It was at Star Wars Celebration V that Robert Watts first let it slip that Orlando was a secret filming location for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

For those of you who don’t know, Robert Watts is a movie producer.  He’s produced countless films, most of them low-budget B-flicks. Things you’ve never heard of, like the James Bond series, the first three Star Wars movies, the first three Indiana Jones movies, and 2001:  A Space Odyssey.

I won’t bore you with all the movie-related stuff that he said. I am quite certain that there is no market out there for behind-the-scenes Star Wars stories. And even if there was, this is a park blog. But there he was on stage, 30 feet away in the dark, reminiscing about how good it was to be back in Orlando for the first time since Temple of Doom. And my ears perked up.

I’m from Orlando. I’m an Indiana Jones fan. I know that Temple of Doom was filmed in London and Sri Lanka, not the Vacation Kingdom. Just what is Robert Watts on about?

This movie catches a lot of flak in the fan community, mainly because it is not Raiders of the Lost Ark.  But Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is still in my opinion, one of the greatest adventure films of all time — in spite of Kate Capshaw, not because of her.

My mind was busy crunching the numbers. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom came out in the summer of 1984.  This was 5 years before the opening of the Disney MGM Studios and 6 years before Universal. So no soundstage or location filming happened there.  In fact, that’s even before Michael Eisner took over Disney.  It predates Star Tours and Captain EO. A Lucasfilm connection didn’t even exist at that point.

What could they possibly have shot at Orlando?  Was Big Thunder Mountain a stand-in for the film’s climactic mine car chase?  Did Indy swipe those glowing Sankara Stones from the caverns in Pirates of the Caribbean?  Did Spielberg get the idea for the disgusting dinner scene while eating Magic Kingdom fast food?

Nope.  It wasn’t filmed at Disney at all, but at another local theme park.

Gatorland – The Forgotten Filming Location for Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom

Okay, so maybe it’s not that glamours. It was pure second unit stuff: insert shots of the crocodiles at the bottom of the rope suspension bridge. They have maybe 30 seconds of screen time in total. Maybe that’s an eyeroll to most people, but if we were Gatorland, we’d count this moment as a true park highlight, similar to how Disney is famous for the “I am not a crook” speech.

Now, every 4-year-old riding the Kilimanjaro Safari gets a lecture about how crocodiles are different from alligators, but back then, we couldn’t tell the difference.  Those reptilian beasts that devour Mola Ram are home-grown corn-fed American citizens. Gatorland trains them to perform in a high-class show known as the Gator Jumparoo.

That’s all well and good, but why should Gatorland be the only park with an Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom connection?  Disney fans are in luck, but unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as cool as Gatorland’s link.

The Stuntshow of Doom

At the same Star Wars convention, Disney Imagineer Jason Surrell let another interesting factoid slip at his panel. Sure, everyone else in attendance just wanted more information about Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. But here at Parkeology, we bring the fans what they really want:  Trivia about a 20-year-old stunt show.

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is based around Raiders of the Lost Ark, all the way.  Every piece of the show is lifted from the original movie– whether it’s the rolling boulder, the Cairo street fight, or the plane explosion.  Even the music is straight out of Raiders.

But one thing was lifted from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom:  The screenwriters.

A married couple named Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck were credited with the movie’s screenplay (some guy named George Lucas got a Story credit).  According to Jason Surrell, when Disney set out to make a stunt show based on the franchise, they called in Willard and Gloria to write the script.  Maybe Imagineering wrote the first draft and Gloria and Willard punched it up. Or, given the fact that Gloria and Willard are the screenwriters responsible for Howard the Duck, maybe it was the other way around.

How hard could it be to basically write a synopsis of Raiders of the Lost Ark?  Maybe not that hard.  But remember: somebody still has to think up all the gags, like the audience plant in the Hawaiian shirt, or the We’re-Making-A-Real-Movie stuff that allows the Cast Members to ride around on camera cranes and dolly trucks while the stunt performers do their thing.  You need real Hollywood screenwriters to pull off that kind of magic.

Over at Animal Kingdom, the Wild Africa Trek in Harambe may give you the most authentic Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom experience in Orlando that doesn’t involve a trip to Gatorland.  As part of the hard-ticket tour, you will actually get to walk out over the Nile crocodiles on a narrow suspension bridge. Authentic crocs this time, no gator substitutes.

Let’s just hope they don’t bring Gloria and Willard in for a polish on that one.