The Lost World

Edward Malone, a junior reporter, seeks an adventurous assignment and is sent to interview Professor Challenger about his claims of a lost world. The interview sets the tone for the expedition and the clash between sensationalism and scientific doubt.

The British scientific community dismisses Challenger's claims as fantasy. Jenny Nielson's wealthy family funds a formal expedition to Central Africa after her involvement as wildlife photographer and donor.

The expedition is officially organized under Professor Summerlee, who reluctantly agrees to include Malone and Jenny Nielson but refuses Challenger at first. This creates tension between skepticism and curiosity that drives the mission.

Challenger hands over a map that is blank, which mysteriously appears to guide the expedition. At a road-end village in Africa, Challenger reappears to offer guidance for the journey ahead.

The expedition departs from London toward Central Africa. Jim, a newsboy associate of Malone, stows away on the trip, hoping for an adventurous story.

Upon reaching Africa, the team is joined by Malu, a female guide, and Gomez, a Portuguese scout. Summerlee initially suspects Challenger's influence but tolerates him after a key event.

Challenger emerges to take charge, and the team accepts his guidance for the journey ahead. The mystery of the blank map becomes central to the mission.

Following Challenger's lead, the explorers locate the cliff depicted in the photograph and ascend to its plateau, entering the fabled Lost World. Gomez betrays the group by stranding them there with no easy return.

Inside the Lost World, the party encounters dinosaurs ranging from Anatotitan to a pterodactyl rookery, witnessing prehistoric life up close. Jim, Malone, and Malu narrowly escape a deadly encounter with a carnivorous dinosaur.

They stumble upon a gathering of skeleton-painted natives who perform human sacrifices to dinosaurs. The team learns from Malu's translation that the rituals stem from an ancient split in the tribe and a worship of dinosaurs.

Summerlee deduces that the vegetation necklaces used in sacrifices provide nutrients or immunisation that protected dinosaurs from extinction. The explorers apply their knowledge to help a local tribe by improving irrigation and horticultural methods to combat a prehistoric plague.

The skeleton tribe's leader is killed; the two tribes reconcile, and the chief reveals a hidden cave that will lead them back to their world, with a promise to return if needed.

On their journey back to the river, Gomez ambushes them. Gomez is shot and wounded; Challenger leaves him behind, saying, 'Let the jungle have him.' Malu stays in Africa, and the others return home.

The Royal Zoological Society in London remains cautious until Jim reveals a baby pterodactyl brought back by the expedition. The team is celebrated for their achievements, but they face the reality that one creature is now in a zoo.

Displeased with captivity, Malone, Jenny, and Jim release Percival the pterodactyl back into the Lost World, hoping the creature can reclaim its natural habitat. The ending leaves the world curious about the lost world and its wonders.