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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology part 1

Am I a fan of the Indiana Jones movies?  Please allow my 15 year old self to answer that.  So when I read that an Indiana Jones exhibit would be coming to the Discovery Science Center, I knew we had to go visit.

This exhibit had previously been in Quebec and Spain, so if it's that well traveled, you know it has to be good.
To prepare for the exhibit, Theresa and I planned on watching all three, yes THREE, Indiana Jones movies.  We started on Thursday night at 6:30pm, but Theresa didn't even make it all the way through Raiders of the Lost Ark.  That's okay, I still stayed up past midnight to watch all of them.  I'm really glad I did too.  It made all the stuff we were about to see that much better.

We had never visited the Discovery Science Center even though it's just a few miles from Disneyland, so we weren't sure what to expect.  Arriving at 11:30am on a Friday, the parking lot was already completely full and we were directed to an overflow lot.  Uh oh, it looks like it's going to be crowded.  I guess I wasn't really counting on the spring breakers.

For a general admission ticket to the Science Center it was $16 and the Indiana Jones exhibit was an additional $10.  There happened to be a spring break all access ticket for $28 which included admission to something called Bubblefest XVII which was billed as "The Most Amazing Spring Break Event!"  For an extra $2, why not give it a shot.

Throughout the exhibition, there were interactive displays.  Everyone who visited got their own mobile device with headphones that would play video and give you more details about all the things you were looking at.

The first room started out perfectly.  The classic Indiana Jones costume including all pieces he wore in the movie.   (They could have found a better mannequin to pose it on though)


Time to go explore the first section!  As you walked through, the displays were presented in the order the movies were released.  First up, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
  The Chachapoyan Fertility Idol! The very first relic we see Indiana Jones searching for ever!

There are so many costumes and props from the original movies it's ridiculous!  This is the costume Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) was wearing during the pub brawl.

The headpiece to the staff of Ra.  Once Indiana Jones found the map room in the city of Tanis he was able to use it determine where the Well of Souls was located.
This is a warning not to disturb the Ark of the Covenant.  
What about the height of the staff? Did Belloq get it off of here?
Yes, it is here...  This was the old way, this means six kadams high
'about seventy-two inches'

Wait!
And take back one kadam,
to honor the Hebrew God whose Ark this is.  

The shot glasses Marion Ravenwood used plus the cigar box she kept her money in.

Not located in a storage warehouse in Area 51 in an unlabeled box.  Instead the Ark of the Covenant is right here! How awesome is this!
It's a transmitter, a radio for speaking to God.

The reflections in here are terrible!  I've done my best to remove them when I could, but some are just too intrusive.

It's great to be able to get so close to see all the details.

Like the angels feet and toes.


The last display for Raiders.

It featured Rene Belloq's (Paul Freeman) Jewish ritual costume used during the opening of the Ark. 

Including this ceremonial breastplate.

Plus the ram's horn staff.  

With so much good stuff coming from the first movie, I couldn't wait to see what they brought out for the second.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) was my least favorite movie growing up.  With a Thuggee priest who pulls out people's hearts and lowering people into lava, it was scary.

Inside are the remains of Nurhachi. First emperor of the Manchu dynasty.


The costumes worn during the opening act.

The tuxedo worn by Indiana Jones inside Club Obi Wan where he delivers the remains of Emperor Nurhachi to the crime boss Lao Che.

Willie Scott's (Kate Capshaw) stunning costume worn in the opening song Anything Goes.

Short Round's (Jonathan Ke Quan) costume, including his shoe blocks so he can reach the car pedals.
Short Round, step on it!
Okey dokey Dr. Jones. Hold on to your potatoes!

And they even have plenty of benches to sit down.

Yep, this is one of the pieces that was scary.  Mola Ram's () Thuggee priest headdress. Made from bone, wood, and plastic.


A model of the mine cart used to escape the Temple of Doom.


Costume worn by Willie Scott when she was locked into a cage and lowered into the lava pit to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali.



The scrap of cloth the young boy gives Indiana that sets him off to Pankot Palace.


What is Sankara?  Fortune and Glory kid.  Fortune and Glory.
Three of the five lost Sankara stones.  With these, Mola Ram planned to take over the world.




In my next post, we'll look at the third and final Indiana Jones movie, plus see Bubblefest!

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