This summer the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis will present the world premiere of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE…the musical.  There are a couple of interesting developments in this production.  As many of you already know Melissa Gilbert will be making her musical theatre debut playing Caroline…and my former Westside Story understudy, Steve Blanchard, will be there playing Charles.  Its funny how the Little House world stays connected to itself.  I have no doubt that this production will have a huge appeal for Little House fans…the real test of course will be to find out if the production has an appeal for non LIW devotees.  We’ll all be waiting and hoping. Dean 

As I prepare to write and produce ALMANZO WILDER: Life Before Laura I am immersing myself more in Laura’s books with the goal of being able to capture the tone of her wonderful style in our documentary. While reading THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS…the most powerful source material supporting my first season on the television series… I realize, more profoundly than ever, how important that book was in helping to create the high level of interest for what we did in front of the camera.  While our episodes ran something less than an hour in length and covered the ground necessary to make an entertaining episode of the on-going series,  readers of THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS had a deeply personal connection to Laura’s largely unspoken romance with Almanzo.  This was no more clearly covered in the series than in SWEET SIXTEEN which was a compressed telling of not only Laura’s time at the Brewster School (we made it much more pleasant…and warmer), but also of Almanzo’s very quiet courting of Laura during sleigh and carriage rides over a period of several years before matters came to a head following Laura’s resolve not to continue shared Sunday afternoon drives with Nellie Oleson.  I think young girls reading this book can’t help but be touched by the dignity and quiet confidence that informed Laura’s reserve.  And I think young men can learn a lot about being a gentleman from Laura’s representation of Almanzo’s unspoken, gentle determination to win her.  More than twenty five years later, I wish we had done a better job of capturing Laura’s growing maturity in her transformation from girl to young woman in that arc of shows. I think we did nice job and I’ll always be proud of that work, but we could’ve told those stories much more thoroughly and I have no doubt that the audience would’ve absolutely loved it. Despite the relatively brief courtship we presented on television the audience was right there with us filling in all the blanks with their awareness of Laura’s beautifully written autobiographical story.  Once again, I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this wonderful coming of age story and candidly I think I understand a little better the affection that was lavished on the show and on me by viewers and readers all over the world.  At the same time I can also understand the sense of disappointment that some viewers felt as they longed to see the story as Laura lived it and wrote it.  Fortunately Laura’s books will always be there for readers young and old who enjoy our show but want to know more.  Our upcoming documentary will be much better  because of the influence of Farmer Boy and the other Little House books. I have no doubt that readers of this blog have lots of opinions on this subject.  Share as you desire…Dean 

So much has been going on this month that I have found too little time to make blog entries here.  As those of you who check in regularly know we announced a revised release date for Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura on the 13th of February.  The 13th was Almanzo’s 151st birthday, so the timing was excellent.  This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the publication of Farmer Boy, so this is one of Almanzo’s big years.  Our new release window of September 2008 will allow us to shoot more footage in Malone NY this summer focusing on Morgan horses and other life stock which populated the Wilder farm during Almanzo’s youth.  With those animals again in residence, if only briefly, we will be able to capture for audiences the way it really was there during Almanzo’s youth.  In addition to the animals, today we got word from Malone that the local historic society will be making their collections of historic photographs available to us for inclusion in the program.  This is great news and will enhance the authenticity of visual storytelling enormously.  Having grown up myself in a country setting I remember all too well the daily rituals of feeding horses, repairing fences, cutting trees, watering plants…it was stuff that my brother and I did with our father and grandfather and it was meaningful.  On the surface it was meaningful because the work had to be done and it made sense to focus our energies on activities that actually produced positive results and got things done.  We didn’t always do things as well as our older relations would’ve liked, but we were always encouraged to participate. This was the greatest gift of all and it served an enormously important purpose because through our efforts we became bonded us to our family and to the land on which we lived.  My life experience through the decades tells me that this was one of the really great things our parents did for us as kids…they made us participate and that participation led to commitment. In Almanzo’s time, as in ours, shared participation in family related tasks is essential to the creation of family bonds and connectedness.  In my opinion its not enough to simply be a member of a family. For a young person to become truly part of a family it is essential that they be called upon and counted on to give something of themselves for the shared benefit of all. In reading Farmer Boy I was deeply impressed and touched by how much was expected of Almanzo and his siblings from a very early age.  It wasn’t a game for James and Angeline Wilder. They needed their children to be contributors.  From sun-up to sun down and into the night there were things to do and it never stopped…except on Sundays.  For all the things that fill our days now, very few of us living in this country today will ever experience the all encompassing effort required by Almanzo and his family to simply survive.  Isn’t it amazing what they did?  Like many readers I’m sure…I found myself filled with with awe and appreciation as I read about the endless chores, season by season, that were required to keep the farm successful and productive.  The Wilder’s had their priorities squarely in order.  Deviation from those priorities of feeding, plowing, or planting, or threshing for even a day would have a ripple effect that could be unrecoverable.  Today, when we don’t have something we need, we just go to the store and get it. Back in the 1860s if Almanzo and his family didn’t have what they needed they could only look to themselves to know why or why not.  It was a much simpler, less ambiguous time.  That being said, I don’t think many of us would choose to return to those years…we like our cars and our appliances, our TVs, computers, and cellular telephones, but reading Farmer Boy and Laura’s other wonderful books inspires a romantic connection to the simple reality that people held their fates in their own hands and they survived or failed based on their own efforts.  As we prepare our program for release this coming September we will be focused on putting the simple truths Almanzo’s youth on the screen knowing that his boyhood experiences and the lessons he learned from his parents have an eternal ring of truth that can positively impact the lives of people living in any age.  Dean   

