Indiana Jones (character)

Character description and formation

"Indiana" Jones's full name is Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., and his nickname is often shortened to "Indy".

In his role as a college professor of archaeology Jones is scholarly, wears a tweed suit, and lectures on ancient civilizations. At the opportunity to recover important artifacts, Dr. Jones transforms into "Indiana," a "non-superhero superhero" image he has concocted for himself. 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." 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." According to Spielberg biographer Douglas Brode, Indiana created his heroic figure so as to escape the dullness of teaching at a school. Both of Indiana's personas reject one another in philosophy, creating a duality. Harrison Ford said the fun of playing the character was that Indiana is both a romantic and a cynic, while scholars have analyzed Indiana as having traits of a lone wolf; a man on a quest; a noble treasure hunter; a hardboiled detective; a human superhero; and an American patriot.

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 Jones Sr. His own contained anger is misdirected towards Professor Abner Ravenwood, his mentor at the University of Chicago, leading to a strained relationship with Marion Ravenwood. The teenage Indiana bases his own look on a figure from the prologue of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, after being given his hat. Marcus Brody acts as Indiana's positive role model at the college. Indiana's own insecurities are made worse by the absence of his mother. In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he becomes the father figure to Short Round, to survive; he is rescued from Kali's evil by Short Round's dedication. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, he is wise enough to close his eyes in the presence of God in the Ark of the Covenant. By contrast, his rival Rene Belloq is killed for having the audacity to try to communicate directly with God.

In the prologue of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jones is seen as a teenager, establishing his look when given a fedora hat. Indiana's intentions are revealed as prosocial, 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 remembers Jesus as a historical figure—a humble carpenter—rather than an exalted figure when he recognizes the simple nature and tarnished appearance of the real Grail amongst a large assortment of much more ornately decorated ones. Henry Senior rescues his son from falling to his death when reaching for the fallen Grail, telling him to "let it go," overcoming his mercenary nature. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles explains how Indiana becomes solitary and less idealistic following his service in World War I. In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Jones is older and wiser, whereas his sidekicks Mutt and Mac are youthfully arrogant, and greedy, respectively.

Origins and inspirations

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). Sir H. Rider Haggard's safari guide and big game hunter Allan Quatermain, who appeared in King Solomon's Mines (1885) and its seventeen sequels and prequels, is a notable template for Jones. The two friends first discussed the project in Hawaii around the time of the release of the first Star Wars film. Spielberg told Lucas how he wanted his next project to be something fun, like a James Bond film (this would later be referenced when they cast Sean Connery as Henry Jones, Sr.). According to sources, Lucas responded to the effect that he had something "even better", or that he had "got that beat."

One of the possible bases for Indiana Jones is Professor Challenger, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1912 for his novel, The Lost World. Challenger was based on Doyle's physiology professor, William Rutherford, an adventuring academic, albeit a zoologist/anthropologist.

Another important influence on the development of the character Indiana Jones is the Disney character Scrooge McDuck. Carl Barks created Scrooge in 1947 as a one-off relation for Donald Duck in the latter's self-titled comic book. Barks realized that the character had more potential, so a separate Uncle Scrooge comic book series full of exciting and strange adventures in the company of his duck nephews was developed. This Uncle Scrooge comic series strongly influenced George Lucas. This appreciation of Scrooge as an adventurer influenced the development of Jones, with the prologue of Raiders of the Lost Ark containing homage to Barks' Scrooge adventure "The Seven Cities of Cibola", published in Uncle Scrooge #7 from September 1954. This homage in the film takes the form of playfully mimicking the removal-of-the-statuette-from-its-pedestal and the falling-stone sequences of the comic book.

The character was originally named Indiana Smith, after an Alaskan Malamute called Indiana that Lucas owned in the 1970s and on which he based the Star Wars character Chewbacca. Spielberg disliked the name Smith, and Lucas casually suggested Jones as an alternative. The Last Crusade script references the name's origin, with Jones' father revealing his son's birth name to be Henry and explaining that "we named the dog Indiana", to his son's chagrin. Some have also posited that C.L. Moore's science fiction character Northwest Smith may have also influenced Lucas and Spielberg in their naming choice.

