If you thought Star Wars was the first fantasy film to be exploited via toy and game merchandise, think again! The producers of The Lost World knew they had a truly unique film on their hands – and did everything they could to trumpet its release. The year 1925 also happened to be the height of a word-puzzle craze in the US, and plans were quickly drawn up to unite the two. This rare short pro­motional film features The Lost World star Bessie Love, then at the height of her popularity, as well as cinema personal­ities, and First National Pictures con­tractees, actor Milton Sills and director Lambert Hillyer, attempting to solve The Lost World Puzzle, a product tie-in created specifically to hype the movie. In a clever twist, the puzzle’s inventor, Bob Sherman, demonstrates the solu­tion via stop-motion animation. The frame-by-frame technique shows how the pieces correctly fit together. Considering how The Lost World was a pioneering stop-motion classic, it’s quite appropriate that the promo employed this bit of mov­ie magic.

Jerry Beck, animation.library.ucla.edu, 2010