Indiana Jones

Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr., also called Indy, is a fictional professor, archaeologist, and adventurer who originally appeared in a series of films produced by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg in the 1980s. First portrayed by Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones is noted for his trademark bullwhip, his fedora, and his overdeveloped fear of snakes.

Younger versions of the character were also played by River Phoenix (in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), and by Corey Carrier and Sean Patrick Flanery (in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles). An older version (93) of Jones, played by George Hall, also appeared in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

Indiana Jones is also the general name given to the series as a whole, which comprises three films, a TV series, various novels, comics, video games, and other media. A fourth film has also been announced for a likely 2008 release.

Biography

When not adventuring, Jones is a respectable professor

Indiana Jones was born Henry Walden Jones Junior to Scottish-born professor of Medieval literature, Dr. Henry Jones Sr. (played by Lloyd Owen in the TV series and by Sean Connery in the film), and his wife Anna on July 1 1899, in Princeton, New Jersey. "Junior" accompanied his father on his travels throughout Europe, where he learned to speak, read, and write 27 languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Vietnamese, Swahili, Latin and Chinese, as well as some Hindi, apart from English. Although his father called him "Junior," Henry Jr. adopted the name of his beloved dog "Indiana" for himself, insisting he be referred to as "Indiana Jones". It is not known for sure when he first did this, except that he was referred to as Indiana during childhood by his peers. During his youth and young adulthood, Jones met many historical figures who each had a unique impact on his life.

In 1912, Indy was living in Utah and was a member of the Boy Scouts of America with the rank of Life Scout, as seen on his uniform: a fleur-de-lis, or trefoil, superimposed on a heart. It was here, while attempting to secure the Cross of Coronado from thieves, Indy first learned to use the bullwhip and received his trademark fedora, as well as the scar on his chin. This was also the time when he first developed his aversion to snakes.

His father wanted Indiana to go to Princeton University. He made a trip in the vacations that ended up in Mexico and was kidnapped by Mexican revolutionaries. He joined this army of revolutionaries, playing a part in the Mexican Revolution in 1916, under Pancho Villa. It is here that he also met his friend Remy, a Belgian. With Remy, he left Mexico and traveled to Ireland just in time for the Easter Rising. He then traveled to England, getting involved with the suffrage movement, and then he and Remy joined the Belgian Army. He participated in the Western Front. He was taken prisoner by the Germans, escaped, encountered (and lost his virginity to) Mata Hari eventually making his way to Africa.

Indiana Jones with his father Dr. Henry Jones, Sr.

When they arrived in Africa, Jones and Remy were commissioned as lieutenants. Jones' inability to read maps properly caused him to lose his intended unit, and he instead fought along side a team of old men, collectivly known as "The Old and the Bold", the historical 25th Royal Fusiliers under the British Army. Their commander was the historical Frederic Selous, portrayed by Raiders veteran Paul Freeman. Among missions (depicted in the television series), the team destroyed a giant cannon mounted on a train, and they kidnapped the (real-life) German military genius Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck in a balloon, but they were forced to release him. Also while in Africa, Jones took ill, and was treated by Albert Schweitzer.

Jones and Remy then transferred to the French Army, and Jones worked as an intelligence officer, vied with Ernest Hemingway for the affections of a young nurse, and worked as a translator for the Treaty of Versailles, seeing the war come to its conclusion but laying down the groundwork for a second conflict.

Sometime after the war, Jones returned to the United States, where he studied archaeology at the University of Chicago under Professor Abner Ravenwood. At the same time, he became romantically involved with the Professor's daughter Marion.

