One of the biggest heroes of all cinema, it’s undeniable that Indiana Jones does more exciting things before breakfast than you and your tubby waist will ever accomplish in your entire life. The character’s high-grossing film trilogy throughout the 1980s proved that, if nothing else, adventures against Nazis and mystical dangers will permanently bronze you as a cultural icon for all-time. In fact, Harrison Ford will be returning to that other role that made him every kid’s hero on Memorial Day 2008 in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. 

But in the 19-year absence from the cinema, fans had to seek other avenues to satisfy their jones for Jones. During this time there were various novels, comic books and video games to fill the void, but the only real live-action Indiana Jones adventures available was from a television series called The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles which ran intermittently from 1992-1993 and was later released on home video in combined volumes. 

A long time coming, and one of the last products in the Lucasfilm catalogue to be released, the entire series has finally been collected in the preferred, chronological home-video format in three separate (and truly, quite expensive) volumes as The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. This first volume follows the adventures of Henry “Indiana” Jones (Corey Carrier) in the early 20th century as he travels with his mother Anna (Ruth de Sosa), father Henry Jones, Sr. (Lloyd Owen, Miss Potter) and tutor Miss Seymour (Margaret Tyzack, 2001: A Space Odyssey). Since his father is often away doing and preparing lectures, Indy often finds himself left to his own devices and, being the scrappy kid that you might expect a pint-sized Indy to be, he gets into more than his fair share of trouble and adventures. 

There are seven feature-length stories included in this set. Running roughly 90 minutes a piece (or two episodes as aired) we follow Indiana from 1908 to 1916 with two adventures in different locales per “film”. Call it convenient writing if you will, but Indiana finds himself at nearly every important historical event of the era as it happens. In the premier episode (appropriately, yet unoriginally titled “My First Adventure”), he’s present when Howard Carter enters King Tutankhamen’s tomb and watching this landmark event the seed is planted for Indy’s respect for archaeology. You actually do get a sense that this is the Indiana that will crack the bullwhip against Axis oppression and occult Nazis in thirty-year’s time. In the follow up story, we see Indy in Kenya, befriending a slave, and with he gets the first revelation that the world is not like the comforts of New Jersey that he is used to, and he finds himself in the first real danger of his life as he and his new friend are kidnapped and put back on the slave trade. 

The dual-story format, while not terrible by any stretch, is a bit of a detriment to the show. The editing of the two programs together is reasonably well done, but I can’t help but think that two episodes with relatively little in common wouldn’t better be served presented as two episodes. The lack of a chapter menu of any type doesn’t help matters a single bit since you’re going to be inconvenienced by having to fast-forward or skip to the second program’s start. This is of course a small gripe, but it is a pain, especially if you’re a DVD reviewer. 

It becomes apparent after watching episodes as an adult just how educational the show set out to be. While the theatrical films had the framework of World War II to work around, connections to true events were always made as aftereffect to the more cinematic action and comic sequences to act more as a wink-and-nod to knowledgeable adult audience members. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is quite different by comparison. Education via entertainment is the theme and it is laid on pretty thick. However, watching this volume over the course of the week, I never once felt as though I was being preached to, and in fact often I was impressed with how well the “lessons” that the audience gets are integrated into the general plots. Being a philosophy fan, I really enjoyed “Travels with Father” where the two Jones men took to Athens, Greece and Jones, Sr. tries to instill the love to Jr. of “thinking about thinking.” Conversations quoting Aristotle, Plato and Socrates are used in practical ways when the two are stuck in various different situations. Sometimes the thoughts are used to comical effect, other times to further the plot. It may be obvious, but for a show intended for children, this was extremely well implemented and the script respects that they would grasp the concepts without considerably dumbing them down. As a bonus, the adventure is like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on a much smaller scale so if you’re a fan of that film, you’re likely to enjoy this story. 

And then there are a few oddball and almost uncomfortable stories. Take for example the second episode called the “Perils of Cupid”. The first half tells a fairly basic coming-of-age type story with Indy falling in young love with the Archduke Francis Ferdinand’s daughter, even going so far to ask him for her hand in marriage. Cute as the episode sets out to be, it does feature Sigmund Freud talking Oedipal in front of Indy with his parents present. Even more curiously off-putting, the follow up story features Anna being seduced by an amorous Puccini, and comes very close to adultery all in front of Indy and his tutor. Obviously, it isn’t graphic in any way and thematically events like these lay the groundwork for the more cynical grown up Indy we all know and love. Personally though, I thought it wrapped up to easily and was delivered with too much forgiveness for the no-doubt confused young kids that may have serious questions for their parents after viewing this episode. 

