200 Words with Paul Dini #13 - Raiders of the Lost Archives
10 Posted on May 22, 2008 in articles by Conor Kilpatrick |
“We’ve been looking everywhere for that!”
I had been carelessly tossing a flaking gold lump into the air while contemplating new humiliations to heap upon C-3PO when the exasperated cry of the Lucasfilm archive director snapped me out of my reverie. When I had started working at Skywalker Ranch a year before, my office was furnished with a beautiful vintage desk. Upon inspection, I was astonished to find the original Chachapoyan fertility idol from RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK hidden away in a bottom drawer. As employees were encouraged to decorate their offices with props and artwork from the original movies (as long as we gave them back when asked) I kept it.
For months Cha-Cha had a place of honor on my desk, presiding over a dozen Ewok action figures arranged as if they were conducting their own heathen fertility rites. Now that the long-missing idol had been found (needed for toy reference or something) I turned it over as sourly as Indy originally surrendered it to Belloq. I put a Max Rebo figure in Cha-Cha’s place, trying to convince myself his keyboard playing was whipping the furballs into a frenzy of sensual delight.
It just wasn’t the same.
Paul Dini is the Emmy and Eisner Award winning writer of Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Detective Comics, Countdown among many, many other things. You can find him online at either kingofbreakfast.livejournal.com or http://www.jinglebelle.com/.
Comments
"Dr. Jones. Again we see there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away."
Posted by Quentin on 05/22/08 at 02:47 PM
Good Stuff.
A side note, everytime I hear or see "Dr. Jones" I think of that Aqua song not Indiana Jones. Yep.
Posted by jackwtweeg on 05/22/08 at 04:02 PM
Who else wants to see a shot of the Ewok action figure fertility ritual?
Just me?
Posted by josh on 05/22/08 at 06:12 PM
What a great bottom drawer find, but sadly, "...once again ,Jones, what was briefly yours is now mine."
Posted by hbkhumanity on 05/22/08 at 06:17 PM
@Josh Seconded.
Posted by DaveCarr on 05/22/08 at 06:45 PM
@Josh i'd like to see that. That is really cool that you were able to have such a iconic prop at your desk. was the Ark being used as a coffee table or was that final shot actual the warehouse of lucasarts?
Posted by English on 05/22/08 at 07:59 PM
@Josh- When I first read your post, my brain skipped over the "action figure" part, so it read, "Who wants to see a shot of the Ewok fertility ritual?" And, for five seconds, it came across as quite possibly the worst idea ever.
But I'm all for action figures doing it! :)
Posted by Neb on 05/22/08 at 11:38 PM
at my work we currently have the Mach 5 from speed racer that we tour around to promote the film releaese here in Australia on 21 July, but any thing from Indy or Star wars certainly beats that
Posted by leigh on 05/25/08 at 07:09 PM
agreed
Posted by edward on 05/25/08 at 10:58 PM
As always: A great little read, that puts a smile on my face. :-)
Posted by cylonpete on 05/22/08 at 01:46 PM