Indiana Jones is now 60-years-old in 57', this means that Indiana Jones was born in 1893.
  3. ^ Daniel Robert Epstein. "David Koepp and the Press Blockade", Film Stew, 2007-01-17. Retrieved on 2007-01-19. 
  4. ^ Indiana Jones. Lucas Arts. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  5. ^ LEGO Indiana Jones. Lucas Arts. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Making Raiders of the Lost Ark. IndianaJones.com (2003-09-23).
  7. ^ Other Science Fiction Influences. Star Wars Origins.
  8. ^ Indiana Jones Guns. IndyGear.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  9. ^ Indiana Jones Boots. IndyGear.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  10. ^ Shrine to the Famous: Indiana Jones's hat and jacket, 1980s. Smithsonian Institue. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  11. ^ IndyGear.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  12. ^ Preston, Douglas J. (1993). Dinosaurs in the Attic: An Excursion Into the American Museum of Natural History. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-10456-1. , pp. 97–98, "Andrews is allegedly the real person that the movie character of Indiana Jones was patterned after... crack shot, fighter of Mongolian brigands, the man who created the metaphor of 'Outer Mongolia' as denoting any exceedingly remote place."
  13. ^ Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Filmsite.org. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  14. ^ Gene Sloan (2005-09-22). The trail less trampled on. USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  15. ^ Lost City of the Incas. United States Senate. Retrieved on 2007-12-11.
  16. ^ Molly Schranz (2003-12-21). Obituary: Robert and Linda Braidwood. Chicago Maroon. Retrieved on 2006-09-21. “Some say he was the real life inspiration for Indiana Jones.”
  17. ^ James Walker (2005). Film Claims Disputed; Dig Shut Down: Vendyl Jones' Claims Challenged. The Watchman Expositor. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.: citing Texas Monthly, "Lucas and Spielberg say they've never heard of Vendyl Jones" and the original 1973 script by Lucas predates Vendyl Jones archaeological claims that are the supposed inspiration.
  18. ^ a b c d Douglas Brode (1995). The Films of Steven Spielberg. Citadel, 90-98. ISBN 0-8065-1540-6. 
  19. ^ Anthony Breznican. "First look: Whip cracks over new 'Indiana Jones' movie", USA Today, 2007-12-09. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  20. ^ Jim Windolf. "Q&A: Steven Spielberg", Vanity Fair, 2007-12-02. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. 
  21. ^ Shinji Hata (interviewer). (1994). From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: The Best of the LucasFilm Archives. LucasFilm.
  22. ^ a b c d Douglas Brode (1995). The Films of Steven Spielberg. Citadel, 174, 176-187. ISBN 0-8065-1540-6. 
  23. ^ a b c Douglas Brode (1995). The Films of Steven Spielberg. Citadel, 141-43. ISBN 0-8065-1540-6. 
  24. ^ "A Filmmaker's Journey" featurette, from the Serenity Collector's Edition DVD

[edit] External links

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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Indiana Jones
v • d • e
Indiana Jones franchise
FilmsRaiders of the Lost Ark • The Temple of Doom • The Last Crusade • The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
TelevisionThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
GamesRaiders of the Lost Ark • Temple of Doom • The Last Crusade • The Pinball Adventure • The Fate of Atlantis · Greatest Adventures • Desktop Adventures • The Infernal Machine · The Emperor's Tomb • Indiana Jones • Lego Indiana Jones: The Videogame
CharactersIndiana Jones • Marion Ravenwood • Marcus Brody • Sallah • Henry Jones, Sr.
CastHarrison Ford • Karen Allen • Kate Capshaw • Alison Doody • Cate Blanchett
Jonathan Ke Quan • Shia LaBeouf • Ray Winstone • John Hurt • Sean Connery • Corey Carrier • Sean Patrick Flanery
George Hall • River Phoenix • John Rhys-Davies • Denholm Elliott • Julian Glover • Amrish Puri • Paul Freeman
Wolf Kahler • Ronald Lacey • Pat Roach • Michael Byrne • David Yip • Dan Aykroyd • Alfred Molina • Philip Stone
CrewGeorge Lucas • Steven Spielberg • John Williams • Kathleen Kennedy • Frank Marshall • Rick McCallum
ca:Indiana Jones

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