La petite maison dans la prairie

I must say I did not have great expectations and had not even intended to watch this miniseries, but all three consecutive episodes appeared on one of the free movie channels on New Years Eve. I did not move from my chair until the last credits.

Not a fan of the original TV series (perhaps not surprisingly as a then teenage male), and had not read the book. But this version! Superior direction and cinematography, and above all, INSPIRED casting.

This is altogether edgier than the original TV series. You get the feeling that happy outcomes are not always guaranteed and this keeps you watching.

Cameron Bancroft as Charles is a good man but not a saint. This makes his virtues all the more appealing because you see him struggle with darker thoughts and a possibly murky past, and win.

Erin Cottrell as Caroline may seem a little clear-eyed and fresh at first, but the steel reinforcing her kindness shows through, without overplaying it.

Danielle Chuchran's Mary is overshadowed by her sparky sister. Chuchran chooses to be true to the character rather than try to steal scenes, and it is performances like those that contribute to the overall truth of a production.

Gregory Sporleder as Mr. Edwards is a suitably likeable, salt-of-the-earth character. Perhaps he could have been even rougher round the edges, to justify Erin's initial wariness of him, and that Laura is the only one at first to see through to his virtues.

But the sparky gem of the show is the wonderful, wonderful Kyle Chavarria as Laura. I don't think I have seen a better performance by such a young actress since perhaps the young Saoirse Ronan. If not played right, Laura could have been annoyingly sweet, but Chavarria compromises for no-one and thus steals your heart. I will have to see more of this young lady in future.

This is as close as you will get to knowing what it was really like to be a pioneer family in the 19th century, inching west to the beautiful and dangerous unknown, with no safety net, nothing except what you thought to carry with you. The interactions with the Indians have the ring of truth. There is rightly no translation of the native languages so that you are as disconcerted as the Ingalls by the complications of moving on to their land.

Perhaps I've been gushing too much, you may not agree with everything. If you are troubled by differences from the book, watch this anew and remember that film is a different medium. And if you are expecting schmaltz based on the original series, the Disney name or the frankly ridiculous poster, don't worry - this is the real thing.

Being a tremendous fan of the books (and being one who hated the 70s TV show with the heat of a thousand suns), I have to say this series is... not bad.

The script is relatively true to the Little House On the Prarie book. Except for the inexplicable New Age nonsense inflicted on poor old Jack (spirit dog frightening the savages, my Aunt Fanny), all the changes make sense in the context of a TV miniseries. There's no need to bother casting a Carrie, a toddler whose literary counterpart isn't old enough to talk. There's also no real need to go into all the pioneering how-to, however fascinating such details are in the book.

The cast is tremendously likable, especially Erin Cottrell, whose portrayal of Caroline Ingalls is both saintly and human, just as the character was written in the stories. Gregory Sporleder does a terrific turn as Mr. Edwards, the wildcat bachelor from Tennessee.

Where the miniseries fails is at the adaptation level, not in the performances. The author of the teleplay, Katie Ford, has injected too much of a modern sensibility. The Charles of the book would not in a thousand years have expressed his appreciation for Caroline's sacrifices by weeping as if he were on Oprah. Caroline's whining about dressing up, Mary's "sassing" an adult (an adult who was expressing fear and hatred towards the Native Americans, an attitude common to white settlers of the time), and Laura's constant disobedience of her father's orders to stay on the homestead - these all ring falsely to anyone who ever enjoyed the iconic series of books.

However, with that aside, it must be said that LHOTP:2005 is a completely inoffensive, sweet little series. It's beautifully shot, evenly paced, nicely casted, and tailor-made for the "Wonderful World of Disney/Saturday evening movie" brand.

I just watched the first two hour installment of this movie...I enjoyed it, and for the most part, felt it was pretty faithful to the books and the the spirit of the story...but there were two glaring problems....WHERE was Baby Carrie....and they NEVER have the right breed of dog to play Jack...he's supposed to be a brindle bull dog! I felt the acting was good, better than some other productions I've seen....they had a good cast....I plan on watching the rest of the series...I enjoyed the guy they got to play Mr. Edwards....he was as good, if not better than Victor French...I liked the music they had throughout....very catchy....

We've been glued to the tube for the last three Saturday nights. Wow. I loved it. This is TV worth staying home for. The story has grabbed us, the cast is just right--especially little Laura, Mr. and Mrs. Scott (what a hoot!), and Wildcat. Loved the cinematography. The production values are worthy of the big screen. Such stark beauty. And that part about them driving the wagon across the frozen lake as it is thawing... White knuckle time! The scenes with the Native-Americans are some of the best I've seen in any film. You catch a sense of how strange it was for both the white man and the Indians, locked in their silent dance.

I definitely recommend this movie. Hope it comes out soon on DVD!

I agree with most of the comments placed here. I'm currently watching the series on ABC and boy am I disappointed but I must say that working in the entertainment industry I know how a lot of good books are made into horrible movies or TV shows.

Most of the time it is the Network or Studio Executives who mess with the originality of the books ( Due to advertisers requests) and sometimes the producers and writers tend to stray from the original idea which is always better in my opinion. It gives them a creative license that ticks me off. I know how it works due to the fact that I'm working along side most of these folks.

I grew up with the Little House on the Prarie series and have read the series numerous times. Very disappointed with the series so far.

The music selections are too modern. Pa's clothes seems to have been picked out of the local western wear-house in Los Angeles. No attention to detail of that time period. Lots of mistakes all around. Too bad. I was really looking forward to a great series.

In my mind I was looking forward to seeing something like the Lonsome Dove Mini-Series. Now that was really a good Series. They at least paid attention to the book. I gotta give props to Suzanne DePasse and her crew.

Well, enough of my rants. I will continue to watch the show but with a heavy heart. I hope someone, someday does another Little House on the Prarie series and follows the details to the T. Maybe it will be me. :o) Enjoy folks.!

Phil

P.S. Who's looking forward to "Into the West" on TNT due out this summer?