Little Known Facts from the Indiana Jones Movies

The Indiana Jones films may be among the most popular films in Hollywood history, but there is plenty you may not know about the series. See if you knew the following facts.

George Lucas first pitched the idea of Indiana Jones to his friend Steven Spielberg in 1977, the weekend Star Wars opened in theaters. Lucas and Spielberg were in Hawaii on vacation when Lucas suggested his idea of a movie based on the cliffhanger serials of old Hollywood.

There are several Star Wars references in the Indy movies. In Raiders, C3PO and R2D2 can be seen in the hieroglyphics inside the Well of the Souls. In Temple of Doom, the nightclub is named "Club Obi Wan" and in The Last Crusade, music from Star Wars is played on a piano at the dinner party.

Indy's jacket and fedora were donated to the Smithsonian after filming of The Last Crusade.

While filming the Well of the Souls scene in Raiders, Spielberg had to bring in thousands of rubber snakes because the three thousand real snakes they used did not fill the set.

Dan Ackroyd appears in a cameo in The Temple of Doom as an airport employee. Spielberg had a cameo in Ackroyd's film The Blues Brothers.

The Holy Grail Temple seen in The Last Crusade is real. Known as Petra, it is a temple facade carved out of the rock by early Christians in modern day Jordan.

Karen Allen's character of Marion has always been a fan favorite, and many had hoped she would appear in a sequel. Her appearance in Crystal Skull was kept secret until a press conference at the San Diego Comic Con in July 2007. In a live satellite conference broadcast from the set of the film to a packed room at Comic Con, Spielberg introduced members of the cast, including Ford and Shia LeBeouf, and then brought out Allen, to the cheering delight of the crowd.

Spielberg wanted Karen Allen to appear in The Temple of Doom, but he and Lucas had already decided to use a different heroine for each new film.

In order to keep the "look" of the Indy films consistent, Spielberg shot Crystal Skull with traditional film stock, not digitally as Lucas and so many others now do. He also limited the use of CGI and tried to use practical effects and stuntmen whenever possible. Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who replaced the now-retired Douglas Slocombe (who shot the first three films), had to mimic Slocombe's technique to avoid looking too different from the first three.

Harrison Ford and Pat Roach are the only actors to appear in each of the first three movies. Roach played the German plane mechanic in Raiders, a Thugee guard crushed by a roller in The Temple of Doom, and a Gestapo agent in The Last Crusade. Roach died of cancer in 2004.

Lucas originally envisioned Indy as "an American James Bond," which came into play when they needed to cast Henry Jones, Indy's father, for The LastCrusade. Sean Connery was considered the perfect choice by Lucas and Spielberg, since only James Bond had the gravitas to play Indy's father. However, Gregory Peck was also considered for the role.

Harrison Ford tore his ACL while filming the "Flying Wing" scene in Raiders.

The Temple of Doom is actually a prequel, set before the events in Raiders and The Last Crusade.

In order to make Indy's jacket look "lived in," costume designer Deborah Nadoolman used Ford's Swiss army knife and a metal brush to "age" the ten jackets used in Raiders.

Production on the fourth Indiana Jones ramped up after Harrison Ford set a deadline to begin production or give up the idea of doing a new film.

Denholm Elliott (Marcus Brody) was diagnosed with AIDS before filming began on The Last Crusade. He died of the disease in 1992.

The violence in The Temple of Doom prompted the MPAA to establish the PG-13 rating.

Harrison Ford has a scar on his chin from a car accident in his youth. To account for this, a scene was included in The Last Crusade in which young Indy (River Phoenix) tries a bull whip for the first time, and cuts his chin.

The village elder in The Temple of Doom spoke no English, so he had to mimic his lines read to him by Spielberg on the set.

Both Frank Darabont (writer of the Shawshank Redemption) and M. Night Shyamalan (writer and director of The Sixth Sense) each took a stab at writing the fourth Indiana Jones film, but both attempts were rejected.

