Every Time Indiana Jones Was Scared Of Snakes | Screen Rant
There's no doubt that Indiana Jones is as fearless as they come, except when it comes to one small thing. Jones's fear of snakes is one of the most interesting things about him and is a great example of depth in a character. Even since learning of Indiana Jones's fear of snakes in 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, audiences have come to expect new snake encounters in each new installment.
The writers behind the films and expanded media have come up with increasingly clever and memorable situations to fit Indy's phobia of snakes into new productions. With fans guessing how snakes might be involved in Indiana Jones 5, now is the perfect time to look back on the best snake moments from the franchise so far.
After the success of the young Indy segment in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lucasfilm set its sights on their next Indiana Jones project: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Corey Carrier was cast as the young Indy while Sean Patrick Flannery played Indy as a teenager. All of the elements of Indiana Jones were trickled into the show but snakes were surprisingly scarce.
However there was one major exception and it came in the show's third episode, "British East Africa, September 1909," AKA the first half of Passion For Life. Corey Carrier's Indy and his indigenous friend Meto scale a mountain to look at an Onyx painting, but a huge Snake sneaks up right behind them and Indy screams before the two run away. Canonically this was Indy's first encounter with a snake and occurred before his ophidiophobia began in Last Crusade.
With Indy's phobia ingeniously established in Raiders of the Lost Ark, audiences were expecting more snake encounters in the sequel. The writers of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom did not disappoint as they came up with several clever snake scenes.
When Indy descends to the temple alter and retrieves the Sankara Stones, he is startled by a statue of a snake just above him. He has to take a second to adjust his hat in a moment perfectly played by Harrison Ford. It's a brief but great scene that always gets a little reaction from the audience.
While the character of Indiana Jones is himself a Hollywood movie icon, he also spent time working on a Hollywood film. The Young Indy TV movie Hollywood Follies saw Indy take a job on a John Ford film in Hollywood. He initially worked behind the camera, but when one of the stars died he was forced to fill in as an actor and stuntman.
While shooting out in the desert, a snake suddenly appeared right in front of an actress who screamed. Sean Patrick Flannery's Young Indy comically cowers and runs away. Later one of his coworkers tells Indy, "I've never seen someone run so fast as when you saw that snake." It was a rare snake encounter in the Young Indy productions, but a hilarious one.
One of the funniest parts of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the campfire scene midway through the group's journey to Pankot Palace. While Kate Capshaw's Willie Scott is terrorized by numerous animals in the jungle, the film hilariously crosscuts to an uninterested Indy and Short Round who are more concerned with their card game and whether or not one of them is cheating.
Willie sits down and tells Indy that she'd be better off sleeping with a snake. Just then, a huge snake slithers around her neck from a tree branch above. Thinking it's her elephant's trunk, she sharply grabs it and throws it away. All the while Indy recoils in fear, perfectly acted by Harrison Ford as usual.
Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye is one of the most exciting and popular amusement park rides in the world. Both the Queue leading up to the ride and the ride itself are packed with reminders of Indy's phobia. Touches like giant snake statues outside the temple brilliantly add to the aesthetics of this Indiana Jones experience.
But the standout Snake moment of Temple of the Forbidden Eye occurs halfway through the ride when guests encounter a massive animatronic snake. At that moment, Indy can be heard saying "Snakes? You guys are on your own!" It's a terrific moment in an already breathtaking experience that only Disney's incredible Imagineers could bring to life.
Another hilarious, albeit controversial moment in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, is the famous dinner scene at Pankot Palace. The scene features various over-the-top exotic foods meant to gross out Pankot's guests and the audience. Entrées like giant bugs, chilled monkey brains, and eyeball soup have taken criticism for their false and negative depiction of Indian culture.
One of the most startling entrées of the meal would be "snake surprise." Servants brought out a platter with a giant snake on it as the locals exclaim with great excitement. The servants cut open the snake to reveal hundreds of baby snakes which the guests slurp up in disgusting fashion. If Indy's reaction was filmed, it didn't make the final cut as he focused on questioning his hosts about the Thugee rumors.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's lone snake encounter is one of the funniest parts of the film. After escaping from the Russian camp, Indy and Marion get stuck in a dry sandpit in the jungle. Mutt grabs something and uses it to pull Marion safely.
Turning around, he reveals a giant rat snake in his hands and throws the head part of it at Indy. Dr. Jones's panicked reaction is exactly as you'd expect as he seems to prefer trying his luck on the sandpit to touching the snake. In the end, he tells Mutt and Marion to call it a rope so that he can bring himself to get a grip.
The terrific opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade sees a 12-year-old Indy played by River Phoenix on an adventure involving the Cross of Coronado. Indy and his boy scout friend Herman discover men looting in the caves of Utah and decide to do something about it. When a snake startles Herman, Indy picks it up and says "It's just a snake."
But after swiping the Cross, Indy is chased onto the Dunn & Duffy circus train and into the reptile car. When the platform he's on collapses, Indy is met face to face with a giant snake and rolls off into another pen with thousands of small slithering snakes. The snakes get all in his clothes, traumatizing him and leading to a lifelong fear of snakes, ophidiophobia.
In the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, audiences are introduced to Indiana Jones. Indy is extraordinarily brave; entering dangerous temples, navigating around booby traps, running for his life from a giant boulder that almost crushes him, running again from a swarm of Hovitos, and leaping and swinging on a vine to safely reach his escape plane.
It seems as if this was a man who had no fear, but audiences soon learned it not to be the case in hilarious fashion. Indy discovers a giant snake in the plane, which pilot Jock reveals to be his pet snake, Reggie. Jock is unimpressed to learn that Indy absolutely hates snakes. This is the scene where audiences first learned about this trait and the surprise factor always gets a big laugh.
After Indy's fear of snakes is set up in the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the payoff later in the film is just brilliant. After discovering the entrance to the Well of the Souls that houses the Ark of the Covenant, Indy discovers that the floor is covered with thousands and thousands of snakes. In one of the film's most hilarious moments, Sallah takes Indy's hand as if to reassure him, then says "You go first."
When descending down into the temple, Indy's rope slips and he falls face to face with a deadly Cobra. After backing away very very slowly, He uses torches and gasoline to kill many of the snakes and provide a safe route to the Ark. Soon the Nazis discover Indy's crew and seal Indy and Marion in the tomb. The scene continues with even more snake antics leading up to the horrifying sight of a giant snake slithering out of the mouth of an ancient corpse.