The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

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Western New York Indy
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The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by Western New York Indy »

(Note: The information below is based off of my own observations. If you have different opinions or have observed different things please chime in!)

In August, I had the chance to visit the Den of Destiny in Disney's Hollywood Studios and look at some of the props displayed there (as I'm sure many other members of this sight did) and one thing really caught my eye. The whip looked... well, kind of weird. It didn't look to me like a functioning whip. I'm not aware of who made the whips for the film, (or if Disney/Lucasfilm made them) but some things just seemed off. The whip itself had an odd plastic-like appearance, looking less like aged leather and more similar to a pleather type material. This may just be due to the abuse the prop went through, I'm not sure. It certainly looked incredibly dry and brittle. The other thing that struck me was how short the fall was. It looked to me to be about a foot, maybe a bit longer. It was attached to a fall hitch which had certainly seen better days. The popper/cracker on the end of the fall also did not appear twisted, but looked like a piece of gutted nylon which had been tied on.

These are simply my observations, from the other side of a glass case. I could be entirely wrong, but because Indy hardly used his whip in this movie, it looks like it was not kept (or never was) in a condition to be used. It still looks fine to me on-screen, and looks the part of Indy's whip. I just noticed some things that I wanted to share. I'd love to hear what other people think. If you have more info, please let me know!!!
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Re: The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by Loneken »

Were you looking at the stunt version? I saw some pics of a stunt version that was displayed there and I can't remember exactly but somebody mentioned it was a rubber cast of a hero whip for the stunt scenes. I can dry and dig up the pictures that were posted at the time of the release. The hero versions were made by the David Morgan company.

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Re: The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by IJJTM »

Like Loneken said, I’m pretty sure it was a rubber stunt whip they had on display.
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Re: The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by Loneken »

I found the original FB post courtesy of Daniel Borton:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/426494562 ... tid=Nif5oz

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Re: The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by Western New York Indy »

Loneken wrote: Mon Apr 15, 2024 5:43 pm Were you looking at the stunt version? I saw some pics of a stunt version that was displayed there and I can't remember exactly but somebody mentioned it was a rubber cast of a hero whip for the stunt scenes. I can dry and dig up the pictures that were posted at the time of the release. The hero versions were made by the David Morgan company.

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Thanks so much for the info! The whip I saw definitely looked rubbery. I thought maybe it was some kind of plastic, but didn't know there were rubber stunt whips used on the production. Also good to know the hero whip was a Morgan whip, it's great that a Herbert Johnson hat and a David Morgan whip could be featured on screen together for Indy's final adventure. Thanks!!
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Re: The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by bearbeast »

There are also a lot of scenes in the movie where the coiled whip seems to be set in a bend, in a way leather would not really take. I think in a lot of scenes Indy is sporting the rubber version. :-k

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Re: The Dial of Destiny whip prop is interesting...

Post by Western New York Indy »

bearbeast wrote: Tue Apr 16, 2024 12:22 am There are also a lot of scenes in the movie where the coiled whip seems to be set in a bend, in a way leather would not really take. I think in a lot of scenes Indy is sporting the rubber version. :-k

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Interesting.. so then does anyone know in which scenes a leather whip was used? I could be wrong, but I think I remember seeing Harrison holding a wooden stick or whip handle on the Tangier scene in the Timeless Heros documentary. I’ll need to rewatch and make sure, but it seemed as though he held a prop handle and they used CGI for the actual whip effect. Maybe it was the rubber one though. :whip:
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