10 Riveting Raiders of the Lost Ark Spoofs and Homages

Indiana Jones is the quintessential adventurer, and you can trace much of that reputation back to Raiders of the Lost Ark. This debut film begins with the archaeologist exploring a South American jungle. He enters a rundown temple to find a golden idol, but removing the artifact triggers the temple’s collapse. The most imposing obstacle is a colossal boulder, which threatens to crush Indy as he escapes. Even then, he runs afoul of the Hovitos, who pursue him back to his plane. This sequence establishes Indy as a cinematic icon. As with any icon, though, fame prompts imitation.

Raiders of the Lost Ark has inspired spoofs, homages, references, and even entire adventure franchises across the entertainment landscape. Many recreate that unforgettable opening sequence, whether for satire, affectionate tribute, or simply because there are few quicker ways to tell an audience, “This is an adventure.” Even people who haven’t seen the original film often recognize the imagery through cultural osmosis. Indy has become an important piece of cinema history. How fitting for an archaeologist.

Related: 10 Star Wars Spoofs in Animated Shows

10 Rugrats

A child’s imagination knows no bounds. Rugrats runs with that idea in virtually every episode. The show follows a band of babies: Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil. Their suburban existence is as normal as can be, but mundane events seem larger than life to naïve toddlers. As such, the show often frames them through dramatic fantasy sequences. Jumping to the big screen further ups the ante.

The Rugrats Movie opens with the babies entering an ancient temple. The stone carvings depict familiar sights like Reptar the dinosaur and Angelica, the bratty bully. Despite those scary sights, the explorers press on to find their golden treasure. Claiming it predictably sets off chaos, causing the temple to crumble and bringing an enormous boulder down on the crew.

Of course, the “boulder” is really the pregnant belly of Tommy’s mom, Didi, who’s trying to stop the babies from swiping a banana split. Roger Ebert specifically singled out Raiders of the Lost Ark among the movie’s satirical references. Apparently, a toddler’s sweet tooth is just as powerful as an archaeologist’s golden greed.^[1]

9 Crash Bandicoot

This entry may be less involved, but it’s no less applicable. Crash Bandicoot chronicles the misadventures of a mutant marsupial. To stop the maniacal villains threatening the world, he runs and jumps his way through dense jungles, evil laboratories, dizzying mountains, prehistoric landscapes, chilling glaciers, and wherever else his dimensional antics take him. It’s hard to know what he’ll encounter next, but one challenge is all too familiar.

The original game features two levels, “Boulders” and “Boulder Dash,” in which a huge rock barrels after Crash while he races toward the player. Wooden obstacles, pits, and other hazards make escape harder because the camera faces Crash rather than showing him what’s coming.

The resemblance is no accident. Naughty Dog co-founder Andy Gavin later explained that “Boulders” was deliberately modeled on the moment in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the giant stone ball chases Indy. Reversing the camera and making Crash run toward the screen worked so well that Naughty Dog returned to the chase concept in later games. Indy had a whip. Crash has a spin attack. Neither is much help against several tons of rock.^[2]

8 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

Having Death for a servant opens up endless possibilities. Ironically, though, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy sidelines its skeletal star for the “Wishbones” anthology episode. After washing Grim’s cloak, the children discover a talking skull named Thromnambular. The magical artifact must grant nine wishes before it can finally be free. However, every wish has an unfortunate tendency to backfire.

Billy is always quick to jump into danger, so he wishes for an exotic adventure with his family, his best friend, and a faithful dog. The episode then drops them into a jungle adventure combining Jonny Quest with Indiana Jones. Billy, his dad, and Irwin explore an ancient temple in search of Thromnambular himself, who has become their coveted treasure.

Predictably, Billy grabs the artifact and unleashes a collection of dangers, including monsters and hostile pursuers. Irwin and the dog don’t fare particularly well, while the others eventually escape. Billy is so unhappy with the result that he retaliates by sticking Thromnambular in the refrigerator. Easy come, easy go—and maybe next time, read the fine print before wishing yourself into an adventure serial.^[3]

7 Tomb Raider

This entry should be fairly obvious, as Indiana Jones is part of the foundation beneath Tomb Raider. The franchise follows wealthy adventurer Lara Croft as she embarks on expeditions across the globe, explores ancient ruins, dodges elaborate traps, and searches for artifacts that frequently prove more dangerous than expected.

That resemblance wasn’t accidental. Lara’s creator, Toby Gard, has named Indiana Jones among the films and games that influenced the original Tomb Raider. The similarities go beyond the general concept, too. Rolling boulder traps recur throughout the series, and Tomb Raider III offers an especially blatant example in the Temple of Puna.

Lara activates a trap and must sprint along a walkway while one enormous boulder rolls behind her. Escape that one, and another starts chasing her around the next turn. Unlike Indy’s panicked temple sprint, Lara has acrobatics, sprinting skills, and player-controlled timing on her side. That doesn’t make being flattened by a giant rock any less embarrassing.^[4]

6 Daxter

Orange furballs must have a thing for this trope. Daxter is one half of the Jak and Daxter platforming duo. When his buddy is imprisoned, though, the little guy must survive a solo spin-off. He soon gets a job as an exterminator, cleaning up bugs in a cyberpunk city. This turn works out well, as he’s always pictured himself as a hero. However, the true excitement happens during his downtime.

