Land of the Lost (radio series) facts for kids

For the television series with the same title, see Land of the Lost (1974 TV series)

Land of the Lost was a popular radio show from the 1940s. It was a fantasy adventure created and narrated by Isabel Manning Hewson. The story followed two children, Billy and Isabel, on amazing underwater journeys. Their guide was a friendly fish named Red Lantern.

Every week, the show began with the exciting line, "In that wonderful kingdom at the bottom of the sea..." Red Lantern would then show Billy and Isabel a special place. This place was where all sorts of lost items ended up beneath the ocean waves.

The Land of the Lost radio series ran from 1943 to 1948. It was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System and ABC. Betty Jane Tyler voiced young Isabel, and Ray Ives was the voice of Billy. Different actors played Red Lantern, including famous names like Art Carney. The show also featured music by John Winters and lyrics by Barbara Miller.

Isabel Manning Hewson was a trailblazer in radio. Before Land of the Lost, she hosted a food shopping show during World War II. She launched Land of the Lost on October 9, 1943. It aired on Saturday mornings and later moved to different days and networks. The show was very popular and even sponsored by Bosco.

The Land of the Lost Book

A children's book called Land of the Lost was published in 1945. It was illustrated by Olive Bailey. The book told the story of Billy, who was 13, and Isabel, who was 11.

• They were fishing when they caught Red Lantern.
• Red Lantern was the "Guiding Light" of the Land of the Lost.
• In return for being set free, Red Lantern took them to his amazing underwater kingdom.
• There, they found things Isabel had lost, like her doll Henrietta.
• They also met a toy soldier, Sergeant Pine, who was now a captain!
• The children faced a bad guy named Kid Squid and his group of cuttlefish.
• These villains tried to stop Billy and Isabel from returning home.
• The book also featured the "Knives of the Square Table." This group included Billy's lost Jack Knife, the Great Horn Spoon, Sir Keen Carver, and Lavinia Ladle.

At the time the book was released, the radio show was heard on over 80 stations. There were also more than 3,500 Land of the Lost Clubs across the United States!

Olive Bailey, the book's illustrator, was born in Dayton, Ohio. She learned to draw from her mother. Bailey later studied painting at the University of Detroit.

Comic Books and Animated Cartoons

The Land of the Lost stories were also turned into comic books. These comics were drawn by Olive Bailey for EC Comics. The stories also became animated cartoons as part of Famous Studios' Noveltoon series.

• Land of the Lost (1948)
• Land of the Lost Jewels (1950)
• Land of Lost Watches (1951)

Voice actors for these cartoons included Mae Questel as Isabel. Jack Mercer voiced the Knives of the Round Table and other characters. Cecil Roy played Billy, and Jackson Beck was Red Lantern.

Music and Recordings

In the late 1940s, Columbia Records released The Land of the Lost as a three-record album. In 1950, Columbia Records put out another record called Bongo and the Land of the Lost. One side featured a story about Bongo from Walt Disney. The other side was a new journey to the Magic Sea Kingdom, written by Isabel Manning Hewson herself.

Sadly, not many of the original radio episodes still exist today. Out of hundreds of shows broadcast over five years, only about 7 or 8 episodes are known to have survived.