# Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lupin III **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326 "2004-10-26T22:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/1 "2004-10-26T22:43:56Z")
I’ve watched [Curse of the Jumbo Juju](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-15679/epid-227192/) (also known as [The Great Caribbean Adventure](http://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/66.php)), an episode of the classic [Lupin the 3rd](http://lupinofficial.com/) series, several times and there are a few scenes in it reminds one of some of the scenes in Indiana Jones films. When going to return a cursed treasure to an idol temple: [ul] [li]A large rolling stone comes down the passage way (until Goemon slices it apart)[/li][li]Walking across some stone, Lupin steps on the wrong one and crashes through the floor[/li][li]Lupin hangs by the edge over a pit of spikes, with a skeleton wearing “Indiana Jones” style clothes and hat[/li][/ul] Yes, the dubbed version does say something about the skeleton being “Indiana Bones”, but this series was originally drawn in the 1970s: It was not the original dialog, but the 21st century update for dubbing (as a side note, it’s always interesting to me to watch the DVDs with dubbing and English subtitles and see the differences). There are also other similiarities that I’ve scene throughout the series. Now I’ve read **Cal Meacham** ’s [“Only the Penitent Duck Shall Pass”](http://www.teemings.com/issue05/penitent.html) (I have several of the “Best Comics” and loved the ducks’ adventures as a kid), but I wonder if this early anime series might have had any influence on the Indiana Jones writing team as well… or if **Carl Barks** instead influenced [Monkey Punch/Katou Kazuhiko](http://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/profile/staff/6.php)? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/2 "2004-10-27T11:53:28Z")
**Cal** doesn’t mention that a trigger (lifting a little statue, in fact) setting off a huge rolling rock was ALSO used by Carl Barks, in “The Seven Cities of Cibola” (Uncle Scrooge #7, September 1954). For Barks, the rolling rock doesn’t chase the ducks, it buries and seals the lost cities – sort of a precursor of the auto-destruct button. But the notion of lifting a small idol and thus letting loose a huge great round boulder… that’s Barks’. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/3 "2004-10-27T12:24:16Z")
I think that _all_ of these serieses (sp?) were inspired by Pulp magazines & the old Republic serials, which were full of lost civilizations & strange dooms. All of them drink from the same well, they don’t have to derive from one another. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/4 "2004-10-27T13:47:05Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I think that _all_ of these serieses (sp?) were inspired by Pulp magazines & the old Republic serials, which were full of lost civilizations & strange dooms. > > All of them drink from the same well, they don’t have to derive from one another. Indeed the likeliest explanation. In the case of the IJ series, these roots are obvious – I mean, it’s even set in the 1930s! Even further back, all these have strong Verne/Wells/Rice-Burroughs roots. I would have pegged the proliferation of setting stories in real-world locales to which only a peculiar “twist” was added, as a sign of strong kinship with Barks – but also with 1960’s spy.crime-caper films, which are the more immediate root of Lupin-III (though as time has gone by the settings have turned more outlandish; I suppose they’re running out of “real” places that you can just make up stuff about). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/5 "2004-10-27T14:09:46Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > Yes, the dubbed version does say something about the skeleton being “Indiana Bones”, but this series was originally drawn in the 1970s: It was not the original dialog, but the 21st century update for dubbing (as a side note, it’s always interesting to me to watch the DVDs with dubbing and English subtitles and see the differences). Ah, I thought so. Perhaps my favorite part of Lupin, which I’ve come to like a lot, is the uber-70s-ness. But I hadn’t found anything that settled the question of “Is this actually from the '70s, or just done in a remarkably good '70s style?” ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/6 "2004-10-27T14:38:39Z")
Hm. I thought the second Lupin series (the one that’s in current dvd release) was done after Raiders was filmed? It ended in…'80 or '81, I believe, so it’s entirely possible that episode was deliberately riffing on Raiders. ---
**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-and-lupin-iii/271326/7 "2006-02-09T21:46:52Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > Hm. I thought the second Lupin series (the one that’s in current dvd release) was done after Raiders was filmed? It ended in…'80 or '81, I believe, so it’s entirely possible that episode was deliberately riffing on Raiders. According to the [Lupin Encyclopedia](http://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/content/view/96/66/), the second/red coat series was aired between 1977 and 1980. _The Great Carribean Adventure_ was aired in 1978. _Raiders_ was released in 1981. Even so, the bit about Lupin falling through the floor was so very simliary to Indy falling in _The Last Crusade_, which was released in 1989. > [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > All of them drink from the same well, they don’t have to derive from one another. Maybe, but it still seems weird that the two match so directly on those points.