Do any of you remember this TV series that ran from 1992 to 1996? It chronicled the life and adventures of Henry (Indiana) Jones, Jr when he was a boy and young man. They are very well done and are quite excellent portrayals of the period early in the 1900's (in the series, he was born in 1899). The houses, clothes, transportation, and culture are all beautifully and accurately portrayed as they would have been in that time.
Our boys are allowed to play games at lego.com, and from these games they have become aware of the Indiana Jones movies (and therefore also wanting Indiana Jones lego sets!). The original movies with Harrison Ford were made back when there was no PG-13 rating, so they are rated PG but are quite violent and graphic. We started to watch the first movie in order to preview it for possible viewing with the older children, but turned it off after the first 10 minutes, immediately deeming it not appropriate for several more years.
Then my husband remembered the TV series. They have smooshed two TV episodes together to make a movie length feature presentation. We checked out 2 of these from the library and previewed them and felt that they WERE appropriate. Not only appropriate but historically accurate! We watched the first one last Friday during movie night and the children loved it!
When young Indiana is 9, the family sets off on a world tour so his father can give guest lectures at various universities. The people he meets and events he witnesses are pivotal moments in history, though of course he does not know it at the time. In the first movie, he ends up meeting Howard Carter 3 years before Carter discovers King Tut's tomb. From this encounter at an archaeological dig, Indiana decides he wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up (we did choose to skip over a short scene in which a mummy falls on Indy, and another one where a dead man's burned face is briefly shown. Both of these scenes were on a darkened screen so details were hard to discern, and would not have been too intense for our older 3, but we did this out of consideration for our younger two) . During the second movie the Jones's are in Africa and happen to meet up with former President Teddy Roosevelt who is there on a hunt. Later, in Paris, he meets a young Norman Rockwell, sees the famous (and old) Impressionist painter Degas at a coffeehouse and spends an evening with Picasso. The years match up perfectly with real life history!
These are turning out to be a great alternative to the Indiana Jones movies, and we are all enjoying them immensely!
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Just so you know there is a website in conjunction with the History Channel on this: http://www.history.com/content/young-indy According to the site, this show airs on Saturday mornings if you get cable, which we don't. But, if you know someone who does and is willing to tape it for you, that might get you some more episodes. I agree that those movies, while very good, aren't suitable for young kids. That snake scene gave me nightmares for weeks as an adult! And the second one - with all the evil voodoo doctors and such - also had me awake for many nights. But I've also had a thing for Harrison Ford's sci-fi characters all the way since seeing him in Star Wars when I was five. Glad to hear you've found something that you kids enjoy that you can utilize in an educational way. Blessings.
My husband and I enjoy Indy too - both young and older. Knowing our children, who are younger, they would enjoy the young Indy series too. Thanks for the reminder. I'll have to see if I can find them.
I loved that series...need to get around to watching them again.
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