New Survey: Did You Purchase Beyond the Prairie on DVD?

In 1999, CBS produced a TV movie titled Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder. A teenage Laura Ingalls (Meredith Monroe) is living on the South Dakota prairie with her Pa (Richard Thomas), Ma (Lindsay Crouse), and her three sisters. This is also where she meets the man she will eventually marry, Almanzo Wilder, played by Walton (Walt) Goggins.

She leaves home for the first time to teach so that she can help pay for her blind sister, Mary (Barbara Jane Reams) to attend school. Eventually Almanzo asks for her hand. The newlyweds' life isn't easy, however. They deal with crop failures, illness, the death of their infant son, and their house being burned to the ground.

Narrated by an older Laura (Tess Harper), this is a reflection of those years in her life.

The second movie, Beyond the Prairie, Part 2, was released in 2002. Also narrated by Tess Harper, this picked up right where the last movie left off. Having struggled in South Dakota, Almanzo, Laura, and their daughter Rose, journey by covered wagon to the Land of the Big Red Apple- the Ozarks of Missouri.

With only $100 tucked into Laura's writing desk, the young family begins their new life. But it isn't an easy life. Almanzo's illness and stroke has left him too weak to tend the rocky land. They must hire help, but can offer little in means of wages. A precocious Rose doesn't fit in well at school and runs away.

Amidst trying to get settled in Mansfield, Laura receives word that her beloved Pa is dying. She journeys back to De Smet to say her good-byes.

Many fans were not aware of these movies when they first came out. As discussions came about on PrairieTalk about them, more fans were looking for copies of the movies. In 2010, both movies were released on a single DVD. While some (like me) are disappointed that these movies claiming to be the "true" story of Laura Ingalls Wilder contain many inconsistencies to her real life, I am still glad to have this DVD as part of my collection.

Have you purchased it or do you plan to? If not, can you tell us why?

Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Now Available on DVD!

Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder is now available on DVD at Amazon.com.

While there is some uncertainty whether this DVD includes the first Beyond the Prairie movie and its sequel, fans have anxiously awaited the release to DVD.

Using Wilder's books as the source of inspiration, Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder finds a teenage Laura Ingalls (Meredith Monroe), Pa (Richard Thomas), Ma (Lindsay Crouse), and Laura's three sisters living in De Smet, SD. Eventually she meets the dashing Almanzo Wilder (Walt Goggins), they marry and set up a little house of their own.

Crop failures, the death of their infant son, a chimney fire destroying their home, and a bout with diphtheria that leaves Almanzo permanently impaired, leads the Wilders to the decision that they must say goodbye to Ma and Pa and leave De Smet in search of new opportunities.

In the sequel, the Wilders end their journey in Mansfield, Missouri, where they purchase a small farm and some apple trees. They meet a man who helps out around the place since Almanzo is still weakened by the effects of his stroke. Their daughter, Rose, experiences some trouble at school, and Laura travels back to De Smet, SD to see her dying father one last time.

I always felt these movies were a nice way to honor Laura's legacy. While they followed the books more closely than Michael Landon's Little House on the Prairie series, I still felt they took a bit of creative license in spots. Almanzo and Laura consummate their marriage in a field. That was a stretch for me. Rose is only a toddler when they leave De Smet at the end of the first movie, but she is at least 5 or 6 at the start of the sequel, which finds the Wilders still riding in their covered wagon to Missouri. The scene between Laura and her dying father is very touching, but it almost seems like they wanted to infer that Charles Ingalls (Pa) was responsible for Laura writing her books so that Rose wouldn't forget about their triumphs and trials. As Laura enthusiasts know, it was Rose, who was an adult and also a well-established writer, that prodded her mother to pen her now classic books.

I plan to purchase this DVD. If this is only the first movie, which seems likely, I hope it sells well so that they release the sequel.

Updated information on Little House on the Prairie Themed Sets

Updated information is posted at TV Shows on DVD.com about the upcoming release of two themed Little House on the Prairie DVD sets due out in January from Lionsgate/Imavision.



You can find information about The Girls of Little House on the Prairie: Country School and The Girls of Little House on the Prairie: Prairie Friends here.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura--DVD Review

Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder, her books, and the shows based upon them, will find another way to appreciate Laura's legacy in Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura, a direct to DVD documentary produced by Legacy Documentaries.

Narrated by Dean Butler, who played Almanzo Wilder on the the classic TV show Little House on the Prairie, this DVD was produced in partnership with the Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association (ALIWA).

Using old photographs, excerpts from Wilder's Farmer Boy, and the beautiful landscape in Burke, NY, Butler has brought Almanzo Wilder to life in a unique and touching way. His passion for this material is obvious from the outset. He brings viewers through the year in Almanzo's life that Laura Ingalls Wilder so lovingly wrote about in Farmer Boy, and he does it in a way that makes viewers want to immediately pack their bags and head off to Burke, NY to discover the timeless beauty of the Wilder Homestead.

Garth Williams's Farmer Boy illustrations have been colorized and animated so that the viewer can almost imagine herself sitting in the Wilder's house eating popcorn and walking to school with the children. Life Before Laura also briefly discusses the Wilder family's journey to America, the times in which Almanzo grew up, and encourages the viewer to recognize how the Wilder family flourished in a time that didn't include many of our modern day conveniences.

Special mention must be made of the beautiful music provided by Jay Asher and the warm, endearing reading of the excerpts from Farmer Boy provided by Katherine Cannon (Father Murphy, Beverly Hills 90210). In addition, on camera experts provided helpful insights into various aspects of Almanzo's life.

Butler and his crew did a superb job of working around the challenges of having so few photographs of the Wilder family available and having limited seasonal time to shoot on location in New York. I would have liked to have seen more reenactments where members of Almanzo's family actually spoke to one another. The actors did a wonderful job of making Almanzo and his family real for the viewer.

Also included with this documentary is Wilder Homestead Today. This bonus feature talks about the restoration of the Wilder Homestead, the many activities and events taking place there, and surrounding points of interest.

I eagerly anticipated the release of this DVD and I was not disappointed. This collector's DVD will make the perfect holiday gift for your favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder fan.

Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura is available exclusively through the Wilder Homestead and proceeds will go to support the Wilder Homestead, its mission and its programs.


Title: Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura
Produced by: Legacy Documentaries, Santa Monica, CA
Total Run Time: 53 minutes
U.S. Price: $21.95 plus shipping

For more about Dean Butler, Legacy Documentaries, and Life Before Laura, read my interview with Dean that starts here.

The Homesteader gives Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura Five Stars!

Reviews for Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura are beginning to come in. The Homesteader gave this production by Legacy Documentaries five stars.

You can read their review here.

Delayed Release for the Little House on the Prairie Mega-Pack

TV Shows on DVD.com confirmed through industry sources that the release date for the Little House on the Prairie Mega-Pack will be delayed until November 11th, only a week later than expected.

Their article--which appears here--also states that Lionsgate and Imavision will be releasing themed "best of" DVDs in mid-January.

Please check their site for more details.