Land of the Lost (radio)

Land of the Lost was a 1940s radio fantasy adventure, written and narrated by Isabel Manning Hewson, about the adventures of two children who traveled underwater with the fatherly fish Red Lantern. Each week the show opened with the line, "In that wonderful kingdom at the bottom of the sea...", and then Red Lantern showed Billy and Isabel where different lost objects were stored beneath the waves.

The Land of the Lost radio series aired from 1943 to 1948 on the Mutual Broadcasting System and ABC. Betty Jane Tyler was the voice of the young Isabel, and Ray Ives was the voice of Billy. Several actors voiced Red Lantern, including Art Carney, Julius Matthews and William Keene. The announcer was Michael Fitzmaurice, and Cyril Armbrister directed.

With music by John Winters and lyrics by Barbara Miller, Peggy Marshall did the vocal arrangements. Organist Bob Hamilton provided background music.

A pioneer female radio commentor prior to Land of the Lost, Hewson did a food shopping show, Morning Market Basket, on the NBC Red network during World War II. She launched Land of the Lost October 9, 1943, and it was broadcast Saturday mornings at 11:30am on the ABC Blue network until September 22, 1945. In 1944, it also was on ABC Tuesdays at 7:00pm from July 4 until October 3. On October 14, 1945, the series moved to Mutual, where it was heard until July 6, 1946 (Sundays at 3:30 until mid-January and then Saturdays at 11:30am). Sponsored by Bosco, Land of the Lost aired on ABC from October 11, 1947 until the end of the run on July 3, 1948.

Illustrated by Olive Bailey, the children's book, Land of the Lost, was published by Whittlesey House (an imprint of McGraw Hill) in 1945. Hewson's story was outlined in the back cover blurb:

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Olive Bailey learned drawing from her mother while she traveled throughout the west with her family as a small child. Bailey studied painting at the University of Detroit and married the British-born artist, Arno Scheiding.

In addition to the Land of the Lost comic book series, drawn by Olive Bailey for EC Comics, Hewson's stories were animated as part of Famous Studios' Noveltoon series: Land of the Lost (1948), Land of the Lost Jewels (1950) and Land of Lost Watches (1951). Voices in these animated films included Mae Questel as Isabel (in a Canadian accent) and Rosita Wristwatch (in a Spanish accent), Jack Mercer as the Knives of the Round Table and various characters, Cecil Roy as Billy and Wally the Watch and Jackson Beck as Red Lantern and other characters.

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