The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
Series, 1992, Young Indy, Set in 1908–1920
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is #4 of 6 in release order and #1 of 6 in chronological order in the Indiana Jones.
The story
At the dawn of the 20th century, Indiana Jones discovered the world. From globetrotting family expeditions as a 9-year-old to the battlefields of World War I as a teenager, Indy’s experiences shaped the heroic, whip-cracking archaeologist he would become. At every turn, Indy encounters history in the making, meeting true-life activists, soldiers, writers, artists, and thinkers who helped influence the world we live in today.
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles recap
Most episodes open in 1992, when Indiana Jones, 93 and living in New York, tells a stranger a story from his youth (in one bookend, played by Harrison Ford at 50). The story then shifts back. In season 1, starting in 1908, a ten-year-old Indy travels the world with his father, Professor Henry Jones Sr., his mother Anna and his tutor, Miss Seymour, on a lecture tour, meeting people such as T. E. Lawrence in Egypt. The same season introduces the teenage Indy, played by Sean Patrick Flanery, who joins Pancho Villa's army in Mexico in 1916 with a Belgian friend, Remy Baudouin, and then goes to Europe to fight in the First World War. In season 2, the Flanery stories take over: Indy serves in the Belgian army on the Western Front, works as a spy, and flies against the Red Baron, with stories set in Africa and Russia too. Later episodes follow him into his early twenties, including Chicago in 1920, where he meets Al Capone, Eliot Ness and Louis Armstrong. The show is meant as a historical education, with each story built around real people and events of the 1900s to 1920s.
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ending explained
ABC cancelled the series in 1993 before all its episodes aired, and it ended with four TV films on the Family Channel, from 1994 to 1996, following Indy at about 21. There is no single finale. The episodes were later re-edited into 22 films, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. The story stops short of the 1930s, before Raiders.
Where to watch The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 78%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, before Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
- Chronological order: first, before Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
What to watch before The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
In release order, the essentials before The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992) are Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles itself is optional in the Indiana Jones order.
Cast
- Sean Patrick Flanery as Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr.
- Corey Carrier as Young Indiana Jones
- Lloyd Owen as Professor Henry Jones, Sr.
- Ruth de Sosa as Anna Jones
- George Hall as Old Indiana Jones
- Margaret Tyzack as Miss Helen Seymour
- Ronny Coutteure as Remy Baudouin
- Jay Underwood as Ernest Hemingway
- Jason Flemyng as Emile
- Pernilla August as Emilie
- Jeffrey Wright as Sidney Bechet
- Harry Fowler as 1st Installer
Created by George Lucas.