Serial Narrative, Intertextuality, and the Role of Audiences in the Creation of a Franchise: An Analysis of the Indiana Jones Saga from a Cross-Media Perspective

Abstract

Rather than the simple adaptation of a story across different media, cross-media narrative should be defined as that which is transformed by virtue of use a medium and its different languages (film, comics, video games, etc.). This article extends and updates the dimensions of previous cross-media analysis models by underlining narrative aspects of the different products discussed and examining the influence of generic conventions along the way. To test this methodology, the article focuses on a product from the “adventure” genre— the Indiana Jones franchise—which it argues should be seen as a benchmark in the history of this kind of narrative. Special attention is given to the treatment of the character of Indiana Jones, who is the true focal point of the narrative, and to other underlying thematic features.

Notes

Note. Lastest update: February 4, 2013. RPG = role-playing game; IJ = Indiana Jones.

^aAdaptation of core film products.

^b Without an specific temporal setting.

^c Although the name is similar to the film's actually it is an independent episode.

¹“Indiana Jones is Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. If it was Mutt Williams it would be Mutt Williams and the Search for Elvis or something” (Adler, 2008). This trope is taken up comically at the end of the fourth film, when Mutt, Indiana Jones's son, puts on Jones's fedora and Indy snatches it away from him so that he can wear it himself.

²The character's full name is mentioned by Corey Carrier during the “My First Adventure” episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (ABC, 1992–1996).

³The only exception to this would be Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull, which is set almost 20 years after the last film (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and 10 years after the last episode (Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine).

⁴Our translation.

⁵All of the films include visual allusions to the Ark or to events from the first film, with the sole exception of IJ and The Temple of Doom, which is set chronologically before Raiders. This picture, however, contains references to character traits in the adult Indy (such as his fear of snakes) that have been previously established.

⁶Comics have had a major influence on Lucas. These include Carl Barks's Disney series about Scrooge McDuck, to which the director acknowledges his debt in the preface to the author's tribute book, Uncle Scrooge McDuck: His Life and Times (Lucas, 1987). Meanwhile, Buckland (2006, p. 130), citing Calebrese (1992, pp. 173–179), cites up to 350 references to B-movie serials, although he fails to supply an exhaustive list.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Manuel Hernández-Pérez

Manuel Hernández-Pérez (Ph.D., University of Murcia, 2013) is an Assistant Professor at Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir and a member of the research group CODITEC (Codification, Discourse and Technology) in the Department of Information and Documentation at University of Murcia. His research interests include cross-media narrative, fan studies, SCIFI studies and cultural studies.

José Gabriel Ferreras Rodríguez

José Gabriel Ferreras Rodríguez (Ph.D., Complutense University of Madrid, 2005) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Information and Documentation at University of Murcia. His research interests include film history, audiovisual heritage, film criticism and film analysis.