February 13, 2008 is the 151st birthday of Almanzo James Wilder.  Happy Birthday, Almanzo!  Almanzo’s early life was memorably recounted by his wife, Laura, in her second Little House book, Farmer Boy. As many of you now know Legacy Documentaries is producing ALMANZO WILDER: LIFE BEFORE LAURA celebrating his early life in Burke, NY.  In December we announced that the program would be released in March of this year, but several weeks ago we determined that we needed delay release in order to include some additional details of great significance to Almanzo’s life.   We’ve posted a new video at our YouTube site, DeanBLegacy, in order to celebrate Almanzo’s birthday and announce the revised release date of our documentary program.  We are incredibly excited to be able to offer Little House enthusiasts this never before seen view of Almanzo’s childhood on the farm.  The additional footage we’ll be adding will be shot this summer at the Wilder Homestead and incorporated into the final program in time for our planned September release.   Please spread the word to your Laura Ingalls Wilder friends…ALMANZO WILDER: LIFE BEFORE LAURA is coming in September. Happy Birthday, Almanzo… Dean 

As we’ve begun the serious work of putting together the ALMANZO WILDER: Life Before Laura DVD several essential topics have come up in creative discussion which I was not able to cover this past September while in Malone.  These topics are critical to any documentary about Almanzo Wilder’s youth and we are exploring ways to include them now knowing that this audience will appreciate Almanzo’s story being told accurately and entertainingly.  The good news is that our documentary about Almanzo is going to be quite wonderful. Look for updated details coming soon. Dean 

The famous Hollywood fashion watcher, Mr. Blackwell, this week named Little House’s Alison Arngrim to his 2008 Worst Dressed list.  The reality for many is that there is no such thing as bad publicity and Alison has never been shy about going for it in whatever form it may take.  I can tell you all that she was thrilled to achieve this dubious distinction.  Her fellow fashion offenders, according the judgmental eye of Mr. Blackwell, include Victoria Beckham, Jessica Simpson, Lindsey Lohan, and Kelly Clarkson among others.  Little House was never a source of high fashion, but its certainly been memorable and defining for many.  I’ve never been to a Little House event or a LIW site where I haven’t seen dozens of little girls with their hair in pig tails wearing colorful bonnets and calico dresses…there’s even been an occasional Nellie.  That’s love.  I’m sure most of you who participate here have your own Little House on the Prairie fashion stories…please share them with all of us. Dean 

Happy New Year to all Legacy Documentaries blog readers.  I’ve really had fun writing for you these past months and really appreciate your kind, thoughtful responses to my blog entries.    Just a quick follow up on last week’s post about the Little House connection to THE WIZARD OF OZ.  After the posting I wrote a quick note to Melissa Gilbert to ask if she would share some of her memories of working with the great Ray Bolger on Little House.  This morning she wrote me back and shared the following:   

Ray was doing an episode of the  show and I told him that I basically had the entire Wizard of Oz memorized. He didn’t believe me, so I started reciting it for him; dialogue, music, everything and I got kind of emotional. He gave me big hug and said “Come here,I want to show you something” He walked me over to a corner of the sound stage and there was a bit of yellow brick road still painted on the cement. I hugged him and thanked him so much for telling me and every time any of my friends would visit I would take them right to that corner and show them. 

 I never know what I’m going to find out when I ask Melissa a question.  I didn’t know that she had memorized the movie…but when she says she memorized it you can be sure that she knew every word and nuance.  Melissa had an uncanny ability to learn dialog.  She always knew hers and everyone else’s too. She also had the ability to process just about everything that was taking place on the stage…on the set and off…even when she was acting in a scene.  

