Bookends

"Well hello there! I'm Indiana Jones and I have a few stories to tell you!"

―Indiana Jones

George Hall played "Old Indy" for the bookends of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

"Bookends" is the term used for the framing sequences featured in many episodes of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series. During the short introductory and concluding scenes, an elderly Indiana Jones (played by George Hall) in then-present day (1992-1993) shared various stories from his youth.

In the late-1990s, the original anthology series was re-edited into 22 chronological feature-length "chapters" to create The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, during which all of Hall's bookends as "Old Indy" were removed.

History

Author Rob MacGregor had originally intended to open and close his 1991 novel Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi (and the book series which followed) with the appearance of a ninety-year-old Indiana Jones framing the story. However, he was told that no one would be interested in seeing Indy as an old man, so the idea was dropped. As a similar concept resurfaced in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television show a year later, MacGregor believes that George Lucas was possibly responsible for nixing his idea for the book.

The "Old Indy" bookends were included in most episodes of the series and are generally assumed to take place in the same year in which their respective episodes aired. The bookend segments ran about 3-4 minutes per episode. They were filmed and produced separate from the main story of the episode and were directed by Carl Schultz.

Though Indy was known for being the only character to appear both in the bookends and main stories of the episodes, an exception was made with Vicky Prentiss, played by Jane Wyatt. The actor selected to play the older Jones was the late Broadway veteran George Hall, who was in reality in his late 70s when he played the role. Bookends segments written but not included in the episode "Istanbul, September 1918" featured the older Jones at a family wedding picturing his younger self marrying his ill-fated fiancée Molly Walder, for which "Young Indy" actor Sean Patrick Flanery and Walder's actress Katherine Butler would have been required.

Of the 20 single-length episodes that aired in the United States on ABC, 18 featured bookend segments with George Hall as "Old Indy". The final two episodes that aired, "Istanbul, September 1918" and "Paris, May 1919", did not feature bookends, although they were scripted (with Indy attending his grandson's wedding and visiting his granddaughter's classroom). Of the four episodes that went unaired on ABC, two included bookend segments ("Florence, May 1908" and "Transylvania, January 1918") while two did not ("Prague, August 1917" and "Palestine, October 1917").

Hall appeared in bookends for the double-length pilot episode Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal, but he was not included on the other double-length episodes on ABC.

Harrison Ford provided bookends for Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues.

In an attempt to boost ratings and re-launch the series, Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues aired in the US as a double-length feature with special bookends directed by George Lucas and featuring Harrison Ford as a 51-year-old Jones; however, when the episodes aired internationally as individual stories (as "Chicago, April 1920" and "Chicago, May 1920"), different bookends with Hall as "Old Indy" were included. Similarly, the double-length Young Indiana Jones and the Scandal of 1920 aired in US with no bookends, yet when the stories aired as stand-alone single-length episodes internationally (as "New York, June 1920" and "New York, July 1920"), original bookends with "Old Indy" were included.

The double-length Young Indiana Jones and the Phantom Train of Doom did not feature any bookend segments; nor did the Family Channel movies Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies, Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye and Young Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Hawkmen.

For the TV movie Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father, scenes with Patrick Flanery as Indy and Lloyd Owen as Henry Jones, Sr. from the then-unfinished episode "Princeton, 1919" were used as bookends to frame two unaired Corey Carrier stories and depicted the final falling out between Jones and his father that would not be resolved until the events of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The material was later reworked into the second half ofThe Adventures of Young Indiana Jones chapter Winds of Change.

Continuity

"I've never been told to treat the Old Indy material as non-continuity."

―Leland Chee, keeper of the Indycon, in 2008.

When the series was re-edited into the chronological The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones format for home video in the late 1990s, all of the "Old Indy" segments featuring George Hall were removed. These re-edited versions have since become the standard for streaming and other forms of distribution, prompting discussion around the canonical status of the original bookend scenes.

At the time of the show's production, there was a gap of more than 50 years between the most recent adventures of Indiana Jones set in the late-1930s and the bookend segments set in the early-1990s. However, later films—such as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, set in 1957, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, set in 1969—and other books and games have closed that gap. While these stories do not directly acknowledge or reference the bookend material, none explicitly contradict it and there is still a two-decade gap in the timeline leading up to the "Old Indy" scenes.

"Old Indy"

In the bookend for the episode "Vienna, November 1908", Indy mentions having "multiple children" and several children and grandchildren are shown throughout the series. In contrast, the later films suggest that, as of 1969, Mutt was Indy's only known child. Since Indy's reunion with Marion Ravenwood had not yet been established when the series was produced, she is not referenced in the bookends—leaving her absence from Indy's life by the 1990s unaccounted for in-universe. Indy's use of an eyepatch has also gone unexplained.

In 2008, Leland Chee, the keeper of the Indycron continuity database for Lucasfilm, stated: "I've never been told to treat the Old Indy material as non-continuity". When asked in 2010 whether a potential omnibus of the The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles comics would remove the "Old Indy" scenes, Chee replied that he wouldn't advocate for their removal, but acknowledged that he could not speak to what Lucasfilm's official position on the issue would be. In 2023, Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group remarked that the bookends were phased out because the audience didn't like them and the show's ratings were struggling, attributing their later removal to accommodate The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones re-edit.

