Lissamonster
New member
Darn it! We try to forget that! 
Why has there never been an Indiana Jones 'toon series?
- Thread starter lovee2dancex4
- Start date
donkeyzoom
New member
Well, I've said it before.... I don't believe that Uncle George would go to the trouble of starting up Lucasfilm Animation to do just one series (The Clone Wars). I predict that we'll be seeing Star Wars and Indiana Jones coming out the yin-yang in the next decade. And yeah, I think Indy could easily handle smaller half-hour adventures with the occasional multi-part story.
Meanwhile, Dark Horse Comics is going to be giving us this:
http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/Indiana_Jones_Adventures:_Volume_1
(I'd also like to repeat that I'm surprised Disney hasn't brought out a "Pirates of the Caribbean" series yet, but that's probably another topic for another thread).
Meanwhile, Dark Horse Comics is going to be giving us this:
http://indianajones.wikia.com/wiki/Indiana_Jones_Adventures:_Volume_1
(I'd also like to repeat that I'm surprised Disney hasn't brought out a "Pirates of the Caribbean" series yet, but that's probably another topic for another thread).
One thing I haven't seen brought up in the way of explanation would be the prohibitive costs of licensing the likenesses of Harrison Ford and/or any of the supporting cast for an animated series. Originally, Amy Adams' Giselle from Enchanted was going to be a Disney Princess until Disney decided they didn't want to keep paying her fees to license her likeness for as long as the Disney Princesses stay in circulation. Harrison Ford is so inexorably tied to Indy that you really can't do a show with him without needing to license his image. This was probably prohibitively expensive back in the day, and would be even more expensive to do now.
The idea of doing "Indiana Jones, Jr." also doesn't sound like much of a winner to me. In return for losing the lead character and the more lurid aspects of the original movies, you get a kiddified show that won't satisfy anybody. I don't recall James Bond, Jr. being anything more than a moderate success, and that result might have discouraged a comparable Indy Jr. series. The new movie also presents a problem with that because you either break with continuity or have to license Shia LaBeouf.
The Indiana Jones Adventures comics might be a step towards changing that, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Personally, if they did do more Indy, I'd prefer something akin to the Hellboy Animated route, with DTV animated movies. However, judging by the new movie and the presumably tepid sales of Hellboy Animated, I doubt anyone would think an Indy DTV animated project would do well.
One of these days, I'll figure out how image licensing rights work for sure because I'm curious about it myself. This might also explain why there hasn't been an animated series spinoff of Pirates of the Caribbean -- up front, I don't think anybody at Disney (or outside it) was expecting the first movie to do as well as it did, so I don't think anybody thought to even ask for image licensing rights. I expect that the major players in the Star Wars prequels had likeness licensing for toys and animated spin-offs as part of their contracts because it IS expected that Star Wars will generate toys, cartoons, video games, and all that other cool ancillary stuff. However, that might be why there have never been SW cartoons set in the original trilogy timeline. Video games have a built-in shelf life, but a successful cartoon can circulate via home video and syndication for decades. Even then, you ever notice how Han Solo almost never shows up in those video games?
-- Ed
The idea of doing "Indiana Jones, Jr." also doesn't sound like much of a winner to me. In return for losing the lead character and the more lurid aspects of the original movies, you get a kiddified show that won't satisfy anybody. I don't recall James Bond, Jr. being anything more than a moderate success, and that result might have discouraged a comparable Indy Jr. series. The new movie also presents a problem with that because you either break with continuity or have to license Shia LaBeouf.
The Indiana Jones Adventures comics might be a step towards changing that, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. Personally, if they did do more Indy, I'd prefer something akin to the Hellboy Animated route, with DTV animated movies. However, judging by the new movie and the presumably tepid sales of Hellboy Animated, I doubt anyone would think an Indy DTV animated project would do well.
One of these days, I'll figure out how image licensing rights work for sure because I'm curious about it myself. This might also explain why there hasn't been an animated series spinoff of Pirates of the Caribbean -- up front, I don't think anybody at Disney (or outside it) was expecting the first movie to do as well as it did, so I don't think anybody thought to even ask for image licensing rights. I expect that the major players in the Star Wars prequels had likeness licensing for toys and animated spin-offs as part of their contracts because it IS expected that Star Wars will generate toys, cartoons, video games, and all that other cool ancillary stuff. However, that might be why there have never been SW cartoons set in the original trilogy timeline. Video games have a built-in shelf life, but a successful cartoon can circulate via home video and syndication for decades. Even then, you ever notice how Han Solo almost never shows up in those video games?
