'Chilled monkey brains' screen-used prop
Many of today’s archaeologists and curators were inspired as children to learn the mysteries of long-ago cultures through watching films like the popular Indiana Jones series. While sometimes more focused on excitement than fact, Jones took us all on a treasure-seeking journey across the globe. His famous line “this belongs in a museum” came true for this screen-used foam and plastic monkey head prop, which was made for the banquet scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In the movie, the traveling companions are served a main course of bugs and snakes followed by a special dessert—“chilled monkey brains.”
Children’s Museum CEO Jennifer Pace Robinson was one of those children Indiana Jones inspired.
“He traveled around the world,” says Robinson. “He was fearless. He went into new places and learned the culture and befriended people who wanted to take care of him while he was on those adventures. And he found incredible treasure but he always had the idea of preserving it for others to enjoy, that it belongs in the museum. I love that about him.”
