Why it's there: Dig site

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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Matt Hochberg

With the upcoming release of Indiana Jones IV, we couldn't help but look at an often overlooked reference to Indiana Jones in the Studios. Across from the entrance to the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is a clever reference to Indiana Jones in the form of an archaelogical dig site. The references draw heavily on the Raiders of the Lost Ark film as many of the items in the dig site are from Africa.

Much of the objects in the dig site refer to "Prof. H. Jones", or Henry Jones, which is the real name of Indiana Jones. When Indy wasn't rescuing priceless artificats from Nazis and voodoo men, he was a professor of archaelogy and digs like this would be the sort of thing that a professor would look to do in addition to teaching. Marshal College is the name of the fictional college where Jones worked and taught at. Immersed in the dig site is a Senegal Date Palm tree, which as the sign notes just below one, is native to tropical Africa. The tree was purposefully brough to the Studios by Disney Imagineers to help create that sense of this dig scene not only being authentic, but plausibly occuring in Africa.

There are signs posted in the dig site to warn anyone near by that this is an archaelogical dig and that to be safe, but more importantly for Indiana Jones, not to even think of taking anything. Near the sign we find a table full of relics that have been unearthed by Jones and his team along with tools of the archaelogical trade and of course, Professor Jones' hat, just in case he needs to don it in order to assume the alter ego of Indiana Jones.