Dr. Jones abruptly left the Ravenwoods in 1926 and did not contact them for 10 years. (The sudden end to his relationship with Marion Ravenwood led to a deep rift between himself and Abner during this time.) He divided his time between teaching and archaeological expeditions, including a journey to China and India in 1935 where he raced Nazis to a mystical gem called "The Heart of the Dragon" from the ancient tomb of a Chinese emperor. Immediately afterward, he faced the gangster Lao Che and the Thuggee, followers of the cult of Kali (Temple of Doom). He was called to a temple in Asia, where the deity Mara resided, but went missing, worrying the government and his friend Sallah. When guests in a troop transport entered the temple, Indy revealed himself alive again to the world by saving them (Indiana Jones Adventure). In 1936, he was contacted by the United States government to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis (Raiders of the Lost Ark). He continued to take on infrequent missions for the government over the ensuing years. In 1938, Indy rescued his father from the Nazis and became embroiled in the search for the Holy Grail (Last Crusade). His life during World War II is unknown, but in 1947 he was deceived by the recently born CIA to search the mechanism of the Babylonian Infernal Machine. Later, although not listed in the credits, a biology teacher in Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) bears a strong resemblance to Professor Jones, perhaps another reference.

When last seen in 1993, Jones was living in New York City with his daughter and her family (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles). Sporting an eyepatch and cane, he was stopping anyone within earshot to regale them with tales of his exploits. He seems remarkably spry for a man in his 90s—whether that is because of his drinking from the Grail is unknown. It is yet to be chronicled as to what adventure led Indy to wear an eyepatch.

Appearances

Since his introduction in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, the character of Indiana Jones has become a cultural icon for adventure. His popularity has allowed him to make appearances in two more feature films, a three-season TV series, dozens of novels, comic books, and video games, and even his own amusement park ride.

The television series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, aired from 1992 to 1996, with the 17-year-old Indy played by Sean Patrick Flanery, 93-year-old Indy by George Hall, and 10-year-old Indy by Corey Carrier. This inspired a number of made-for-TV and made-for-video movies featuring Flanery as young Indy. One of the last Young Indiana Jones TV movies featured a cameo appearance by Harrison Ford, reprising the role of Indy as a man in his 50s. The show ran for 44 episodes, with each pairing of episodes forming a feature-length TV film. The stories spanned from Indy's childhood travels with his father (who was on, what seemed, one continuous Medieval studies lecture tour) to the solo journeys of his youth and even into World War I. Every episode began with a 93-year-old Indy, a grey-haired professor, talking about one of his old childhood adventures.

The popular trilogy of theatrical films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, were made from 1981–1989, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. The series starred Harrison Ford as Jones. The upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, once again to star Harrison Ford, has been in the planning stages for several years; it is in pre-production and is not expected to be released until February 2007 at the earliest. Jim Ward, Vice President of Lucasfilm, has said in a recent press conference that a new Indiana Jones video game is expected that same year, around the time of the movie. John Williams has also stated in the DVD's of the Indiana Jones Trilogy and at George Lucas's AFI's Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony, that he is willing to return and perform the music for the fourth film.

Origins

Indiana Jones with his famous bull-whip

Indiana Jones, "Obtainer of Rare Antiquities," is modeled after the strong-jawed heroes of the matinee serials and pulp magazines that Lucas and Spielberg enjoyed in their childhoods, such as the Republic Pictures serials, and Doc Savage. The two friends first discussed the project while in Hawaii during the time of release of the first Star Wars film. Spielberg told Lucas how he wanted to direct a James Bond film. Lucas responded that he had something better than that.

Spielberg wanted Indiana to be a James Bond-like figure that got into difficult situations and worked his way out. George Lucas obtained the services of comic book artist Jim Steranko to design the actual character of Indiana Jones - Steranko presented a number of paintings, which were very faithfully followed by the costume and set designers.

Upon requests by Spielberg and Lucas the costume designer was given the task to make the character have a distinctive recognizable silhouette through the style of the hat (much like Dick Tracy). After examining many hats, the designers chose an urban version of the classic Australian Akubra, the fedora. The original fedora for the movie trilogy was constructed by Mr. Swales of Herbert Johnson Hatters in London, England. Although multiple hats were used throughout the movies, the distinctive profile of the fedoras remained the same. Today, the collection of props and clothing from the films, especially the fedora, has become a subculture/hobby for aficionados of the Indiana Jones franchise. Other elements of the outfit include the jacket, the bag, which was a modified World War II gas mask bag; and the whip.

Indy's revolver is a Webley Mk IV, but he is also seen with a M1911A1, 9mm Browning Hi-Power, and a .455 S&W New Century in the movies, as well as a .45 ACP Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector 2nd model. [1]

Tom Selleck was the first choice for the role, but couldn't get out of a television series commitment (Magnum, P.I.), so Lucas went with Harrison Ford, with whom he had worked for American Graffiti and his Star Wars films.

