A Ghostbusters Star Had A Cameo You Probably Missed In Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom

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Despite improving its reputation over time, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" remains notorious in its own way. The prequel to 1981's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" saw Indy team up with a new sidekick, Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), and Kate Capshaw's nightclub singer Willie Scott for a decidedly darker tale than its predecessor. Though it has since been reappraised, "Temple of Doom" was met with a mixture of confusion and consternation upon its 1984 release, even while it became a box office success. None of this should have been all that surprising for director Steven Spielberg, however, seeing as the original "Temple of Doom" writer was scared away by the story he and George Lucas had in mind.

Now, some 40 years after it first debuted, "Temple of Doom" occupies an odd space in the "Indiana Jones" lineage, simultaneously overcoming its initial reaction while still trailing some controversy, especially over its infamous banquet scene and y'know, the child murder stuff. Which is why, sometimes, it's nice to forget all the controversy and just nerd out over some of the film's Easter eggs and hidden details. One such example which may have escaped even diehard fans of the franchise is a brief "Temple of Doom" cameo by a "Ghostbusters" star that lasts all of 18 seconds.

Indiana Jones escaped Shanghai with the help of a Ghostbuster

Before Indy and his cohorts descend into the depths of the Thuggee cultists lair, "Temple of Doom" opens with a now classic sequence that sees Henry Jones Jr. flee from a Shanghai nightclub called Club Obi Wan — itself one of the first Easter eggs in the film — after crime boss Lao Che tries to kill him. The ensuing car chase ends with Indy, Short Round, and Willie pulling up to the airport and being shepherded to a cargo plane by a British military officer by the name of Art Weber. "Ah, Dr. Jones," calls Weber in a hearty British accent as the trio pull up, "I'm Art Weber, I spoke with your assistant, we've managed to secure a free seat." Weber then informs the group they'll be riding on a cargo plane full of live poultry, and that's the last we see of the character, who is, it turns out, played by none other than "Saturday Night Live" alum and "Ghostbusters" star Dan Aykroyd.

Even those who paid close attention to this moment may have missed Aykroyd, the star of some of the best 80s comedies. The actor stays fairly far from the camera throughout his brief cameo and his face is obscured by a mustache — not to mention his accent, which is somehow both a decent and terrible interpretation of a classic RP intonation.

As it turns out, Aykroyd and Steven Spielberg had remained friends since working on the WWII comedy "1941" — one of Spielberg's lowest-rated films on Rotten Tomatoes — and all it took was a quick phone call for Aykroyd to land his cameo.

Dan Aykroyd wasn't the only cameo in Temple of Doom

Asked by The AV Club how he ended up in "Temple of Doom," Dan Aykroyd revealed that he actually called Steven Spielberg personally, explaining:

"I said, 'I'd love to work in this movie. Anything I can do.' Just because I love those guys and I love the franchise. And they brought me on, good sports that they were. I just said, 'Can I please have a part in this movie?' [Laughs] I begged for it!"

If you are one of those viewers who did manage to catch Aykroyd's quick cameo in "Temple of Doom," you may well have missed some even harder-to-spot cameos in the very same scene. Creator George Lucas, executive producer Frank Marshall, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and Spielberg himself appear as missionaries in the background of the Shanghai airport where Weber meets Indy, Short Round, and Willie.

"Temple of Doom" is far from the only Spielberg movie to feature plentiful cameos. "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" was originally supposed to feature cameos from Indy himself, Harrison Ford, and Spielberg himself had a secret cameo in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."