As players collect Precursor Orbs, they unlock dream-sequence minigames in which Daxter imagines himself starring in famous movies. The targets include The Matrix, Braveheart, The Lord of the Rings, and, naturally, Indiana Jones. The Indiana Jones dream becomes available after collecting 300 Precursor Orbs.

Rather than functioning like a normal platforming level, the dream is a button-timing minigame. Daxter dons a fedora and battles spiders and snakes while dodging giant rolling boulders, all while players hit the correct directional and face buttons at the right moments. Perform well enough, and Daxter can even unlock an Indiana Jones-style hat. Apparently, heroic archaeology is easier when it happens safely inside an ottsel’s dreams.^[5]

5 Bill Nye the Science Guy

Real archaeology usually involves far fewer whips, Nazis, and giant rolling boulders than Hollywood would have you believe. Bill Nye the Science Guy drives that point home in its “Archaeology” episode, which teaches young viewers how scientists actually study the remains people leave behind.

Naturally, the show can’t resist borrowing a few tricks from the most famous fictional archaeologist of all time. Nye dons an adventurer’s outfit and plays up the Indiana Jones image while introducing the subject, using the familiar movie stereotype as a contrast to real archaeological work.

The joke works because the reality is almost the exact opposite of Indy’s approach. Instead of racing through temples and grabbing priceless artifacts, archaeologists carefully document sites, study layers of soil, and may use delicate tools such as brushes to uncover objects without damaging them. Turns out real archaeology requires considerably more patience—and considerably fewer boulders.^[6]

4 Animaniacs

Animaniacs rarely met a piece of pop culture it couldn’t parody, so Indiana Jones was practically destined to become a target. The spoof arrives courtesy of Mr. Director, the recurring character modeled after notoriously intense filmmaker Jerry Lewis.

In the segment, Mr. Director transforms into the adventurer “Illinois Smith,” complete with a fedora, a leather jacket, and a whip. He ventures into what looks like an ancient cavern and encounters a menacing mummy—actually Wakko Warner wrapped up for the gag. His increasingly frantic attempt to imitate an action hero quickly unravels.

The situation ends with Mr. Director wildly cracking his whip and accidentally bringing the set down around himself. The parody doesn’t just mimic Indy’s costume and archaeological setting; it pokes fun at the absurd confidence required to believe a hat and bullwhip automatically make someone an adventurer.^[7]

3 Fullmetal Alchemist

The Elric brothers already live in a world packed with alchemy, monsters, military conspiracies, and forbidden ruins, so an Indiana Jones-style adventure hardly feels out of place. In the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Edward and Alphonse investigate an archaeological site filled with traps straight out of an adventure serial.

For the uninitiated, the brothers’ unusual appearances stem from a disastrous attempt to resurrect their mother through human transmutation. Alphonse loses his entire body, forcing Edward to bind his brother’s soul to a suit of armor. Edward sacrifices an arm in the process and had already lost a leg, leaving him with metal automail prosthetics.

During the ruins sequence, Ed triggers a gigantic rolling boulder. Instead of simply outrunning it, however, he realizes his unusually short stature allows him to squeeze into a narrow space beneath its path. He nearly congratulates himself on the very characteristic that infuriates him whenever anyone else mentions it. The gag turns one of Raiders of the Lost Ark‘s most famous moments into a joke perfectly tailored to Edward Elric.^[8]

2 Chicken Little

Sometimes a homage doesn’t need an elaborate setup. A few seconds and one enormous rolling object will do.

During Chicken Little, chaos erupts in town and sends a huge cylindrical water tank rolling through the streets. The runaway tank eventually crashes directly into a movie theater. Inside, the audience happens to be watching Raiders of the Lost Ark at exactly the moment Indiana Jones flees from his own gigantic rolling boulder.

The theater screen shows Indy running toward the camera while the real tank barrels toward the moviegoers from behind it, turning the famous scene into a visual joke that crosses from one movie into another. Of all the ways Disney could reference Raiders, having its boulder scene interrupted by an even bigger rolling object may be one of the simplest—and most effective.^[9]

1 Sesame Street

Long before Jeff Goldblum was dodging dinosaurs, he was hunting ancient vegetables on Sesame Street.

Goldblum guest-stars as Minneapolis, Bob’s archaeologist brother and an unmistakable parody of Indiana Jones. Dressed in the familiar fedora-and-leather-jacket combination, Minneapolis arrives in search of the legendary Golden Cabbage of Snufertiti. His expedition eventually takes him into Snuffy’s cave, where the Raiders influence becomes impossible to miss.

Minneapolis and the others suddenly find themselves fleeing an enormous, rolling sphere that follows them through the cave. Yet when their pursuer finally emerges, the threatening “boulder” turns out to be the Golden Cabbage itself—the very treasure Minneapolis has been seeking.

The artifact eventually winds up where every great archaeological discovery belongs: the wonderfully named Snuffsonian Institute. Jeff Goldblum may have gone on to encounter some much larger prehistoric threats, but few were ever quite as nutritious.^[10]