Lucas has said on various occasions that Sean Connery's portrayal of British secret agent James Bond was one of the primary inspirations for Jones, a reason Connery was chosen for the role of Indiana's father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Spielberg earned the rank of Eagle Scout and Ford the Life Scout badge in their youth, which gave them the inspiration to portray Indiana Jones as a Life Scout at age 13 in The Last Crusade.

Historical models

Many people are said to be the real-life inspiration of the Indiana Jones character—although none of the following have been confirmed as inspirations by Lucas or Spielberg. There are some suggestions listed here in alphabetical order by last name:

• Beloit College professor and paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews.
• Edgar James Banks (May 23, 1866 – May 5, 1945) – American diplomat, antiquarian and novelist. Banks is credited with the sale of an ancient cuneiform tablet famously known as Plimpton 322 proving the Babylonians beat the Greeks to the invention of trigonometry—the study of triangles—by more than 1,000 years.
• Italian archaeologist and circus strongman Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778–1823).
• Yale University professor, historian, US senator, and explorer Hiram Bingham III, (1875–1956) who rediscovered and excavated the lost city of Machu Picchu, and chronicled his find in the bestselling book The Lost City of the Incas in 1948.
• University of Chicago archaeologist Robert Braidwood.
• University of Chicago archaeologist James Henry Breasted.
• Frederick Russell Burnham, the celebrated American scout and British Army spy who heavily influenced Haggard's fictional Allan Quatermain character and also became the inspiration for the Scouting movement.
• British archaeologist Percy Fawcett, who spent much of his life exploring the jungles of northern Brazil, and who was last seen in 1925 returning to the Amazon Basin to look for the Lost City of Z. A fictionalized version of Fawcett appears to Jones in the book Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils.
• American archaeologist Walter Fairservis.
• Harvard University paleontologist Farish Jenkins.
• Duke University biblical scholar, archeologist, and Bernice and Morton Lerner Emeritus Professor in Judaic Studies Eric M. Meyers, who with his wife and Mary Grace Wilson Professor Emerita of Religious Studies Carol Lyons Meyers uncovered the oldest known remnant of an ark found to date. It was unearthed at Nabratein synagogue in Israel around the time Raiders was released, prompting media interest and a photo of the Meyers dressed as Indy and Marion in People magazine.
• Northwestern University political scientist, anthropologist, professor and adventurer William Montgomery McGovern.
• American archaeologist and adventurer Wendell Phillips led well-publicized expeditions in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula in the 1940s and 1950s.
• American chess expert and adventurer Albert Pinkus, a Manhattan Chess Club member who innovated the 2 Knights Defense, and went on expeditions into South America.
• German archaeologist Otto Rahn.
• Harvard University archaeologist and art historian Langdon Warner.
• Vendyl Jones (1930–2010) led digs in Israel searching for the holy ark. He discovered items identified as the Temple incense and a clay vessel for holy anointing oil. In his 2005 book A Door of Hope: My Search for the Treasures of the Copper Scroll, he discusses the similarities.

Costume

Upon requests by Spielberg and Lucas, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman gave the character a distinctive silhouette through the styling of the hat; after examining many hats, Nadoolman chose a tall-crowned, wide-brimmed fedora. As a documentary of Raiders pointed out, the hat served a practical purpose. Following the lead of the old "B"-movies that inspired the Indiana Jones series, the fedora hid the actor's face sufficiently to allow doubles to perform the more dangerous stunts seamlessly. Examples in Raiders include the wider-angle shot of Indy and Marion crashing a statue through a wall, and Indy sliding under a fast-moving vehicle from front to back. Thus it was necessary for the hat to stay in place much of the time.

