Indiana Jones (franchise) Lucas, Spielberg, Frank Marshall, and Kathleen Kennedy met during the American Film Institute's tribute to Ford, and decided they wanted to enjoy the experience of making an Indiana Jones film again. Spielberg also found returning to the series a respite from his many dark films during this period. Spielberg and Lucas discussed the central idea of a B-movie involving aliens, and Lucas suggested using crystal skulls to ground the idea. Lucas found these artifacts as fascinating as the Ark, and had intended to feature them for a "Young Indiana Jones" episode before the show's cancellation. M. Night Shyamalan was hired
Indiana Jones films involving archaeologists, they were portrayed as victims who would need to be rescued by a more masculine or heroic figure. Following 1981, the stereotypical archaeologist is thought of as a male bullwhip-wielding adventurer and professor. The stereotypical image of an archaeologist is also portrayed as an individual usually out doing fieldwork, which is not always the case. Archeologist Anne Pyburn described the influence of Indiana Jones as elitist and sexist, and argued that the Indiana Jones films have caused new discoveries in the field of archaeology to become oversimplified and overhyped in an attempt to gain public interest, which