The Indiana Jones Program Collection released in Japan in 2023 includes a chronology covering the first four theatrical films and the Young Indy series (Dial of Destiny received its own release). It references an older Indiana Jones reflecting on his life during the years 1992–1993, although the specifics of Indy's appearance and adventures in the '90s are not expanded upon.

Bookend stories

"Old Indy" bookends

• Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal ― At a museum, an elderly Indiana Jones scolds two boys for breaking off from their class trip and calling the exhibits junk, explaining that they hold the stories of his greatest adventures.
• "London, May 1916" ― Over dinner with his accountant, Indy hears a voice that reminds him of his time in wartime London.
• "British East Africa, September 1909" ― A heated argument over animal rights between Norma and Selina at a foundation dinner sparks a story about Indy's time on safari in Africa.
• "Verdun, September 1916" ― When turbulence hits their plane, Indy recounts his time at Verdun to a fellow passenger on a flight.
• "German East Africa, December 1916" ― While waiting at the hospital to be treated for a bee sting, Indy defends a young shooting victim's worth by sharing a story of hope from wartime Africa with a dismissive patient.
• "Congo, January 1917" ― While being treated for his bee sting, Indy tells a doctor about a German physician he met in Africa who made a difference despite chaos.
• "Austria, March 1917" ― A postal worker warns Indy about tampering with a mailbox and Indy recalls his time as a WWI spy in Austria.
• "Somme, Early August 1916" ― After witnessing rudeness at a donut shop, Indy assaults the dismissive clerk and lectures him with a tale of the horrors from the trenches of the first World War.
• "Germany, Mid-August 1916" ― In jail for the donut shop incident, Indy recounts to the other detainees how he escaped a German POW camp.
• "Barcelona, May 1917" ― A bungled speech prompts Indy to remember his mistakes as a spy in Barcelona.
• "Princeton, February 1916" ― A conversation with a man at a gas station reminds Indy of his time trying to impress a girl when teens didn't have easy access to cars.
• "Petrograd, July 1917" ― Indy corrects the curator of an exhibit over a photo's caption, claiming that he was there during the historic event that lead to Lenin's rise.
• "Vienna, November 1908" ― Trying to prove his mental fitness to his family, Indy tells a psychiatrist about his time undergoing a psychoanalysis with Freud, Jung and Adler during childhood.
• "Northern Italy, June 1918" ― Breaking up a mall parking lot argument between two men vying for the same spot, Indy recalls a WWI spy mission where he, too, lost sight of what mattered.
• "Ireland, April 1916" ― While watching a soap opera on TV, Indy tells his daughter how theatre and real life blurred during the Easter Rising in Ireland.
• "Paris, September 1908" ― At an art auction, Indy tells a woman the true story behind a painting he saw created in Paris.
• "Peking, March 1910" ― At Thanksgiving, Indy encourages his grandson to try new things (including cranberry sauce), recalling a formative experience he had as a child in China.
• "Benares, January 1910" ― After hearing a man's woes at a café, Indy tells a story of finding hope through meeting Krishnamurti in Benares.
• "Paris, October 1916" ― A gossip magazine at the grocery store checkout sparks Indy to share a wartime tale of romance and unexpected truths.
• "Florence, May 1908" ― Challenged to a pool game, Indy credits his skills to physics learned during a family trip to Florence. His tale of love and loss brings the hardened pool player to tears.
• "Transylvania, January 1918" ― On Halloween, Indy tries to scare a trio of young trick-or-treaters and shares a ghostly tale from a mission in Transylvania.
• "Chicago, April 1920" ― When Indy's grandson, Spike, struggles with music, Indy shares how he learned discipline through jazz with Sidney Bechet.
• "Chicago, May 1920" ― As neighbors complain about the noise from Spike's garage band, Indy remembers a lesson in perseverance from his own youth.
• "New York, June 1920" ― A cab ride to the theater sparks a debate with the cabbie about perfection, prompting Indy to recall a formative summer job he had in New York City.
• "New York, July 1920" ― During a Broadway show, Indy debates a critic about art and recalls helping to stage a production in 1920s New York.

Other Indy portrayals

• Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues ― In 1950 Wyoming, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Greycloud flee armed pursuers after a sacred peace pipe. They hide in a cabin, where Indy finds a saxophone and shares a story from his youth. When the thieves steal the pipe, Indy uses the sax to trigger a snow trap, recovers the relic, and returns it to Greycloud.
• Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father ― In 1919 Princeton, Indiana Jones (Sean Patrick Flanery) returns home from World War I to a frosty reception from his father. Over dinner, the pair recall adventures from Indy's youth in 1910, one where the boy had ran away in Russia followed by an experience in Greece where the Joneses had a rare bonding moment. However, the night leads to an estrangement between the two that will take decades to mend.

Bookends in other media

• "Vienna, November 1908 / March 1917" ― Due to a decision to pair the Austria-set stories together, the Dark Horse Comics adaptation of "Vienna, November 1908" and "Austria, March 1917" sees the elderly Indiana Jones continue to converse with Carol Schultz (here named Nussbaum) as he tells her about his role with the Sixtus Letter.
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles video game also includes the framing device.

See also

• Connectors