The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones DVD set artfully combines fictional adventure stories with history. Twenty-two video stories, approximately 90 minutes each, tell tales of Indiana Jones in his younger years, 1908–1910 as a boy and 1916–1920 as a teen and young adult. This is less an origin story, though, than using a fictional character, Indiana Jones, as a tool to teach about history. We see young Indy interacting with historical people and events. Although the stories are fictional, they bring to life real history. The movies are also complemented by documentaries, each about a half-hour long, that teach about the people and events we see in the stories, with between 2 and 7 documentaries per story. Through these documentaries, we learn more about the real history of the events and people we see in the stories.
I found the stories enjoyable. Although it seems unrealistic for Indiana Jones’s life to unfold so that he can experience all these different events and meet all these people, it brings continuity to this journey through history. Also, they are fun stories. Additionally, I really enjoyed the documentaries. The half-hour length is good for giving enough information without getting tedious. The documentaries were interesting, kept my attention, and seemed skillfully done.
A little over a third of the stories feature World War I and events connected with it. I found it interesting to learn about aspects of the war I was unfamiliar with, including fighting in Africa. As a music fan, I also quite enjoyed the episode that included the jazz scene in Chicago in 1920.
Review by Ellen K.
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