Small cottage on the prairie is one of the most beloved TV shows of all time. For nine seasons beginning in 1974, the NBC show followed the adventures of Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert) and her family, who lived in the small town of Walnut Grove, Minnesota in the second half of the 19th century.
The show was based on the Klein Huisie series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, again inspired by the author’s own childhood experiences. Now a new PBS documentary takes a closer look at the life of the real Laura and how her books (and the TV show) came about.
Fact against fiction in ‘Little House on the Prairie’
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Fans of Cottage of the Prairie know that the TV show is based on Wilder’s Klein Huisie books. The series – in which Michael Landon also played as Laura’s father Dad – shared a title with the third Klein Huisie book, and an environment and many characters with the fourth book, On the shores of Plum Creek. However, many of the stories seen on the screen were created specifically for the program.
While the TV show strongly fictionalized Laura’s life, many fans of the books have long assumed that her novels are a fairly accurate rendition of the real Laura’s childhood. But this is not exactly the case, as explained in the new documentary, American Master: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Broadcast December 29 on PBS.
Through interviews with experts on Wilder and the Klein Huisie books, the documentary examines the author’s family history and childhood and shows how she turned her youth on the American frontier into a series of best-selling books. Wilder, for example, left out the darker aspects of her family’s story, such as the death of her brother and the time the family lived in Iowa. The film also looks critically at the portrayal of Native Americans in the books and the way Wilder’s stories reinforce myths about pioneers and the American West.
Dean Butler, Alison Arngrim interviewed for ‘Little House’ documentary
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Most of the 90-minute documentary focuses on Wilder’s life and how she wrote her books with the help of her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. But it also affects the Small cottage on the prairie TV program, which was instrumental in introducing the books to new generations of readers and in ensuring their lasting popularity. Cast members Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) and Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder) talked about their experiences with the program.
“I had no prior knowledge of these books or these people before I did the series,” Butler says in the document. “Now I can say with great confidence and happiness that they are part of my life forever.”
Melissa Gilbert says she was ‘incredibly excited’ to play Laura
Gilbert also talked about what it was like to be Laura in the Klein Huisie TV series.
“I remember my mother telling me that they were going to make a television series and that I was going to audition for the role of Laura,” Gilbert says in the film. She added: ‘I was incredibly excited about it. I loved that book. I loved her adventures. ”
But Gilbert admits the program had a dramatic license … we never left Walnut Grove. This is not exactly how it went for Laura. ”
American Masters: Laura Ingalls Wilder will be broadcast on PBS on Tuesday 29 December at 20:00 ET.