The Last Crusade established that the Indy character took his name from the family dog. "Indiana" was the name of George Lucas' dog. Both Lucas' dog and the Jones' dog (seen in a flashback) were Alaskan Malamutes.

Spielberg, Lucas, and producer Frank Marshall have cameos as extras in the airport scene in The Temple of Doom.

Mountains mirroring the Paramount logo are used to open each film.

The chilled monkey brains served in The Temple of Doom were actually made of custard and raspberry sauce.

Satipo, Indy's treacherous guide in the opening scene of Raiders, was played by Alfred Molina, known by many as Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2.

Harrison Ford injured his back while filming The Temple of Doom and required surgery, which delayed filming.

Danny DeVito was originally offered the role of Sallah, but his work on Taxi prevented him from taking the part. After Spielberg saw John Rhys Davies in the TV movie Shogun, he offered him the role.

Belloq, the villain of Raiders, was played by Paul Freeman, who later starred as the villain "Ivan Ooze" in the Power Rangers movie.

The submarine used in Raiders was rented from the makers of the German film Das Boot, which was filming around the same time in England.

In the Last Crusade, Sean Connery's character is shot with a Walther PPK, the same gun used by Connery in the James Bond movies.

In The Temple of Doom, in the Pankot Palace dinner scene, Ford wears a vest made for Han Solo for Star Wars.

The Wilhelm Scream (a pre-recorded male scream popular with sound effect techs) is used several times in the first three films. In Raiders, it is used in the truck chase scene, in the Temple of Doom, it is used in the Shanghai chase scene and when Mola Ram is killed, and in The Last Crusade in the tank scene.

Ric Young, whose character lost his fingers to Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom, has gone on to play many roles, including the role of "Suit and Glasses," the torturer in the TV series Alias.

William Hootkins, who played a government official in Raiders, played Porkins the Rebel pilot for George Lucas in Star Wars a few years earlier.

Special effects guru Dennis Muren has a cameo in Raiders as the Nazi spy on the plane.

Sean Connery, who played Indy's father in The Last Crusade, is actually only 12 years older than Harrison Ford.

Indy's line in Raiders - "It's not the years, honey. It's the mileage." - was ad-libbed by Harrison Ford.

In Raiders, Indy states that the Hebrews placed the broken pieces of the Ten Commandments in the Ark of the Covenant. Actually, the Bible states a new set of tablets were placed in the Ark.

In The Last Crusade, real Nazi uniforms were used in the Berlin parade scene. Filmmakers found a collection of the uniforms in Germany.

The dress worn by Kate Capshaw (Willie) in The Temple of Doom opening sequence was used as a prop in the campfire scene, and was partially eaten by an elephant. The dress was made of vintage 20s and 30s beads.

Indiana Jones was originally Indiana Smith, but Lucas changed the name at Spielberg's suggestion.

The Temple of Doom was the first film for Ke Huy Quan (Short Round), who would go on to play "Data" in The Goonies (for producer Spielberg) the next year.

Phillip Kaufman, who co-wrote the Raiders story with Lucas, came up with the idea of Indy chasing after the Ark of the Covenant.

Tim Matheson, Peter Coyote, and Tom Selleck were all screen tested for the role of Indy. George Lucas originally balked at casting Ford, since he had used him in Star Wars and American Graffiti.

Amy Irving and Debra Winger were considered for the role of Marion.

The name Marion Ravenwood was created by Raiders screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who combined his wife's grandmother's name (Marion) and an L.A. street name (Ravenwood).

The valley where Indy confronts Belloq in Raiders is the same Indonesian valley used in Star Wars in which the Jawas find R2D2.

Harrison Ford suggested casting River Phoenix as young Indy in The Last Crusade.

Many of the action scenes in The Temple of Doom were unused ideas from Raiders, including the raft ride and the mine car chase.

Producer Frank Marshall has a cameo in Raiders as the Flying Wing pilot.

Raiders was initially given an "R" rating for the violence in the climax. After some changes, the rating was lowered to "PG."

The voice of the monkey in Raiders was actually voice over artist Frank Welker, who is also the voice of Megatron in the classic Transformers cartoons.