LAND OF THE LOST (1974 TV SERIES)

'''Land of the Lost''' (1974–1976) is one of several popular, uniquely produced children's television series created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. During its original run, it was broadcast on the NBC television network. It has since become somewhat of a cult classic, and is now available on DVD.^[1]
Krofft Productions remade the series in 1991, also titled ''Land of the Lost''.
A ''Land of the Lost'' film adaptation is also currently in development.

Contents

Overview

Plot and format

Production

See also

Cast

Film adaptation

References

External links

Overview

''Land of the Lost'' details the adventures of a family of three (father Rick Marshall, son Will — around 15 or 16 years old — and younger daughter Holly) who are trapped in an eclectic alien world inhabited by dinosaurs, chimpanzee-like cavemen called Pakuni, and aggressive, humanoid creatures called Sleestak that have a mix of insectoid and reptilian characteristics. The episode plots focus primarily on the family's efforts to survive and find a way back to their own world, but the exploration of the exotic features of the Land of the Lost are also an ongoing part of the story.
The series is notable for having a much darker and serious tone than most children's series, and for having a grander and more epic storytelling vision than most shows. The relatively complex plots, unique internal mythology, and ambitious special effects (generally considered unrealistic and even campy today, but advanced for Saturday morning TV in the 1970s) have earned the show a large popular following, particularly among adults who watched the show and other Krofft productions as children.
The series featured low budget special effects that were comparable to what one could see on Doctor Who. A number of well-respected writers in the science fiction field contributed scripts to the series, including a number of people involved with Star Trek, such as Dorothy Fontana, Walter Koenig and David Gerrold.
The prolific Krofft team was very influential in children's television, producing many oddly formatted, highly energetic, and special-effects heavy programs. Many Krofft shows involved similar plots, involving children accidentally trapped in other worlds, but ''Land of the Lost'' is easily the Krofft's most serious treatment of the premise.

Plot and format

The Marshalls are brought to the mysterious world by means of a dimensional portal,^[2] a device used frequently throughout the series and a major part of its internal mythology.
Outfitted only for a short camping trip, the resourceful family takes shelter in a natural cave and improvises the provisions and tools that they need to survive. Their most common and dangerous encounters are with dinosaurs, particularly a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' they nickname "Grumpy" who frequents the location of their cave.
They also tangle with menacing Sleestak and morally ambiguous "cave men" called Pakuni (one of whom, Cha-Ka, they befriend), as well as a variety of other dangerous creatures, mysterious technology, and strange geography.
The main goal of the three is to find a way to return home. They are occasionally aided in this by the Altrusian castaway Enik. At the start of the third season Rick Marshall is accidentally returned to Earth alone, leaving his children behind, and is replaced by his brother Jack. Spencer Milligan's absence was explained by having Rick Marshall disappear after he was trying to use one of the pylons to get home.
Though the term "time doorway" is used throughout the series, the "Land of the Lost" is not meant to portray an era in Earth's history, but rather an enigmatic zone whose place and time are unknown. The original creators of these time portals were thought to be the ancestors of the Sleestak, called Altrusians, though later episodes raised some questions about this.
Many aspects of the Land of the Lost, including the time doorways and environmental processes, were controlled by the Pylons, metallic obelisk-shaped booths that were larger on the inside than the outside and housed matrix tables (a stone table studded with a grid of colored crystals). Uncontrolled time doorways result in the arrival of a variety of visitors and castaways in the Land.
Although they came close to returning to their own time in several episodes, by the time the series was canceled, they never found a way to return home.

Production

''Land of the Lost'' is notable in large part for its epic-scale concept, which suggested an expansive world with many fantastic forms of life and mysterious technology, all created on a children's series' limited production budget. The series' intention was to create a realistic fantasy world, albeit relying heavily on children's non-critical eyes for detail. Though many adults and later-era viewers find the production design to be quaint and humorously artificial, they are often impressed by the amount of artistic detail.
The show played effectively to children and was an ambitious narrative project, introducing an unusually complex fantasy storyline thanks largely to first-season story editor and writer David Gerrold. It was a marked departure from the Krofft team's previous work, which mostly featured extremely stylized puppets and sets such as those in ''H.R. Pufnstuf'' and ''Lidsville''.
The series was shot on a modular indoor soundstage, which made economical use of a small number of sets and scenic props which were rearranged frequently to suggest the ostensibly vast jungles, ancient cities and cave systems. Additional locations were often rendered using scale miniatures. During the final season, the Marshalls and Chaka moved from their cave to a Sleestak temple. A popular myth for the reason of this set-change is tied into the fire that destroyed the cave sets for another Krofft show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. However this fire took place during the second season of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, at which time Land of the Lost would have been in production of only its first season. The first two seasons of Land of the Lost were taped at a different studio entirely from that of Sigmund. The show then moved to Goldwyn Studios for its third season. Ironically, this was the studio where the fire did occur two years prior that destroyed the Sigmund sets.
Non-human characters were portrayed by actors in latex rubber suits, or with heavy creature make-up. Dinosaurs in the series were created using a combination of stop motion animation miniatures, rear projection film effects and occasional hand puppets for close-ups of dinosaur heads. (On a commentary track for ''Land of the Lost's first-season DVD, Wesley Eure points out that the Grumpy hand puppet has no hole in the back of its throat, even though it is often seen opening its mouth wide to roar.)
Special effects footage was frequently re-used. Additional visual effects were achieved using manual film overlay techniques, the low-tech ancestor to current motion control photography.

See also

★ List of ''Land of the Lost'' episodes

★ ''Land of the Lost'' characters and species

★ ''Land of the Lost'' geography and technology

Cast

★ Rick Marshall (Seasons 1 and 2) - Spencer Milligan

★ Uncle Jack Marshall (Season 3) - Ron Harper

★ Will Marshall - Wesley Eure

★ Holly Marshall - Kathy Coleman

★ Cha-Ka - Phillip Paley

★ Sa - Sharon Baird (Seasons 1 and 2)

★ Ta - Joe Giamalva (Season 1) and Scutter McKay (Season 2)

★ Enik - Walker Edmiston

★ The Zarn - Marvin Miller (voice) and Van Snowden (body) (Season 2)

★ Malak - Richard Kiel (Season 3)

★ Sleestak Leader - Jon Locke (Season 3)

★ Sleestak - Dave Greenwood, Bill Laimbeer, John Lambert, Cleveland Porter, Jack Tingley, Scott Fullerton, Mike Westra, Bill Boyd, David Harris

Film adaptation

In April 2005, Universal Pictures acquired the rights to adapt the TV series into a feature film. The studio attached director Adam McKay and actor Will Ferrell, who had previously collaborated on '' (2004), to the project.^[3] In May 2007, director Robert Rodriguez met with Universal to potentially direct the film adaptation of ''Land of the Lost''. Rodriguez had also entered talks with Warner Bros. to film a live action film adaptation of ''The Jetsons''. The director was uncertain which project he would pursue next, though the latest script draft for ''The Jetsons'' by Adam Goldberg was further along in development.^[4]

References

1. http://www.70slivekidvid.com/lotl.htm
2.
3. U, Ferrell stake out new 'Land'
4. Future or past for Rodriguez?

Another Will Ferrell/Land of the Lost conection would be his character name in the film Jay & Silent Bob Strike back. Ferrell plays a Federal Wildlife Marshal named Marshal Willenholly.

External links

★ ''Land of the Lost'' (unofficial) homepage

★

★

★ Tavis Smiley - Sid & Marty Krofft Interview (Transcript and Real Player Audio)

★ World of Krofft - Krofft Kollectibles Museum