Bringing New Life to Old Series

Pacific, at least.

"rough day on the right-wing, dear?" ~ st. elmo's fire

ABC, tonight (March 26) is the 2 hour premiere event thing. There will be one hour episodes on the following four Saturday nights, April 2, 9, 16, & 23.




J-RHO

I'm almost 3/4 through the movie and my impression is that it's a more realistic look at how it might have been for them. Sure the movie is a bit slow but honestly, so were the books. Even though this movie strays from the books a bit, it's still more true to the actual storyline than the NBC series ever was. I just read the books again this winter so it's all fresh in my head. Needless to say, I'm a fan of this new rendention.

I know what you mean sarapie, I noticed 2 other goofs, now I could be thinking of the series and not the book but I thought Laura and Mary found the beads when Charles took them to see the old indian campsite, not Laura finding the bead by herself and the part twords the end when Laura and Charles were on the horse being followed by the wolves, I don't remember Laura being with him in the book version and in the book version the wolves ran along side him but did'nt do anything, they did'nt attack him like in the movie. Also where was Carrie?

The books are indeed properly classified as historical fiction. Laura's daughter Rose, a journalist, acted as Laura's editor, and some say, her collaborator. She taught Laura to shape a story from the most interesting vantage point. Since people's lives from day to day don't usually make good plots, some editorial changes had to be done.

Entire events in the Little House series occur out of sequence. Most of "Little House in the Big Woods" occurs after the events in "Little House on the Prairie," because the family moved back to Wisconsin after having to leave Kansas. However, LIW didn't think there would be an entire series of books after the first. So Carrie first appears in "Big Woods." To maintain continuity in the sequel, "Prairie," Carrie moves with the family to the Kansas prairie, where she was actually born. In fact, Carrie's age in the first few books is extremely unclear. She seems much younger than Laura and Mary, when in fact she's only about two and a half years younger than Laura.

And that's not the only age game LIW plays. Not wanting to emphasize the ten year age difference between her and her husband, she simply knocks five years off his age. The creates the problem of him not being legally old enough to take up a claim. I believe her solution is for Almanzo to simply not disclose his age to the homesteading office. They never ask. He doesn't tell. (I might be remembering that wrong. I'll go dig out my series. But I'm sure of the change in age.)

Another fictional device LIW uses is composite characters. Nellie Oleson is actually a composite of three separate people. Mr Edwards may also be more than one actual person. This device lends continuity to the series and gives some privacy to those people unflatteringly characterized.

Lastly, in a move that seems to be a direct influence from Rose, Laura often inserts herself into scenes where she can better tell the story. In "Big Woods," Ma goes out to milk the cow and encounters a bear and slaps it, not realizing in the dark it's a bear. (Again, my memory might be failing. If it's not this scene, it's a very similar one.) Originally, Laura watched this scene from the window of the house. But writing about watching something isn't very interesting. So Laura inserts herself into the scene and goes with Ma so that the reader will be more involved in the action.

There have been several biographers who have tried to capture the details of LIW's life--what she missed, omitted, or misremembered. Most of them are intersting complements to the series. There are also some some books about LiW's writing and identity as a writer. "Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder" isn't too bad.

In any case, I hope this TV series gets a little better. I like many of the realistic details such as the windblown hair, the weathered canvas, the sameness of clothing. But anytime someone tries to depict the books on film, something gets messed up. The earring comment was important, since Ma seemed to consider it immodest to show her ears. I also imagine Ma and both girls would be wearing sunbonnets, as Ma keeps telling Laura to do all throughout the series. And then there's just stuff that strays from the books, like fighting off wolves with one's bare hands and shooting horses and all that. Is the series going to be just about the Kansas house, or will we see more of the books than just "Little House on the Prairie?" IMHO, "Prairie" is the least interesting of the series. LIW was just three when she lived in Kansas and Pa, Ma, and Mary were all dead by the time she began to write any of her books. She had to dig through some history to piece together what happened with the Indians and settlers at this time. It probably contains the least of her actual memories. I would have much rather seen "Little House in the Big Woods" because it has so much potential for more characters and fun events such as Christmas and sugaring-off dances. But the series isn't over and I don't know much about it. Maybe it will still happen.

Sorry to say, Laura Ingalls Wilder even refers to her stories as fiction. They are catalogued as Historical Fiction (some items are true, others modified to fit the time period through research)

I read the initial review of the movie and watching three out of four weeks I really don't know what the big deal is about those who have a problem with this version of the story.

All this version is, is the original story spread out over five hours instead on 93 minutes which was as long as the original pilot was.

For the most part the new version has added some scenes and a few neighbors not in the original film. These additions don't hurt the story by straying from the orignal story. Actually this version tells a better account of the Ingalls family than in the original as it isn't rushed and on a smaller budget.

This version is a tad more intense and shows how hard it was to be settlers. Crossing rivers, showing patients with the Native Americans, living off the land. Every day was a struggle to survive and to live and see the same people day after day had to be trying to keep your sanity.

The original was fine and did set the tone for this version. But was ham strung to tell the entire story in the course of 93 minutes. You can't have feelings about this one unless you liked the original.

The spirit of the orginal one is felt in this retelling. I liked both. I'm not caught up with the music or changes in wardrobe. For the most part the show looks authentic and I enjoy the relationships in the film. I can't complain like some.