The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Indiana Jones feature films, the cast and crew frequently questioned creator George Lucas about the Indiana Jones character's life growing up. During the concept stages of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", Lucas and director Steven Spielberg decided to reveal some of this backstory in the film's opening scenes. For these scenes, Lucas chose River Phoenix to portray the character, as Harrison Ford believed that Phoenix most resembled Ford as a young man (Phoenix had appeared as Ford's son in "The Mosquito Coast"). This decision to reveal an adventure of a young Indiana led Lucas and crew to the idea
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles playing an elderly version of Jones for the bookends of most episodes, though Harrison Ford bookended one episode. The show was created and executive produced by George Lucas, who also created, co-wrote, and executive produced the Indiana Jones feature films. Due to its enormous budget and relatively low ratings, the series was canceled in 1993. However, following the series' cancellation, four made-for-television films were produced from 1994 to 1996 in an attempt to continue the series. In 1999, the series was re-edited into 22 television films under the title The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. During the production of the