The hat became so iconic that the filmmakers could only come up with very good reasons or jokes to remove it. If it ever fell off during a take, filming would have to stop to put it back on. In jest, Ford put a stapler against his head to stop his hat from falling off when a documentary crew visited during shooting of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This created the urban legend that Ford stapled the hat to his head. Anytime Indy's hat accidentally came off as part of the storyline (blown off by the wind, knocked off, etc.) and seemed almost irretrievable, filmmakers would make sure Indy and his beloved hat were always reunited, regardless of the implausibility of its return. Although other hats were also used throughout the films, the general style and profile remained the same. Elements of the outfit include:

• The fedora was supplied by Herbert Johnson Hatters of Savile Row, London for the first three films. An Australian model was used by costume designer Deborah Landis to show hat maker Richard Swales the details when making the iconic hat from "the Poets" parts. The fedora for Crystal Skull was made by Steve Delk and Marc Kitter of the Adventurebilt Hat Company of Columbus, Mississippi.
• The leather jacket, a hybrid of the "Type 440" and the A-2 jacket, was made by Leather Concessionaires (now known as Wested Leather Co.) for Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. For Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, jackets were made in-house at Bermans & Nathans in London based on a stunt jacket they provided for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Tony Nowak made the jacket for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
• The Indiana Jones shirt is based on a typical safari-style shirt. Its distinctive feature is two vertical strips running from the shoulders to the bottom of the shirt tails and continued over both breast pockets. A common debate regards the original shirt color. Surviving samples of the original shirts seem to be darker in reality than they appear on screen. Most fans look for an off-white "stone" color for their replicas. The original shirts, however, may have been more of a "tan" or "natural" color. The shirt varied little from film to film, the only notable difference being the darker buttons in Temple of Doom and Last Crusade. Originally designed by Andreas Dometakis for the films, this shirt was once one of the hardest pieces of gear to find.
• The trousers worn by Indiana Jones in all five films were based on original World War II Army and Army Air Corps officer trousers. Although not original Pinks they are based on the same basic design and do carry a slight pinkish hue. The trousers made for Raiders are said to be more of a greyish-brown whereas the trousers made for Temple of Doom and Last Crusade were supposedly a purer reddish brown. The trousers were made of a khaki wool-twill, pleated with seven belt loops, two scalloped button flap rear pockets, a button fly and a four-inch military style hem. They were all most likely subcontracted by the costume department and made by famed London based cinema costumers, Angels and Bermans, to be tailored perfectly for Harrison Ford for the production.
• The satchel was a modified Mark VII gas mask bag that was used by British troops and civilians during World War II.
• The whip was an 8- to 10-foot (2.4 to 3.0 m) bullwhip crafted by David Morgan for the first three films. The whips for Crystal Skull were crafted by a variety of people, including Terry Jacka, Joe Strain and Morgan (different lengths and styles were likely used in specific stunts).
• The pistol was usually a World War I-era revolver, including the Webley Government (WG) Revolver (Last Crusade and Crystal Skull), or a Smith & Wesson Second Model Hand Ejector revolver (Raiders). He has also used a Colt Official Police revolver (Temple of Doom), a Nagant M1883 (Young Indiana Jones), and a 9 mm Browning Hi-Power (Raiders). The weapon is carried in a military pattern flap holster.
• The shoes were made by Alden. A stock style (model 405) that had been a favorite of Ford's before the films, they are still sold today (though in a redder (brick) shade of brown than seen in the films) and are popularly known as "Indy Boots."

The fedora and leather jacket from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade are on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The collecting of props and clothing from the films has become a thriving hobby for some aficionados of the franchise. Jones' whip was the third most popular film weapon, as shown by a 2008 poll held by 20th Century Fox, which surveyed approximately two thousand film fans.

Casting

Originally, Spielberg suggested Harrison Ford; Lucas resisted the idea, since he had already cast the actor in American Graffiti, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, and did not want Ford to become known as his "Bobby De Niro" (in reference to Martin Scorsese frequently casting Robert De Niro in his films). During an intensive casting process, Lucas and Spielberg auditioned many actors, and finally cast actor Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones. Shortly afterward pre-production began in earnest on Raiders of the Lost Ark. CBS refused to release Selleck from his contractual commitment to Magnum, P.I., forcing him to turn down the role. Shooting for the film could have overlapped with the pilot for Magnum, P.I. but it later turned out that filming of the pilot episode was delayed and Selleck could have done both.

