Parents were outraged about the violence in Temple of Doom. (Racism and objectification of women, though, that's fine.) Not wanting future films to be rated R, because that would limit the box office appeal, Spielberg called up Jack Valenti, president of the MPAA. Yes, Stevey boy had his phone number. Together, they came up with the PG-13 rating, ensuring the profitability of violent blockbusters for years to come. (Source)

Who you gonna call? Dan Aykroyd. The character with the terrible accent who helps Indy onto the plane in Shanghai, and then is never seen again, is played by none other than Dan Aykroyd. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg also appear in the background of this scene. Hey, if Spielberg is back there, who's directing this thing? (Source)

We're not sure what character actor Pat Roach did to anger Spielberg and Lucas, but they love killing the man in these movies. Roach plays the overseer squished to death by the rock crusher in the mines. Roach also plays the man chopped to bits by a helicopter propeller in Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Source)

We guess Shanghai in the 1930's counts as a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Why the Star Wars reference? Because the club Indy escapes from in the opening scene is called Club Obi-Wan, named after Mr. Kenobi from that other major movie franchise. (Source)

Unlike The Empire Strikes Back, which is a fan favorite, Temple of Doom is a not-popular second installment in a franchise that once was a trilogy. Even Spielberg and Lucas hate Temple of Doom. The film reminds both Spielberg and Lucas of dark times in their lives, as their relationships with women were crumbling. If they treated their ladies the same way Indy treats Willie, no wonder those relationships didn't last. (Source)

Remember the scene where Willie says, "I hate that elephant"? Well, Harrison Ford hates that elephant too. Injuring his back riding elephants, Ford was out of commission for a large part of the shoot. His stuntman, Vic Armstrong, filmed many of Ford's scenes while the actor recovered. (Source)

There are more practical effects in the film than you might suspect. No, no one actually got their heart pulled out on camera. But the raft falling from the plane was filmed in one take. And the crew actually built the rope bridge seen at the end of the film and destroyed it. That was also done in one take. Pretty impressive. (Source)

Seeing someone's heart getting ripped out? No problem. Children getting whipped. Sure, why not? But the original title of the film was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death. That was deemed too intense for viewers and changed to Doom during production. (Source)