Laura Ingalls Wilder Movies

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

Four of the autobiographical novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder served as the basic source material for this made-for-TV movie. Covering some of the same ground as the Wilder-inspired TV series Little House on the Prairie, the film stars Meredith Monroe as 19th-century teenager Laura Ingalls, who at the beginning of the story is still living on her South Dakota family farm with her father (Richard Thomas), mother (Lindsay Crouse), and three siblings. Acknowledging her dad's insistence that she has "the wandering strain," Laura yearns for life beyond the prairie, but is obliged to accept a nearby schoolteaching position to help support her loved ones. After her marriage to homesteader Almanzo Wilder (Walt Goggins), Laura endures the usual trials and tribulations of life as a farmer's wife, further complicated by the loss of her first child and a raging diphtheria epidemic. Yet, somehow, Laura and Almanzo survive their many ordeals with renewed hope for the future. Tess Harper, cast as the "older" Laura, narrates the story. Originally broadcast by CBS on January 2, 2000, Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder was followed by a TV-movie sequel over two years later, on the same network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although the NBC television series Little House on the Prairie ran its course in March of 1983, producer/star Michael Landon managed to extend the property's life for an additional year with the aid of three expensively mounted TV-movie sequels. The first of these was Little House: Look Back to Yesterday, in which 19th century farmer Charles Ingalls (Landon) paid a return visit to Walnut Grove. During his stay, Charles learns to his horror that his son Albert (Matthew Laborteaux), a doctor in training, has contacted a blood disease that nearly always results in a slow and painful death. The other citizens are sympathetic, but have problems of their own -- namely, an economic recession that threatens to destroy the community. Of the original cast members, only Karen Grassle (Caroline Ingalls) was conspicuous by her absence, while Victor French pulled double duty as the film's director and in his familiar role of Isaiah Edwards (NBC publicity at the time suggested that Landon himself directed, though all print ads gave credit where credit was due). Look Back to Yesterday first aired on December 12, 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first episode of Little House on the Prairie's two-part season-seven opener takes place some six months after the end of season six. Although Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) has wed Percival Dalton (Steve Tracy), her childhood rival, Laura Ingalls (Melissa Gilbert), must still wait until she is 17 before she can marry Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler). Alas, Almanzo has been tricked into squandering all his money on a crooked land deal and must postpone the wedding even further -- and when Laura offers to help him out financially by taking a teaching job, he won't hear of it. Meanwhile, romance comes into the life of Almanzo's schoolmarm sister, Eliza Jane (Lucy Lee Flippin), in the form of hired hand Harv Miller (James Cromwell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the first episode of a two-part story, Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon) refuses to withstand one more humiliation from his new employer Standish (Leon Charles) after the hateful man cheats a heavy-drinking oldster (Ray Bolger) out of a lottery prize. With his family in tow, Charles leaves Winoka to return to Walnut Grove. Going along on this homeward trek are the Olesons and the Garveys -- not to mention Charles' new foster son, Albert (Matthew Laborteaux). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Who is the mysterious marauder that is going around stealing food -- but nothing else -- throughout Walnut Grove? Their minds filled with dime-novel mysteries, Laura Ingalls (Melissa Sue Anderson) and Andy Garvey (Patrick Laborteaux) decide to play detective, hoping to capture the elusive "creeper." Not surprisingly, their sleuthing methods leave a great deal to desired, and cause more harm than good. This is the episode in which Michael Landon (as Charles Ingalls) ends up with green hair! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the series' first holiday episode, the Ingalls family tries to purchase Christmas gifts with what little money they have on hand. Working in secret, the individual family members rely upon their own ingenuity to put together a proper Yuletide. In the end, it is Laura (Melissa Gilbert) who best exemplifies the Christmas spirit by making a great sacrifice for the sake of her mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the most successful and beloved of all TV family drama series, the weekly, 60-minute Little House on the Prairie was based on the autobiographical books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Michael Landon, the series' executive producer and occasional writer/director, headed the cast as Charles Ingalls, a Wisconsin farmer who moved himself and his family to the small town of Walnut Grove, MN, in the early 1870s. Karen Grassle co-starred as Charles' wife, Caroline; Melissa Sue Anderson was seen as eldest daughter Mary; Melissa Gilbert played middle daughter Laura (aka "Half-Pint"); and twins Lindsay and Sidney Greenbush shared the role of youngest daughter Carrie. As the series progressed, there were several more additions to the Ingalls household: Caroline bore a fourth daughter named Grace (played by twins Wendi and Brenda Turnbaugh); Charles and Caroline adopted an orphan named Albert (Matthew Laborteaux), and later took in another brace of orphans named Cassandra and James Cooper (Jason Bateman, Missy Francis); and during the series' final season, grown-up daughter Laura took charge of her niece Jenny (Shannon Doherty). Inasmuch as the series remained on NBC for nine seasons, it hardly needs saying that the two oldest Ingalls daughters literally grew up in full view of millions of fans. Mary eventually went blind due to a progressive disease, whereupon she relocated to a school for the blind in the Dakota Territory. There she met and fell in love with her teacher, likewise blind, named Adam Kendall (Linwood Boomer). They would later marry and have a child, who was killed in a fire. Ultimately, Adam regained his sight and relocated himself and his wife to New York, there to practice law. As for Laura, she became a schoolteacher in Walnut Grove, and in this capacity met another teacher, Almanzo Wilder (Dean Butler); they too would marry and have a child, named Rose.

