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| Deleted
Scenes |
Not all filmed scenes made it
to the final cut of Temple
of Doom.
Here follows a list of 5 scenes that
have been left out and why. |
| On
the way to Pankot Palace |
While traveling to Pankot Palace
Willie, obstructed by the odors
of the elephant which carries
her, pours the integrally of a
bottle of perfume on the animal.
In film, one finds awhile later
the animal which, dissatisfied
to be soaked with the kind, stops
in the middle of a river and,
using his horn, sprinkles its
back as well as the momentary
one which it transports. This
one falls finally into turbid
water from the river, which causes
general hilarity.
In the beginning, the scene was
longer. The elephant did not react
only to its "freshing up",
but also to Willie's vocalizes.
Forgetting the hostile jungle,
thanks to the perfume, and finding
a little of its social context,
Willie starts with deployed throat
the song heard at the beginning
of film. Carried by the melody,
Indy and Short Round made in the
same way with a song of their
vintage. The perfume and the maintaining
noise is definitely too much for
the elephant which, with a blow
of horn, also radically stops
the odor and the songs. Indy and
Short Round can do nothing else
than explode into laughter. |
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| The
snake statue |
|
Right after the first sacrifice
Indy makes his way to the center
of the Temple to grab the Sankara
Stones. Having put the Stones
in his pouch he spots a big stone
snake on the top of the altar.
Originally, Indy was shown touching
the stoned snake in awe, but considering
his established snake phobia,
the filmmakers came up with the
idea of Indy adjusting his hat
in a hello manner. |
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|
| Willie's
escape |
As Indy walks past the Temple's
altar, to explore where the mysterious
cries he hears are coming from,
we see Willie and Short Round's
encounter with a group of Thuggee
guards. As Shorty is being captured
Willie manages to flee back to
the catacombs. What has been left
out is the part that shows Willie's
return to her room.
Following the same trail that
lead them to the underground Temple,
Willie finds her way back to her
room, there she finds Chattar
Lal waiting for her only to be
captured again. This little scene,
besides the fact that it explains
how Willie was captured, reveals
for the first time Chattar Lal's
allegiance to the Thuggees. When
the time came to cut the film
Spielberg and Kahn figured that
the scene slowed the film's pace
while the deletion of it didn't
affect anything! Once again Marvel
Comics can give a hint of what
this scene was all about. Another
scene of Indy feeding lies to
Captain Blumburt and menacing
Willie has not been verified yet. |
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| Burning
Thuggee |
|
In the original cut of the film
there was a scene showing a Thuggee
guard whipping slave children
when he is suddenly struck in
the legs by lava exploding from
a fissure. Short Round who was
digging nearby witnessed the guard's
awakening from his possessed state
before the Thuggee was dragged
away by other guards. This scene
explained how Short Round knew
what to do to bring Indy out of
Kali's "black sleep."
Although, of great significance
to the plot, this scene was cut
from the final film for unknown
reasons. |
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| Crossing
the lava pit |
|
Many fans have been expressing
thoughts regarding Indiana Jones
and friends' choice to go back
into the mines instead of leaving
through Pankot Palace with the
rest of the escaped captives.
An explanatory scene to this question
was shot showing Indy and Willie
helping the freed children to
cross the lava pit through a makeshift
bridge. When the time came for
Short Round to cross the pit the
bridge had caught fire under the
intense heat and Indy and Willie
managed to save him in the nick
of time from falling in the lava
pit. With the bridge crumbled
the trio had to find another way
out and that was through the mines.
As with the above scenes, the
most logical explanation for this
cut seems to be the pace and not
the film's running time, since
it ended up at 113 minutes. Even
the addition of all of the scenes
mentioned on this writing would
never push the film over the 120
minute barrier. |
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| Sources |
- Lucasfilm
Magazine - July/August 2001 - Number 30
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Comic
book adaptation) - A Marvel Movie Special - Numbers
1 & 3 - 1984
- And many of the same sources from the Making
of Temple of Doom article |
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