The essential Young Indiana Jones episodes you need to stream on Disney+

In the early 90s, viewers were treated to “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” – which has now been retitled “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones”. These adventures explored the early adventures of everyone’s favorite archaeologist, long before he chose this as his profession. The series is split with two actors playing Indy, the youngest, Corey Carrier, examines Indiana Jones during his school days, taken around the world by his parents with a tutor in tow. These episodes brought him into contact with everyone from Theodore Roosevelt to Pablo Picasso, and were nothing short of charming. Sean Patrick Flanery starred as Indiana Jones in his late teens and early twenties, part of the role River Phoenix originated in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Originally, each episode came with an intro and outing of a one-eyed 80-year-old Indiana Jones played by George Hall. These were removed in the 2007 DVD releases, where George Lucas recut the episodes in chronological order, creating 22 mini-film episodes of the series.

Few realize how influential and important “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones” is to the story of George Lucas’ drive to augment the tools used by filmmakers. To film these lavish period pieces on a shoestring budget, George Lucas had to push the boundaries of what was possible with early computer-generated effects and set extensions. Despite the 30 years since the show aired, the effects hold up admirably.

It also brought Lucas into contact with many people who would develop the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, from producer Rick McCallum, cinematographer David Tattersall and stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to actors like Pernilla August and Oliver Ford Davies. and more.

Since these revised Indy mini-movies are appearing on Disney+ for the first time, we’ve picked out the six most important episodes you might want to watch as you count down to “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate.” , although it must be said that each the episode is worth your time.

If you’re a fan of ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, then ‘Travels With Father’ will be the feature film for you. Set in circa 1909, this pair of stories cut into one film takes the relationship between Henry Jones Jr. and Sr. and brings them to light. The elder Jones is played by Lloyd Owen (who you saw recently as Elendil in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’) and he’s a perfect young Sean Connery in the role. This episode adds depth to the relationship between the Jones boys, brings Michael Gough into the fold of a grumpy old Leo Tolstoy, and gives Indy some great lessons in philosophy. The entire show is set in compelling period settings that belie the production budget and really show what the show’s quieter episodes were capable of.

Perhaps my favorite episode on this list, “Demons of Deception” is set during World War I. Indy joined World War I under the alias Henri Defense. In the first part, he finds himself a courier, carrying messages between the trenches in some of the best storytelling the series had to offer. The second half brought together director Nicolas Roeg and writer Carrie Fisher to show Indiana Jones losing his virginity to Mata Hari as he is recruited for spy work during the war. With such powerful creatives taking the lead in these episodes, they’re packed with adventure and are classic Indiana Jones.

Set in 1918, after Indy and Remy have been able to take time off from the war, it follows them as they search for a diamond that once belonged to Alexander the Great. This massive diamond will feature in future episodes of Indy’s life, as it is the diamond he trades to retrieve from Lao Che in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” This episode is a crazy adventure that takes Indy and Remy across Europe and into the South Seas, attacked by Chinese pirates. It perfectly captures the spirit of the films and the series and highlights an important moment in Indy’s life.