Others in the large supporting cast included Victor French as the Ingalls' neighbor and friend Isaiah Edwards and Bonnie Bartlett as Mrs. Grace Edwards; Katherine MacGregor as the ridiculously haughty town gossip Harriet Oleson; Richard Bull as Harriet's good-natured storekeeper husband, Nels; Alison Arngrim as the Olesons' bratty daughter, Nellie (who, upon growing up and "reforming," wed a Jewish boy named Percival [Steve Tracy]); and Allison Balson as Harriet and Nels' equally obnoxious adopted daughter Nancy. Other cast included Merlin Olsen as headstrong farmer Jonathan Garvey, and Hersha Parady and Patrick Laborteaux as Garvey's wife, Alice, and son, Andy; Karl Swenson as Lars Hanson, owner of Walnut Grove's mill; Charlotte Stewart as schoolteacher Miss Beadle; Dabbs Greer as Reverend Alden; Jonathan Gilbert as Dr. Baker; Ketty Lester as Hester Sue Terhune, head instructor at the blind school established in Walnut Grove by Mary and Adam; and, in the final season, Michael Landon's daughter Leslie Landon as new schoolmarm Etta Plum.

In the course of the series, the Ingalls and several of their neighbors briefly moved to Dakota Territory when Walnut Grove was devastated by a series of financial reverses, but they all returned to rebuild the town and restore its economy. And in the ninth and final season, Michael Landon and Karen Grassle relinquished their starring roles (though Landon remained on the project as executive producer) and Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls Wilder) was promoted to the leading role. At that time, the series' title was changed to Little House: A New Beginning, and Stan Ivar and Pamela Roylance became regular cast members as John and Sarah Carter, the couple who moved into the Ingalls' now-vacant family farm. After Little House on the Prairie completed its run in the spring of 1983, three two-hour specials were produced for the 1983-1984 television season to tie up loose plot ends. The series has managed to sustain its popularity in syndicated rerun form, and as a fixture of the PAX TV network and a number of top cable-TV services. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Travel back to the prairie and follow one family on as they strive to start life anew in Kansas in this television classic based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. As the Ingalls leave the familiar woods of Wisconsin to make way for the wide-open plains of Kansas, they must maintain their courage and resilience to overcome adversity and make their dream of a new life come true. This is the story that started it all, and once you join the Ingalls on their long and arduous journey, you'll never be the same. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide