50 Fun Facts About Legends of the Hidden Temple

Which host of the original Legends of the Hidden Temple returned to play himself in the 2016 TV movie?

Kirk Fogg also turned up in four episodes of the 2021 revival, coaching players inside one of the temple rooms.

Which adventure film series was the basis for the jungle-ruin set design of Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Indiana Jones gave the set its look, and one Florida newspaper summed the show up as a cross between Jeopardy and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Which Legends of the Hidden Temple room made contestants assemble a three-piece statue?

Shrine of the Silver Monkey was the one room that survived every rebuild of the temple. Its base, middle and head had to be stacked the right way round, and the clock punished every fumble.

Which costumed characters lurked in three rooms on Legends of the Hidden Temple, ready to grab passing contestants?

Guards in lavish sentinel costumes were really crew spotters. Once one had grabbed a player, he was out of play for the rest of the run.

The jungle temple set of Legends of the Hidden Temple has been described as which ancient civilization's style?

Mayan is the label writers have given the set, even though its talking head, Olmec, is named after a different, earlier culture.

The 2021 revival of Legends of the Hidden Temple swapped the original's child contestants for which kind of player?

Adults made up all four teams in the revival, and each episode ran a full hour instead of half of one.

The Electrified Key of Benjamin Franklin, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, recalls his experiment with what?

A kite flown near storm clouds carried a metal key on its string, and Franklin used it in 1752 to show that lightning and electricity are the same thing.

Which opening round of Legends of the Hidden Temple sent all six teams racing across a narrow swimming pool?

The Moat's crossing method changed from episode to episode, such as swinging out to a rope net, and only the first four teams over went on to the quiz round.

In which Florida city was the original Legends of the Hidden Temple taped?

Orlando was home to Nickelodeon Studios, inside the Universal Studios Florida park, and most of the show's young players were picked from the surrounding area.

Which protective token, won in the Temple Games of Legends of the Hidden Temple, did teams carry into the final run?

Pendant of Life tokens were earned in pieces: half for each of the first two Temple Games and a whole one for the third.

Which voice actor, later Appa and Momo in Avatar: The Last Airbender, voiced Olmec on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Dee Bradley Baker was the show's announcer as well as its booming rock god, and it was his first big job on national television.

Which network aired the 2021 revival of Legends of the Hidden Temple for a single season before cancelling it?

The CW was part-owned by Nickelodeon's parent company when it ordered the revival in May 2021. It ran for 13 episodes.

Which comedian, the voice of Cruz Ramirez in Cars 3, hosted the 2021 revival of Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Cristela Alonzo fronted the revival, which offered a top prize of $25,000 for getting out of the temple before the clock ran down.

In which round of Legends of the Hidden Temple did teams stomp a buzzer to answer questions about the day's legend?

Steps of Knowledge questions each came with three possible answers, and the first two teams to get three right reached the bottom and went through.

Olmec, the talking head of Legends of the Hidden Temple, is named after an ancient civilization of which modern country?

Mexico was home to the Olmecs, who flourished in the present-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 BC.

Each two-player team on the original Nickelodeon run of Legends of the Hidden Temple was made up of whom?

One boy, one girl was the rule for all six teams, each of them identified by a colour and an animal on its uniform shirts.

A Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact was the Jewel-Encrusted Egg of Catherine the Great, empress of which country?

Russia was ruled by Catherine the Great from 1762 until her death in 1796, although she was born a German princess named Sophie.

Galileo's Cannonball, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, recalls weights he reputedly dropped from which landmark?

Leaning Tower of Pisa is where a pupil's biography places the demonstration, though most historians think it was only ever a thought experiment.

The Mysterious Manuscript of Mary Shelley, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, points to which novel of hers?

Frankenstein came out anonymously in January 1818. Shelley had the idea two summers earlier, while staying near Geneva with Lord Byron.

The Medal of Sir Edmund Hillary, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, marks the first confirmed climb of which peak?

Mount Everest was first confirmed climbed on 29 May 1953, when Hillary, a New Zealander, reached the summit with Tenzing Norgay.

The Enormous Iron Nose Ring of Babe the Ox, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, evokes which tall-tale hero?

Paul Bunyan is the giant lumberjack of tall tales, and Babe is both his pet and his working animal.

Wild Bill Hickok and the Dead Man's Hand, a Legends of the Hidden Temple legend, refers to cards from which game?

Poker's dead man's hand is two pairs, black aces and black eights, the cards Hickok was reportedly holding when he was shot at the table.

In the 2016 Legends of the Hidden Temple TV movie, the game show's original host plays himself working as what?

Tour guide is the job given to the film's fictional version of the host, who hands a young fan a map he once found inside the temple.

Which future star of Dora and the Lost City of Gold played Sadie in the Legends of the Hidden Temple movie?

Isabela Merced was billed as Isabela Moner at the time, and her character Sadie is the teenager who steps on the trapdoor that drops the trio into the temple.

Daniel Cudmore, the villain Thak in the Legends of the Hidden Temple movie, played which mutant in the X-Men films?

Colossus was Cudmore's best-known part, and he also played the vampire Felix in the Twilight films before turning up as Olmec's wicked son.

In the Legends of the Hidden Temple movie, what does King Olmec do to his people to stop his evil son's coup?

Turns them to stone, himself included: that is the film's reason a human king ended up as a giant talking head.

How are Sadie, Noah and Dudley, the three heroes of the Legends of the Hidden Temple movie, related to one another?

Siblings on holiday with their parents, the three slip away from a jungle theme park and tumble through a trapdoor into the temple.

Which short-lived mobile streaming service first announced a Legends of the Hidden Temple revival in 2019?

Quibi planned to launch the revival in April 2020, but the service shut down that December and the show had to find another home.

The voice of Olmec on Legends of the Hidden Temple later played Perry the Platypus on which Disney cartoon?

Phineas and Ferb cast him in 2007 after an audition where he offered three creature noises, one of which became Perry's trademark sound.

Which spin-off cable channel devoted to kids' game shows reran Legends of the Hidden Temple from 1999 until 2007?

Nick GAS, short for Games and Sports for Kids, began showing the reruns on the day it launched in March 1999 and closed at the end of 2007.

What did Legends of the Hidden Temple teams ring by pressing a button after crossing the water in round one?

A gong on a pedestal marked each team's finish, and the same pedestals came back later as buzzers whenever a tiebreaker question was needed.

The Heart-Shaped Pillow of Annie Taylor, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, recalls her barrel ride over what?

Niagara Falls was her stage on her 63rd birthday in 1901, when the schoolteacher became the first person to survive the plunge in a barrel.

The Moccasins of Geronimo, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, belonged to a war leader of which people?

Apache leader Geronimo was a medicine man as well as a fighter, and his own name, Goyaałé, means the one who yawns.

King Tut's Cobra Staff, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, evokes the tomb found in 1922 by which archaeologist?

Howard Carter uncovered Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaoh's tomb ever found there.

The Broken Wing of Icarus, a Legends of the Hidden Temple artifact, was built in myth by which craftsman, his father?

Daedalus was also the architect of the labyrinth of Crete, which he built for King Minos to imprison the Minotaur.

The voice of Olmec on Legends of the Hidden Temple also voiced which Looney Tunes star in the film Space Jam?

Daffy Duck was one of three roles he took in Space Jam, alongside Taz and Toro, in what was his first voice job on a feature film.

Which animal was paired with the colour orange among the six team names on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Iguanas are plant-eating lizards native to the tropical Americas, at home in just the kind of jungle the show's set imitated.

Which colour was worn by the Parrots, one of the six teams on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Purple shirts went to the only bird among the six team mascots; the other five were two reptiles, two mammals and a fish.

In which Legends of the Hidden Temple room could a tree reach out and grab a contestant who strayed too close?

The Dark Forest hid its danger inside a tree, so a player who stayed out of arm's reach could cross the room without being caught at all.

Which big cat gave its name to the red team, one of six colour-coded pairs on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Jaguars are the biggest cats in the Americas and the third largest in the world, a fitting mascot for a game played in a jungle temple.

Entertainment Weekly called Legends of the Hidden Temple an imitator of which strength contest for amateur athletes?

American Gladiators was the template in A.J. Jacobs's review, which dismissed the quiz round as filler but predicted that children would love the show.

Which award, its trophy shaped like a glass spade, did Legends of the Hidden Temple win as best game show?

CableACE trophies were cable television's answer to the Emmys, which refused to honour cable programmes until 1988. The show won in 1995 and lost on its next two nominations.

Which working title did Legends of the Hidden Temple carry before becoming a jungle adventure?

Secrets of the Haunted House was the first concept, in which monsters would jump out and frighten contestants while they tried to complete their challenges.

Which US retail chain was the only one to stock the 2017 Legends of the Hidden Temple board game new?

Target had the Pressman board game to itself, and only for about a year: by the middle of 2018 it was gone from the shelves and the website.

Which animals are the only ones Dudley, youngest of the Legends of the Hidden Temple movie's trio, cannot talk to?

Snakes are the one gap in Dudley's gift for talking to animals, and the film gives them a cameo as a nod to one of the game show's six teams.

In which Legends of the Hidden Temple room could a team's missing half token be found hidden inside a pot?

The King's Storeroom hiding place was needed only when a team had won one and a half tokens; the missing half was planted for the second player to collect.

Ancient Olmec colossal heads, echoed by the talking statue on Legends of the Hidden Temple, were carved from which rock?

Basalt boulders for the heads were hauled more than 150 kilometres from the Tuxtlas mountains, and the tallest of the finished heads stands 3.4 metres high.

What erupted every ten minutes outside Nickelodeon Studios, where Legends of the Hidden Temple was taped?

A slime geyser 17 feet high stood in front of the studio, spouting green water, and the network used a recording of it erupting as its daily sign-on.

Which streaming service added the complete original Legends of the Hidden Temple series in March 2021?

Paramount+ added the complete original series on 24 March 2021, under three weeks after taking its new name and months before the revival aired.

Which predatory fish gave its name to the blue team, one of six colour-coded pairs on Legends of the Hidden Temple?

Barracudas have fang-like teeth and bodies much like a pike's, and they hunt in tropical seas near coral reefs and sea grass.