Thankfully, the adult nature that the series takes becomes much more appropriate during the last couple of episodes, where we jump a few years to 1916 and a teenaged Indiana Jones (now played by Sean Patrick Flannery, Demon Hunter) is back in America as a teenager attending high school. It’s here where we start to see Indy’s character really start shining through. In the first part, Indy and his girlfriend uncover a plot to undermine the Edison Company of a new battery which would revolutionize the automobile and oil industries. The second part of this “Spring Break Adventure” is where cinematic Indy action really sweeps in as Indiana Jones allies himself with Pancho Villa in Mexico as he takes on the corrupt federales. It is here where we see Indy don the fedora and bullwhip for the first time, and its finale is more harrowing than you could ever hope from a television program. 

This is a sign of things to come. From what I recall there were some great episodes once Indy joins up with the Belgian army in the War Years, which will be available in Volume 2. Volume 1 is weighed down a bit by mostly centering on the child Indiana, but as he grows up, so do his adventures – and I can’t wait to revisit those too. 

The DVD Presentation
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was filmed for television as most of its episodes were initially broadcast. The quality of these DVDs is perfectly fine considering the source material. That said, even high-budget early 90’s television, was still early 90’s television. There are some effects that with greater clarity become less impressive, revealing technological limitations of the time. This was particularly noticeable for me in the “Travels with Father” episode when Indy and pop are hanging on to a rope for dear life it is obviously blue-screened. The classic film series this is not, but for what it does, it does well. Audio is fairly standard, being a clean Stereo track that the show was broadcast in. English subtitles are available for those that require them, but that’s the only subtitles that are included. While this doesn’t affect me, I’m rather surprised that Paramount would limit the audience to only native English speakers, since Indy has so many fans the world over.

And the Extras Are?
As a complete addict who has seen far too many DVDs can attest, most television shows get the standard “meat and potatoes” treatment – if that. Usually you will get a season of programming and some light meaningless promo features that really don’t do the show justice and that’s that. Not so with The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, where you get seven “movies” and many discs of content. Content that, in many ways, rivals the program and even surpasses it.  

Here is how it’s set up. For the first eleven discs of the set, each disc either features a complete film episode and bonus features related to that particular film, or it only features the film and no features, or it is exclusively special features. For example, on the first disc we get “My First Adventure” and four documentaries Archaeology – Unearthing our Past, Howard Carter and the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Colonel Lawrence’s War – T.E. Lawrence and Arabia and From Slavery to Freedom. Each of these documentaries are at least twenty minutes in length and are factual documentaries that deal with the events and people that Indiana came into contact with in “My First Adventure.” Do not think light of these extras. These are all incredibly interesting documentaries that are classroom ready. Yes, I said classroom. History and Social Studies classes of all grades would benefit from having The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones – Volume One as a reference collection. This is fantastic content. 

This continues throughout the rest of the set, and if a particular episode has too much to talk about, they don’t put any extras on that film and instead give it a disc of its own features. There are 38 documentaries in all totaling up to over 20 hours worth of well-rounded education opportunities. This isn’t simply common knowledge stuff either. For every documentary on Theodore Roosevelt, there is one on Edgar Degas. For every Sigmund Freud, there is a Leo Tolstoy. For Yeats and Churchill, a Krishnamurti and O’Casey, and there are plenty of regional documentaries on places, politics and art and movements. People on the fence over the price should take a look at how invaluable the educational content is.  

The twelfth disc houses the only features that aren’t episode specific documentaries. Two of these are DVD-ROM features. An Interactive Timeline, and the Revolution Interactive Game. The timeline is a fairly interesting evolution of the path Indy takes in this volume, while the Revolution Interactive Game puts you in the role of Indy in the later half of “Spring Break Adventure” where you join up with Pancho Villa and try to survive. It’s fairly fun for a DVD game, but I died. The final extra is titled Historical Lecture: The Promise of Progress. Clocking in at just shy of 42 minutes, this lecture by University of Texas History Professor H.W. Brands about Progressivism in the early 20th century is arguably the best extra on the set. Brands is an entertaining speaker, so this is no boring lecture and his background in America’s history is extensive.  

So what about the show itself though? This is where my only real complaint with the set is. We have five discs that are nothing but special features, and yet we have nothing really related to the conception of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. There aren’t any interviews with the cast or crew. Lucas doesn’t say a damn thing on this set. There is, quite literally, nothing about the show itself. It’s easy to overlook this since the historical featurettes are incredibly entertaining and brain-filling, but it’s still an absence that is disappointing. Hopefully on the second and third volumes, this will be rectified. In the meantime, don’t let it discourage you from picking this up. You’re still going to be entertained by almost a days worth of content. 

The Bottom Line
The best episodes may be still to come, but there is a lot of great adventuring packed in to The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones – Volume One. Better still, there is a lot of historical intrigue as well, so if you like historical documentaries, it’s almost worth a purchase even if you’re not a fan of Dr. Jones! Even with the excessive retail cost, this is an easy recommendation. The sheer quantity of quality extras justifies the extra cost. But if you’re on the fence, try a rental. Unless your kid has nothing resembling an adventurous spirit, or the attention span of a housefly, he’s sure to find a hero in Indiana Jones.