I would’ve loved to have been there when Ray and Melissa had their special visit on Stage 15. Thanks to Melissa for sharing…

 Dean 

The other night we were at home watching The Wizard of Oz on TBS.  This is one MGM’s classic family films starring the incomparable Judy Garland and a host of other fine actors including the late Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), whom many will also remember as a guest star on Little House playing the role of Toby Noe in two episodes…There’s No Place Like Home” in 1978, and “Dance with Me” in 1979.   As I watched Mr. Bolger’s wonderful performance as the Scarecrow for perhaps the 40th time it flashed through my head that a good part of the Wizard of Oz had been shot on Stage 15 at MGM studios…the same stage that was the home to Little House for seasons 6 - 10 of its run on NBC.  At the time Stage 15 was reputed to be one of the largest sound stages in the world…just perfect to hold the imaginary land of Oz and the idyllic Walnut Grove.   The first time I went through the huge doors of the stage I couldn’t miss the faded remnants of the yellow brick road on the vast wooden floor. It gave me chills thinking of all the extraordinarily talented people who had walked those floors through the years and I was now part of the legacy of that historic space.   Through the years I’ve heard Melissa Gilbert relate stories of Mr. Bolger’s time on the show and how he took her other members of our young cast to a remote spot within the cavernous space and showed them a very special piece of Oz history that still existed there…only findable by people who had actually participated in the making of the movie. I know that working with Mr. Bolger was one of Melissa’s most cherished Little House experiences. Next time you watch Little House or The Wizard of Oz you can know that both of these wonderful family entertainments are forever linked by sharing the same stage space at MGM Studios in Culver City. Just a fun piece of trivia.  Enjoy the remainder of your Christmas holiday… Dean 

Several nights ago I received an interview request from Lennon Parker, the creator of the very popular Prairie Fans web site. He asked me to answer a number of questions for his online interview section.  I did so and sent them back.  Lennon published the interview on Sunday morning and I of course wanted to review it.   As I read back what I had written I was struck by the number of times that I used the words grateful and gratitude in association with my involvement with Little House and our talented cast.  After nearly thirty years of involvement with Little House as an actor, producer and presenter of the Little House legacy I am grateful for all of it.    Since this is my first post in the month of December, in the context of the holiday season, its very appropriate to share thoughts on the subject of gratitude.  Living in the United States of America we all have a lot to be grateful for - we have a beautiful country, enormous natural resources, a stable government, the ability to redirect its energies with our votes, and an abundance of intellectual capability and willingness to improve ourselves and other peoples everywhere.  We don’t do it perfectly of course, but we have the ability to do amazing things because we’re all free to try and we’re encouraged not to give up if we experience temporary set backs.   I’ve lived a very blessed, fortunate life to this point.  Anybody who has had the opportunity to experience the world free of social and financial impediments as I have would have to say the same.  The genetic reality of our lives comes together quite randomly it seems to me, so I can also say with gratitude that I was fortunate to have two parents and a brother and sister who really love me and each other and we have always appreciated each other’s individuality.   Ours was a large, extended family.  It was not uncommon to have 45 relatives for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and 4th of July celebrations.  My summers were spent at our family ranch 45 miles south of San Francisco. We rode horseback everyday…we swam, hiked, played endless games and basked in closeness and safety of our family.  We always had everything we needed with extras to go around.  I grew up in a very safe, small residential community in northern California and graduated from high school with the same core group of kids with whom I began kindergarten. All my family and community experience ended up preparing me better than any acting class for what I would do on TV years later.   My college years were spent at University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.  Stockton wasn’t fantastic, but Little House buffs will remember that the beautiful farm land near Stockton was one of the locations for the Little House pilot in the winter of 1974…just months before my arrival in the Stockton area on campus in the fall.  What are the odds of that?  The campus was beautiful…its been a movie location doubling for Ivy League schools for many years.  Pacific’s small size afforded motivated students opportunities to pursue their academic and vocational interests with relative ease.  My biggest interests were the theater and the campus radio station…a 30,000 watt FM NPR affiliate.   After performing in commercials, episodic television, movies of the week, and mini series during my college career I got the Little House job less than one month before I graduated from Pacific and actually finished final exams, received my diploma, celebrated my birthday and reported to my first day on the Little House set in Simi Valley in a span of less than 96 hours from May 18 to May 22 in 1979.    I had a great run on the show…I did some work that I’m proud of, achieved a level notoriety, traveled from coast to coast meeting fans of the show, worked with interesting-talented people and did lots fantastically fun things that never would’ve been possible if I’d been in a more traditional kind of job.  I’m grateful for all of that…but just in case you’re starting to get ill from the sweetness of it all, it wasn’t perfect and neither was I.  I suffered from great insecurity about my abilities which led to overcompensating behavior at times.  I didn’t get most of the other jobs I really wanted, but I got the ones I was supposed to get and I’m grateful for that.  On the relationship front there has been love and fun and heartbreak throughout my life…but we all survived and we all moved on and hopefully found our best partners.  I know I have and am very grateful to have my beautiful, talented Katherine in my life.  I’m also grateful to have a number of good close friendship, which I value greatly.  Interestingly the Little House community has been a very comforting source of life continuity for me.  I’ve gotten so much affection from people I’ve never met all over the world.  With my ongoing Little House work I have a continuing opportunity to participate and give back through things like this blog, Little House DVD bonus content, the Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura documentary and many other upcoming projects.  It just goes on and on and as we prepare to celebrate Christmas and a new year in 2008 I’m unbelievably grateful for all the blessings and the disappointments of my life and I thank you all for sharing your warmth and affection with me and our entire Little House family. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all…Dean 

Hi:I hope you’ll enjoy watching the ALMANZO WILDER: Life Before Laura trailer.Dean