The Essential Young Indiana Jones Episodes You Need To Stream On Disney+

Back in the early ’90s, television audiences were treated to “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” — which have now been retitled “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.” These adventures explored the earliest adventures of everyone’s favorite archeologist, long before he chose that as his profession. The series is split with two actors playing Indy, the youngest, Corey Carrier, gets to examine Indiana Jones in his school days, whisked around the world by his parents with a tutor in tow. Those episodes put him in contact with everyone from Theodore Roosevelt to Pablo Picasso and were nothing short of charming. Sean Patrick Flanery took the role of Indiana Jones during his late teens and early 20s, a sliver of the part that was originated by River Phoenix in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Originally, each episode was bookended with an intro and outro from a one-eyed, 80-year-old Indiana Jones played by George Hall. These were excised in the 2007 DVD releases, where George Lucas recut the episodes into chronological order, creating 22 mini-movie episodes of the series.

Few realize how influential and important “The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones” are for the history of George Lucas’ push to increase the tools filmmakers use. Filming these lavish period pieces on a small budget, George Lucas had to push the boundaries of what was possible with early computer-generated effects and set extensions. Despite the 30 years since the show aired, the effects stand up admirably.

It also put Lucas in contact with many of the people who would develop the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, from producer Rick McCallum, cinematographer David Tattersall, and stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to actors like Pernilla August and Oliver Ford Davies and more.

Since these revised mini-Indy movies are appearing on Disney+ for the first time, we picked out the six most important episodes you might want to watch as you count down to “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” though it must be said that every episode is worth your time.

If you’re a fan of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” then “Travels With Father” is going to be the extended movie for you. Set in 1909 or so, this pair of stories cut into a single movie takes the relationship of Henry Jones Jr. and Sr. and shines a light on them. The elder Jones is played by Lloyd Owen (who you’ve seen recently as Elendil in “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”) and he’s a perfect young Sean Connery in the part. This episode adds depth to the relationship between the Jones boys, brings Michael Gough into the fold as a grumpy old Leo Tolstoy, and gives Indy terrific lessons in philosophy. The whole show is set against fascinating period backdrops that belie the production budget and really show what the more quiet episodes of the show were capable of.

Perhaps my favorite episode on this list, “Demons of Deception” takes place during World War I. Indy has joined World War I under the alias Henri Defense. In the first part, he finds himself a courier, ferrying messages between trenches in some of the best storytelling the show had to offer. The latter half brought director Nicolas Roeg and writer Carrie Fisher together to show Indiana Jones losing his virginity to Mata Hari as he’s drafted for spy work during the war. With such powerful creatives taking the lead on these episodes, they’re full of adventure and are classic Indiana Jones.

Set in 1918, after Indy and Remy are able to take their leave of the war, it follows them as they hunt for a diamond once owned by Alexander the Great. This massive diamond will feature in future installments of Indy’s life, as it’s the diamond he’s negotiating to retrieve from Lao Che in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” This episode is a rollicking adventure that takes Indy and Remy across Europe and to the South Seas, attacked by Chinese Pirates. He captures the spirit of both the movies and the show perfectly and showcases an important time in Indy’s life.