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"Girls, are you ready for an adventure?" With this irresistible challenge to his wife and young daughters, Charles Ingalls leaves Pepin, Wisconsin, for Kansas, where 160 acres they can call their own await. This 2005 miniseries, originally broadcast on The Wonderful World of Disney, is grittier and more faithful to Laura Ingalls Wilder's cherished book than the long-running TV series. TV veteran Cameron Bancroft stars as Charles, with Erin Cottrell as his wife, Caroline, a former schoolteacher. Newcomers Kyle Chavarria, as the feisty Laura, and Danielle Ryan Chuchran, as the more fretful Mary, play out the story's dramatic arc, coming of age in frontier America in the post-Civil War era. As they make their way west, the Ingallses pass makeshift crosses marking the graves of those before them who didn't make it, and make an uncomfortable entrance into Independence: with its menacing frontiersmen and women of questionable repute, it's more Deadwood than Walnut Grove. Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert cast a long shadow, but it doesn't take long for this cast and Wilder's timeless saga to capture our imaginations anew. Over the course of four and a half hours, we follow the Ingalls family as they make their tortuous way, battling the elements, accepting the kindness of strangers, and putting down stakes on their new home. Frontier dangers, ranging from harrowing river crossings to wild animals to potentially hostile Indians, test the Ingallses' pioneer spirit (at one point, Caroline questions whether they should have made the trip). Bancroft is not as gloriously coiffed as was Landon, but his Charles has the same admirable work ethic and devotion to family. To its credit, this miniseries is free of stunt casting. Gregory Sporleder makes a memorable impression as bachelor farmer Mr. Edwards, the Ingallses' socially awkward neighbor. Gina Stockdale, as another neighbor, the bigoted Mrs. Scott, won't make anyone forget the TV series' comical frontier drama queen, Harriet Oleson. The one disappointment is the out-of-place new age/world music soundtrack. A more authentic period score would surely have enhanced this production's abundant charms, drama, and wholesome humor. Devoted readers of the books will likely have other nitpicks, but this is a welcome addition to the Little House universe, and it could be the foundation for a future miniseries. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

Narratively, the Disney-produced 2004 miniseries Little House on the Prairie retraces the footsteps of the acclaimed prime-time, nine-year TV series of the same title - albeit in a more abbreviated version. Like the 1970s series, this four-hour Disney adaptation takes as its source the beloved books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, roman-a-clefs about growing up on the rugged American frontier during the nineteenth century. It opens with the arrival of the Ingalls family in Minnesota during the 1870s - father Charles Ingalls(Cameron Bancroft), mother Caroline Ingalls (Erin Cottrell), and daughters Laura Ingalls (Kyle Chavarria) and Mary Ingalls (Danielle Ryan Churchran) - and moves ahead in time as the young girls come of age. Little House on the Prairie originally aired on ABC as episodes of The Wonderful World of Disney. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 786936697896
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Alternate Wide Screen (1.78:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Time: 4:15:00
• Sales Rank: 3,060

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