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We got a look at The Complete Making Of Indiana Jones, and it's an insanely thorough look at the birth of an icon. We talked to Lucasbooks Senior Editor JW Rinzler, who wrote the book (along with Laurent Bouzereau), about how he found out everything there is to know about Indiana Jones.
Empire: Were you relived to finish this mammoth effort?
JW Rinzler: Well I was relieved when it was actually finished back in January. It was great to be done with it: it was fun, but it was difficult because we had three archival films and one that was still being shot.
How did you go about tackling that? Did you try to cover all the archived stuff first and then tackle the new film, or did you go back and forth?
I tried to do the archived stuff first, and then Laurent Bouzereau was on set every day, so basically he was doing two things at once, because he was also doing the behind-the-scenes DVD I believe. So he was doing the interviews for the Crystal Skull and feeding them to me as they became available, so that made things a lot easier.
How much knowledge did you have of Indy before you started work on this book?
Not all that much. I was not an expert, but you learn a lot through osmosis here. Also, working on The Cinema of George Lucas I knew the whole history of Lucasfilm, so all I had to do was plug in the new information I acquired from going to the Lucasfilm Archives about Raiders, to set the scene for the next three films. Once I had a grip on Raiders and all the background, and talked to George who filled in additional holes, it all came together.
We have this image of the archives being filled with props and costumes, but there's more to it than that. What sort of stuff did you have to go into for this book?
Well the Lucasfilm archives are in several places. Everyone gets excited about the prop part, and that is an important area. I did go in - not so much for the props because almost all of that has been photographed - but there are a lot of flatbed drawers, and you never know what's going to be in there. I made a few finds for Raiders and Temple, stuff that hasn't been seen before. Then there's also the library archives, and the good stuff is boxed in another warehouse on Skywalker Ranch. That was in some ways the most tedious part, but also the most rewarding because, since it is so tedious, no one ever goes through this stuff. There were boxes that hadn't been opened in 25-30 years so there were production reports, letters, stationery - occasionally you find original art in there too.
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So you had to become an archaeologist yourself?
Definitely! I wouldn't say I felt like Indiana Jones though. Less swinging over canyons on whips in the archives.
Was there anything that really surprised you in the search?
I think the single artefact that was most surprising was finding the two Steranko drawings that George had photocopied and written on: "Instead of a gun, a bullwhip." You could see there, in visual form, the note that led Jim Steranko to do the first four illustrations that really set the Indy look. And then talking to Jim about those illustrations, he was very helpful.
How did you handle the division of labour with Laurent? He was on set of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but did you get to go down there as well?
I went down there to soak up the atmosphere one day, and I did have one of my childhood dreams come true when George introduced me to Steven Spielberg, and Harrison Ford was standing two feet away dressed as Indiana Jones. Quite a day! But basically I wrote it and Laurent provided the interview for Skull and a good deal of Last Crusade. Most of Raiders and Doom was archival stuff, and given the choice I'd rather have what people said at the time than what they say 30 years later. But Laurent was invaluable for Crystal Skull and Last Crusade.
Was there a hard part? Was there an area where the information was missing?
No, the only hard part was the schedule. When George makes a movie we basically have three years before the book appears. For Indiana Jones, it was less than a year, and it wasn't one movie, it was four! It was harrowing. And this is something I do early in the morning and on weekends, and during the day I have my regular job to do - all the Star Wars books and the DK guide to Indiana Jones. And Clone Wars starting up. This is only my secret identity.
So now you're an expert on Indy, what do you think is the secret to Indy's appeal?
I think it's the same thing that prompted George to say that, if he could be any character he'd be Indiana Jones. He is basically human, he has no superpowers, and he's an educated character but not a pretentious one. I think people can identify with him - when he gets punched it hurts. One of my favourite moments is in Raiders when he's about to fall into the pit and he grabs the vine and he has that little smile on his face - until he realises that the vine is coming loose. He reacts the way we react. He's got that great combination of humour and charisma and fortitude.
So even after 100,000 words and 300 pages, you're still not sick of him?
Nope, not at all. I'm really, really looking forward to the movie.
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