Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise; and it pits Indiana Jones (Ford) against the Nazis, who search for the Ark of the Covenant, because Adolf Hitler believes it will make their army invincible. The film co-starred Karen Allen as Indiana's former lover, Marion Ravenwood; Paul Freeman as Indiana's nemesis, French archaeologist; René Belloq; John Rhys-Davies as Indiana's sidekick, Sallah; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana's colleague, Marcus Brody.
Brian escapes from police officers by hiding in a giant wicker basket like Marion Ravenwood did in the film in "Brian: Portrait of a Dog".
To find his little black book, Peter Griffin uses a device similar to the ark-finding amulet in the film in "Stuck Together, Torn Apart".
In "Jungle Love", when the natives discover that Chris is a freshman, they chase the Griffin family in the same manner as the Hovitos chased Indiana Jones. Jones' pilot, Jacques is shown as he was depicted in the film and music from the soundtrack was played. They escaped, except for Meg, who died the same way that the guide did.
In "Blind Ambition", Peter and Ernie the Giant Chicken reenact the fight between Indiana Jones and the giant Nazi and Ernie seemingly dies the same way as the Nazi with the airplane propeller.
Jackie Gleason harasses Indiana Jones in "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", telling Jones to hurry up and take a golden idol.
Chris Griffin has "HATE YOU" written on his eyelids in "Hannah Banana" just as a girl in Professor Jones's class has "LOVE YOU" written on her eyelids.
At the end of "Peter's Got Woods" and "Back to the Woods", James Woods is studied by Top Men.
In "Spies Reminiscent of Us", "Vladimir Putin" has Toht's deceptively menacing coat hanger.
In "Partial Terms of Endearment", the artificial insemination is performed by Hovito, a fictional race from the film. Dr. Hartman says: "Well, perhaps you could tell them. If only you spoke Hovitos." just as Belloq did to Jones.
According to the Fact Ups for Something, Something, Something, Dark Side, R2-D2, played by Cleveland Brown, was going to pass the time it takes to get to Dagobah by listening to a novelization-on-tape of the film. This was replaced by two travelers asking Luke Skywalker, played by Chris, for directions.
Peter wants to finish the murder trial of Mayor Adam West in "12 and a Half Angry Men" so he can get back to the Director's cut of Raiders. A cutaway shows Marion revealing she is pregnant as the Holy spirits kill the Nazis for looking into the Ark and Indy suggests she take a quick peek.
The DVD commentary for "Yug Ylimaf" indicates that the burst of light through the Griffin's roof is inspired by a combination of Ghostbusters and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The delivery driver collapsing after being shot in the back with several poison darts in "Mr. and Mrs. Stewie" is similar to the death of Barranca at the hands of the Hovitos in Raiders.
Meg melts Michael Pulaski in "A Fistful of Meg" in the same manner as the climax of Riders of the Lost Ark.
School bullies place the Ark of the Covenant in Meg's locker in "The Peter Principal", causing her face to melt as Gestapo Major Toht's did in the film.
A scar on Meg's hand in "Crimes and Meg's Demeanor" is a reference to the film, which is further driven home when she and Peter run from Nazis with the Ark of the Covenant.
A shrunken Brian is impaled by the family's toenails in a parody of Indy's guide's death at the hands of the Hovitos in Raiders in "Big Trouble in Little Quahog".
Joe's quote "Stairs, why'd it have to be stairs?" in "Family Guy Lite", is a reference to "Snakes, why'd it have to be snakes?" from Raiders.