Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Proved Indy Works Without Harrison Ford

With Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford is still playing the iconic character at 80 years old. Despite his advanced age, there are few actors in film history that generate excitement quite like Ford. The idea of recasting the role with a different actor has been seemingly unthinkable, even with popular suggestions like Chris Pratt or Bradley Cooper rumored as alternatives over the years. Harrison Ford breathed life into the character in a way that recasting the role like James Bond or Batman simply couldn’t.

While the flashback sequence featuring River Phoenix as a young Henry Jones Jr. at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is among the most popular moments in the series, it’s a scene that exists to set up Ford’s interpretation of the character. Inheriting a role for standalone adventures is a daunting offer for any actor, but before Ford himself returned for the disappointing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, another actor had already stepped up to the plate in a successful relaunch of the famous adventurer.

Ford and Phoenix Aren't the Only Indys

Sean Patrick Flannery was the primary star of the ABC series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which aired on ABC from 1992 to 1993 and was later followed by a series of made-for-TV movies that aired between 1994 and 1996. While the series featured several actors as the titular hero at different stages of his life (Corey Carrier played a 9-year-old Indy and George Hall stepped in as the grizzled 93-year-old version of the archaeologist), Flannery portrayed the iconic character from ages to 16 to 21 as he encountered historical figures throughout the early 20th Century.

The series featured many of the core elements that made the franchise so iconic, particularly the epic locations and serialized adventures. Early episodes featuring Carrier followed Indy as he accompanied his father (Lloyd Owen, replacing Sean Connery) in his exploits, exposing the future archaeologist to different cultures and historical relics. Indy’s rebellious personality began to shine when he hits his teens and Flannery takes over the character. He defies his father’s wishes by joining the Belgian Army, which sets him off in a series of wartime adventures and introduces him to the first of Indy’s comic sidekicks, Remy Baudouin (Ronny Coutteure).

Although much of the series focused on the complicated relationship Indy has with his father, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles’ supporting cast drew less from the previous films and from history itself. Indy’s exploits introduced him to a wide variety of historical figures, including everyone from Theodore Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to Al Capone and Pablo Picasso. If it felt like Indy’s coincidental insertion into virtually every major world event was a history lesson, then that was exactly what George Lucas intended. Lucas envisioned the series as a tool for educators to use in classes, and commissioned a series of companion documentaries to be released alongside the show in order to delve deeper into the historical topics.

The Series Also Bases Itself on the Same Influences

Like the films itself, the series drew on classic serial adventures for its stories. The debut episode “Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal” featured an Egyptian setting, a mysterious villain, and Indy’s quest to return a relic to its rightful place in a museum. The episodes that focused on Indy’s later wartime years borrowed many of the same action-packed, dogfight movie influences that Lucas often returned to in Star Wars and later with Red Tails (in fact, Red Tails director Anthony Hemmingway began his career as a production assistant on the series).

However, the stories themselves stood independently, and often ventured into all types of genre influences. “Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues” featured all the hallmarks of a pulpy 1920s gangster thriller, with Indy caught in the midst of a Prohibition-era murder mystery (and paired alongside a young Elliot Ness). The show even tackled a more sentimental side of the character; “Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920” is essentially a romantic comedy where Indy becomes involved in a series of love triangles, one of which happens to feature George Gershwin.

The more traditional television approach of dipping into a new story each week fit perfectly for Indiana Jones, and the series wasn’t obsessed with defining every aspect of Indy’s characterization as seen in the films. While Solo: A Star Wars Story is a much better movie than most people give it credit for, the most interesting parts of the story are the Western and caper aspects and not the explanations for how Han Solo got his ship, his jacket, and even his last name. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was a prequel done right; it used the template of the films as a jumping-off point, but not a blueprint.

'The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles' Is Still Impressive'

In a pre-The Sopranos world, the series boasted a pretty astounding, cinematic-level production team that shot on location around the globe. This was the project that introduced Lucas to Star Wars prequels producer Rick McCallum, and the creative team featured some astounding names. Not only did Lucasfilm favorites Ben Burtt and Joe Johnston step behind the camera, but major auteurs including Nicolas Roeg, Terry Jones, and Mike Newell all offered their unique take on the character.

None of this craftsmanship would’ve paid off if it wasn’t for Flannery’s performance. Although Flannery brought the same wry sense of humor and inherent charisma that defined Ford’s performance, he also explored a naive side. Essentially a coming-of-age story, the show would frequently place Indy in situations where he was the butt of the joke and had no expertise. Not only did this establish the skills and intelligence that Indy would develop by the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it was also a relatable story about a young person wrestling with his identity within a rapidly changing world.

It’s so interesting to compare The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull because they seem like polar opposites. As much as Crystal Skull was reliant on callbacks, it frequently didn’t seem to understand the character at all, positioning Indy as a nearly superhuman yet frequently bitter hero. Young Indy barely relied on the established mythology but retained the most important part of the character: his humanity. Having a hero who was vulnerable and sympathetic was always more important for Indiana Jones than Harrison Ford.

With The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles finally on Disney+, and a renewed interest in the franchise after Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, hopefully, this highly entertaining interpretation of one of cinema’s greatest characters will become more widely known.

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