Subsequently, Peter Coyote and Tim Matheson both auditioned for the role. After Spielberg suggested Ford again, Lucas relented, and Ford was cast in the role less than three weeks before filming began.

Cultural influence

Archaeological influence

The industry magazine Archaeology named eight past and present archaeologists who they felt "embodied [Jones's] spirit" as recipients of the Indy Spirit Awards in 2008. That same year Ford himself was elected to the board of directors for the Archaeological Institute of America. Commenting that "understanding the past can only help us in dealing with the present and the future," Ford was praised by the association's president for his character's "significant role in stimulating the public's interest in archaeological exploration."

He is perhaps the most influential character in films that explore archaeology. Since the release of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, the very idea of archaeology and archaeologists has fundamentally shifted. Prior to the film's release, the stereotypical image of an archaeologist was that of an older, lackluster professor type. In the early years of films involving archaeologists, they were portrayed as victims who would need to be rescued by a more masculine or heroic figure. Following 1981, the stereotypical archaeologist was thought of as an adventurer consistently engaged in fieldwork.

Archeologist Anne Pyburn described the influence of Indiana Jones as elitist and sexist, and argued that the film series had caused new discoveries in the field of archaeology to become oversimplified and overhyped in an attempt to gain public interest, which negatively influences archaeology as a whole. Eric Powell, an editor with the magazine Archaeology, said "O.K., fine, the movie romanticizes what we do", and that "Indy may be a horrible archeologist, but he's a great diplomat for archeology. I think we'll see a spike in kids who want to become archeologists". Kevin McGeough, associate professor of archaeology, describes the original archaeological criticism of the film as missing the point of the film: "dramatic interest is what is at issue, and it is unlikely that film will change in order to promote and foster better archaeological techniques".

Other characters inspired by Jones

While himself an homage to various prior adventurers, aspects of Indiana Jones also directly influenced some subsequent characterizations:

• Lara Croft, the female archaeologist of the Tomb Raider series, was originally designed as a man but was changed to a woman, partly because the developers felt the original design was too similar to Indiana Jones. Paramount Pictures, which distributed the first four installments of the Indiana Jones film series, would later make two films based on the Tomb Raider games.
• Rick O'Connell from The Mummy films has often been compared to the likes of Indiana Jones.
• The producer of the Prince of Persia (2008) video game, Ben Mattes, explained that its "inspiration was anything Harrison Ford has ever done: Indiana Jones, Han Solo."
• Nathan Drake, the protagonist from the video game series Uncharted, shares many similarities with Jones himself, both visually and personality-wise.
• Dr. Smolder Bravestone, the main protagonist's video game avatar in the Jumanji film series, shares similarities to Jones.
• Flynn Carsen, the main character of The Librarian.
• Sydney Fox, the main character of Relic Hunter
• Benjamin Franklin Gates, the main character of the first 2 films in the National Treasure franchise.

References in other media

Indiana Jones has been widely referenced and parodied throughout different media. Some notable franchises which have referenced Indiana Jones include:

• Star Wars: Indiana Jones has been referenced multiple times, including in Star Wars: The Force Awakens when Han Solo is chased by a spherical rathtar, which uses sound effects from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• Marvel Cinematic Universe: Has made various references including in the opening scene of Guardians of the Galaxy referencing Raiders.
• The Simpsons: Has made reference to Indiana Jones many times, including Milhouse's uncle, Norbert Van Houten, dressing as the character.
• The Big Bang Theory: Makes numerous references to Indiana Jones, having an episode, "The Raiders Minimization", named in reference to Raiders.
• World of Warcraft: Parodies the character with the non-player character named "Harrison Jones" paraphrasing Jones's lecture from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Psychology

In psychology, the behavior of a person's denial of an obviously proven finding against overwhelming evidence and the person's own observations is also referred to as the "Indiana Jones effect". This title refers to Indiana Jones's repeated disbelief of the supernatural seen throughout the series, even though the character has seen magical rituals, the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail with his own eyes.