-- Ed
The live-action series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles stumbled around for a year and a half, trying to find a sustainable audience before getting cancelled. This may have had a suppressing effect on any ideas of doing a cartoon. Of course, Hollywood has a short memories, and there may be discussion for a cartoon going on as we speak. Experience tells me that you should be careful what you wish for. The cartoons based on The Mummy, Stargate, and Evolution bore little resemblance to the movies that spawned them, and were one-season failures.
andricss j
New member
I don't know. I think Schoemaker's designs show that you can capture the look and spirit of Indy without needing Harrison Ford's exact likeness.
In terms of voice acting, they could probably easily get some of the same actors back. John Rhys-Davis, for example, has become a pretty prolific voice actor, so he could easily return as Sallah. And (depending on when the series was set), if they wanted to do some episodes with Indy's dad, they could maybe even bring back Lloyd Owen since he did an excellent job as Henry Sr. on Young Indiana Jones.
I think there's much potential with an Indy animated series, though I'd prefer to see it remain a traditional-looking toon and not done in CGI.
In terms of voice acting, they could probably easily get some of the same actors back. John Rhys-Davis, for example, has become a pretty prolific voice actor, so he could easily return as Sallah. And (depending on when the series was set), if they wanted to do some episodes with Indy's dad, they could maybe even bring back Lloyd Owen since he did an excellent job as Henry Sr. on Young Indiana Jones.
I think there's much potential with an Indy animated series, though I'd prefer to see it remain a traditional-looking toon and not done in CGI.
numberone0119
New member
I don't think the likeness has to be exact. Otherwise, Disney would just take the animated version of Giselle and use her for all the Disney Princess toys by claiming that it's not Amy Adams' exact likeness. Characters like Princess Giselle, Indiana Jones, and Capt. Jack Sparrow were created by specific actors, and it's impossible to separate them from their roles. Anything with those characters is trading on the original actor's likeness, at least a little bit, and actors have the right to be compensated for that use.
There are characters that have been portrayed by multiple actors (James Bond, for instance), but I'm sure that the recent From Russia with Love computer game had to license Sean Connery's likeness, while the Pierce Brosnan-related Bond video games had to license Pierce Brosnan's. However, I believe at least one Bond game (the original Goldeneye, maybe?) either never showed Bond's face or created a model based on the book descriptions and not any specific actor, and had to license nothing except the Bond license itself.
In contrast, Tobey Maguire or Kirsten Dunst had their likenesses licensed for the Spider-Man movie toys, and are probably even getting royalties on the Spider-Man Legos that were produced from the movies, even though those things look nothing like the actors. However, they get nothing from the MTV CGI series or the new Spectacular Spider-Man series because Marvel never based the look of those characters on those actors. This is also probably at least one reason why there wasn't a direct animated series sequel from the original movies.
-- Ed
There are characters that have been portrayed by multiple actors (James Bond, for instance), but I'm sure that the recent From Russia with Love computer game had to license Sean Connery's likeness, while the Pierce Brosnan-related Bond video games had to license Pierce Brosnan's. However, I believe at least one Bond game (the original Goldeneye, maybe?) either never showed Bond's face or created a model based on the book descriptions and not any specific actor, and had to license nothing except the Bond license itself.
In contrast, Tobey Maguire or Kirsten Dunst had their likenesses licensed for the Spider-Man movie toys, and are probably even getting royalties on the Spider-Man Legos that were produced from the movies, even though those things look nothing like the actors. However, they get nothing from the MTV CGI series or the new Spectacular Spider-Man series because Marvel never based the look of those characters on those actors. This is also probably at least one reason why there wasn't a direct animated series sequel from the original movies.
-- Ed
matrixxxx98765
New member
I'm actually rather surprised they never did, considering how many series were made in the 80s based on successful (and not so much?) live action films (Ghost Busters, Beetlejuice, Back to the Future, Killer Tomatoes, Teen Wolf, etc.).
Maybe they'd run out of "legends" and other articles of history to look for, or something. Maybe it was pitched and was rejected. We'll never know, I suppose, but now is a good time to make one if they must
Maybe they'd run out of "legends" and other articles of history to look for, or something. Maybe it was pitched and was rejected. We'll never know, I suppose, but now is a good time to make one if they must