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Indiana

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"I've got a lot of fond memories of that dog."
―Indiana Jones[src]

Indiana was the family dog of the Joneses. An Alaskan Malamute that grew up alongside Henry Jones, Jr., the dog was considered by Henry to be his best friend.

Biography[]

Early life[]

"I had a dog when I was a kid and I never got over it when he died. He was my best friend."
―Indiana Jones[src]
IndianaPup

Indiana as a puppy.

Indiana was a male Alaskan Malamute named by the Joneses.[3] He was originally given to young Henry Jones, Jr. by his parents Anna and Henry Sr. while still in the crib at their home in Princeton, New Jersey.[1]

Forming a strong bond,[2] Jones had such affection for the Alaskan Malamute that he considered his best friend,[1][4] he adopted the name as his own growing up – calling himself "Indiana" by 1905[2] – a decision that met with his father's disapproval.[3]

The dog was present when Henry skipped school and together the pair performed what Jones considered scientific experiments with boy's other friends, seeing if they could break the land speed record on railroads, or how to get to the moon using an inflatable balloon. On one occasion, Henry was trying to generate energy through a crate of wired-up potatoes attached to a stationary bicycle until Indiana unhelpfully dropped a metal wrench onto the wires, electrocuting his young keeper.[5]

When the Jones family departed for a two year world lecture tour between 1908[5] and 1910,[2] Indiana stayed behind in the US.[5], leaving Indy upset that his dog had to stay behind.[2] Henry later acknowledged in his journal that he had missed Indiana during the whole trip,[6] a sentiment he also relayed to Leo Tolstoy.[7]

Death[]

Indiana sketch

A sketch of Indiana that Henry kept in his journal.

After the death of Anna, Henry Jr. and his father brought Indiana[3] with them to Moab, Utah in 1912.[2] By that time, Henry regarded the dog as his most faithful friend alongside Herman Mueller.[8] The dog was present when the younger Henry returned home with the Cross of Coronado.[3] At some point, Indiana saved Henry's life from a rattlesnake.[9]

When Henry joined Pancho Villa's men in the Mexican Revolution in 1916, he wrote a letter asking his father to take care of Indiana for him.[6] Indiana passed away from old age later that year on April 5 while his namesake had left for Europe to enlist in World War I.[2]

Legacy[]

Henry Jr. continued to call himself Indiana "Indy" Jones into adulthood and used the name professionally when he became an archaeologist.[10] His father, who had become estranged from his son in the aftermath of World War I,[7] was privately hurt when he learned that the younger Jones was going by their late dog's name.[11]

"Indiana Jones" later told Walter Granger and Joan Starbuck in 1933 that he had never gotten over his dog's death.[4]


In October 1937, Jones was spooked by a snake at a Nazi excavation site in Giza. When Gina Lombardi remarked that the reptile was sweet, Jones insisted he was more of "a dog person".[12]


The archaeologist would later comment that he had a lot of fond memories of Indiana in 1938 after his father revealed to Sallah the source of Henry Jr.'s nickname.[3]

Jones' affection for pets would continue later in his life as, by 1992, he owned a cat[13] named Henry.[14]

Personality and traits[]

Indiana used to tilt his head while looking at Indiana Jones.[15]

Behind the scenes[]

"So I named the character after my dog and ultimately, we put that in the movie."
―George Lucas[src]
LucasIndiana

George Lucas and Indiana.

Indiana was the name of George Lucas's own dog, a female Alaskan Malamute, who was the original source for the forename of the Indiana Jones character. Chewbacca from Star Wars also took inspiration from Indiana.[16]

Continuity[]

The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones and My First Adventure both have young Indiana Jones refer to Indiana as male.[6][1] However, in Travels with Father and Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates, he refers to the dog as female.[7][15] Indiana Jones Jr et le Fantôme du Klondike inaccurately identifies Indiana as a German Shepherd,[8] despite other media depicting him as an Alaskan Malamute.[2][17]

Young Indiana Jones and the Secret City, set in 1914, states that Indiana died saving Jones' life from a rattlesnake.[9] A passage in Indiana Jones Jr et l'Ampoule Radioactive has Henry Jones, Sr. mentioning that his son named himself Indiana "in honor of his poor dead dog who saved his life". This concurs with the events mentioned in Secret City though this story takes place before it.[18] However, the Mexico segment of "Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal" makes it clear that Indiana is still alive in 1916.[13]

In the TV feature Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father, the future archaeologist tells Tolstoy he misses his dog whom he hasn't seen in over a year because he's been travelling with his family.[7] As the story takes place in 1910,[2] the absence would actually be two years but the segment was constructed from what was originally scripted as "Russia, March 1909".[19]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones – My First Adventure
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal" → My First Adventure
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father" → Travels with Father
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Indiana Jones Jr et le Fantôme du Klondike
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Young Indiana Jones and the Secret City
  10. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  11. ↑ Grail Diary
  12. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal"
  14. ↑ The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Vienna, November 1908"
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Indiana Jones and the Sky Pirates
  16. ↑ Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas
  17. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 2008 junior novel
  18. ↑ Indiana Jones Jr et l'Ampoule Radioactive
  19. ↑ The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Russia, March 1909"
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