"A lot of entertainment-related sites are just skin deep—a trailer, a couple of downloads, some kind of viral component—but this experience bucks the trend with thoughtful, multi-layered content that allows users to learn some interesting (and important) things." —juror Toria Emery

"A great balance of narrative and timelines for navigating history." —juror Britt Miura

Overview: Included with the DVD release of George Lucas's 1992 TV series, in which the young explorer crosses paths with dozens of historical figures from the early 20th century, this interactive experience is brought to life with text, images, video and audio. By referencing major world events, a timeline provides the context for the character interactions depicted in the show. An illustrated journal offers an alternative, more personalized view of the dynamic times through the eyes of the young Indiana Jones character. The contrast offers an entertaining and educational look at the early events of the past century.

• The project, an extensive collaboration between the client and the developer, took approximately nine months.
• True to George Lucas's wishes, the content has been incorporated into lesson plans by teachers across the country.

Comments by Bart Marable:
What was the most challenging aspect of the project? "One of the core challenges was that it combined two different types of history. One type, referred to as 'factual history,' that told the real-life stories of major personalities and events from the time period; the other, what we called the 'fictional history,' that conveyed the stories of Indiana Jones's adventures. Our challenge was to combine these two very different types of 'histories' into a singular experience.

"Our solution offered two main elements: The factual history was explored using an interactive timeline and map where visitors could explore major events, people and topics profiled using clips from the documentaries and photographs of the real-life subjects. The fictional history, was portrayed through Indy's journal with a much more personal point of view. Handwritten entries and illustrations were combined with production stills of the television programs to convey the character's spirit of adventure.

"The connection between the two experience provides a bridge between the story and the history—hopefully encouraging them to follow the links to learn more about what interests them."