Many people have been called the real-life inspiration of the Indiana Jones character. Probably the most cited person is famous paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews. Another person cited as a possible inspiration is the Italian archaeologist and circus strongman Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1823). Religious archaeologist Vendyl "Texas" Jones once claimed that he was the inspiration, citing his names (he notes that his first name trimmed becomes Endy — very similar to Indy), but this claim has reportedly been denied by Spielberg. Other candidates include explorer Gene Savoy [2], Yale University historian and explorer Hiram Bingham III, the University of Chicago archeologist Robert Braidwood [3] and the British archeologist Percy Fawcett. Another very strong candidate is the famed adventurer and anthropologist Schuyler Jones. [4] However, the most likely inspiration was the fictional character Allan Quatermain.

The character was originally named Indiana Smith, but Spielberg disliked the name and Lucas casually suggested "Indiana Jones". The name was thus changed early in the production of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The origin of the name "Indiana" is the same in the real world as in the fiction: It was the name of an Alaskan malamute Lucas had in the 1970s (the same dog was also the inspiration for Chewbacca). His name is also said to be derived from the character "Nevada Smith," played by Steve McQueen in the 1966 film of the same name.

Spielberg has also cited the adventures of the Belgian comic character Tintin by Hergé as important inspiration for the style and atmosphere of the adventures of Indiana Jones.

Portrayers

* Corey Carrier (Chapters 1-5) (ages 9-11)
* River Phoenix (Chapter 25) (age 13)
* Sean Patrick Flanery (Chapters 6-22) (ages 17-21)
* Harrison Ford (Chapter 20, Chapters 23-26) (ages 36-39, 50)
* George Hall (Chapters 1-22) (age 93)

DVD release

TV films

The DVDs for Chapters 1-22 are expected to be released sometime in 2007, according to a statement by series producer, Rick McCallum of Lucasfilm. The company has already put in two years of work on creating these DVDs, so as to have bonus features for each movie.

McCallum expects there to be 22 Young Indiana Jones Chronicles DVDs in all, 3 of which have been completed. The discs will include some 66 historical featurettes, now in production. Work has been ongoing for about 18 months on the Young Indy DVDs, with about another 18 months worth of work yet to be done. If all goes well, the plan is to tie the DVD release to the theatrical debut of Indy IV.

Theatrical films

The 2003 DVD release of Chapters 23-25.

Chapters 23-25 of the Indiana Jones series (The Temple of Doom, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Last Crusade, respectively) were released on DVD as a boxed set of all three films plus a fourth disc of bonus materials in 2003.

Features
* Available Subtitles (US edition): English, Spanish, French
* Available Audio Tracks (US edition): English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
* Contains all three films in their original format (2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio or in Pan and Scan format), restored and digitally remastered

Bonus disc features
* A new, feature-length documentary of the making of the trilogy
* From the Lucasfilm Archives:
** The Stunts of Indiana Jones
** The Sound of Indiana Jones
** The Music of Indiana Jones
** The Light and Magic of Indiana Jones
* Original trailers
* Weblink to exclusive content including dozens of behind-the-scenes photos, an animatic sequence from Raiders and a PC game preview

References

* "Making Raiders of the Lost Ark." September 23, 2003. IndianaJones.com.

External links

* IndianaJones.com - the official Indiana Jones site
* TheRaider.net - a major fan site of the series
* The Indy Experience - another major fan site
* Indyfan.com - a popular Indy fan site
* The Indiana Jones Wiki
* Moby Games' list of Indiana Jones video games
* IndyGear.com - a site that details where to procure the Fedora, Jacket, and Bullwhip synonymous with Indiana Jones
* [news:alt.movies.indiana-jones alt.movies.indiana-jones] (Usenet newsgroup)
* Indy-Net.co.uk - UK-based fan site
* Chronology Central's Indiana Jones page - site contains a chronological reading/viewing order listing for all of the Indiana Jones films, episodes, novels, comic books and video games in the Indiana Jones continuity.

Indiana Jones: Encyclopedia BETA

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