LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE: The Legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder
I haven’t posted since November. Here’s what I’ve been working on.
The program will be ready for general release this summer. We’re very excited about the program. I hope you all like our trailer.
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on Saturday, April 10th, 2010 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Laura Ingalls Wilder Doc.
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April 10th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Dean-
I watched the trailer on YouTube tonight and can’t wait to watch the entire program. I’m so glad that you mentioned the timeframe in which the books were written, during the Depression Era, because I think it is important to understand who Laura’s original audience was and why it had such a resounding effect with the readers.
Would love to know, after the research you have done, the one thing that may have not known or may have surprised you about Laura and her life.
April 10th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Dean,
this is soooo beautiful. It really moved me to tears….
I am so much looking forward to seeing the whole LIW documentary. But didn’t you say it would be a two-parter? Anyway - it’s absolutely wonderful - and knowing a little bit of how it was done, the work behind the docu, makes it even more special.
April 11th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Dean,
I can’t wait to order this. It looks wonderful! Would it be possible for us to send some questions in and maybe you answer some of them in a blog post?
Jenna
April 13th, 2010 at 6:53 am
We are in a very intense phase now, working to complete the program, but I will be happy to answer questions you may have based on what you’ve seen in the trailer.
Dean
April 14th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Lynne, I agree with you on the Depression Era comment. It also adds credence to something I’ve always thought: even in tough times, reading material for children is popular and seen as more necessary than adult reading material.
Dean, first of all, I have to say I am thrilled you’re doing this. After seeing the trailer, I am even more excited about this project.
The one question I had is on the use of the word “feminist” to describe Laura in the narrative. It’s not a word I’ve ever heard used to describe her before, and it seems like Eliza Jane Wilder would be closer to the definition of feminist than Laura, at least to a modern-day audience.
While Laura was definitely independent, she wasn’t for women’s rights. She told Almanzo in “These Happy Golden Years” when they were making hurried plans to get married before E.J. and Mrs. Wilder arrived, she was not for women’s rights and didn’t want to vote; only that she couldn’t promise to obey anybody against her better judgment (pgs. 269 & 270).
Realizing that these books are fiction, can you tell me what in your research led you to use the word “feminist” as opposed to “independent”?
Thanks. Wishing you much success and few obstacles in your work.
Cheryl
April 14th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Like Cheryl, I was also curious about the use of the word “feminist” in the trailer. In fact, it was one of the things that stood out to me when watching it.
My first thought when hearing the word was the same passage that Cheryl described in These Happy Golden Years, where Laura and Almanzo kind of touch upon this very subject.
Of course, by the time she wrote THGY, woman now had the right to vote, though it was some years before the feminist movement of the 60’s and 70’s started. Did she put the passage in to show her audience how times really had changed, or did she write the passage to express her own views on what had happened to woman’s rights and how she felt about it?
April 14th, 2010 at 10:57 am
I am so excited about this documentary! The world has waited a long time for this. Beautiful trailer, Dean.
I am also curious about use of the word “feminist.” (And historically, although book-Laura said that married women weren’t allowed to teach in Dakota in the 1880s, they WERE, and mothers / female guardians were always allowed to vote on school matters and in school elections, such as for superintendent.)
The trailer also mentioned that Laura couldn’t (didn’t?) type, but there is a typed letter signed by Laura on display in Spring Valley, so I’m curious about that as well.
April 14th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Nansie, I think you misunderstood - Dean meant Laura didn’t type the manuscripts of her books. Is this right, Dean?
April 14th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
When the show is out you can evaluate our feminist position for yourselves…I appreciate your question.
As for the typing…we are referring Laura’s method for writing her books…which was in long hand on yellow tablet.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:50 am
I hope you know we support this project and are eager to see it come to fruition. No offense was meant by the question of the term “feminist”, though it will be a big stretch for me considering the definition of the term in the dictionary.
It looks like you’re using the same format as you did for the doc on Almanzo, so I am looking forward to seeing this one. I like the addition of Dunn’s artwork. He was mentioned in one of John E. Miller’s biographies on Laura.
The trailer ends on a very powerful note. Keep up the great work.
Cheryl
April 16th, 2010 at 7:27 am
Thank you, Dean, for replying. I am SO excited about your documentary; it’s something researchers and fans have dreamed of for decades, and I know it will be accurate, thorough, and beautifully done.
But it’s like Christmas… hard to wait for, so picking on details is probably just our way of shaking the package in hopes of figuring out more of what’s inside!
-nansie
April 19th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Happy Golden Years Laura said she wasn’t for women’s rights, but if you read some of the essays she wrote as an adult (I’m thinking of Our Daring Daughters in particular) she expressed a certain dissatisfaction with the “traditional” role of women and the limitations that came with it. She might not have been a feminist in the 21 century definition of the word, but she certainly had a radical view point for her generation.
April 24th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
I would not have called Laura a feminist until I read her articles in “Writings to Young Women - On Life as a Pioneer Woman.” A very small clipping follows:
“Although still a vital part of a woman’s life, marriage is not now the end and aim of her existence. There are in the world, many, many other ambitions and occupations to take up her attention….
Women are successful lumber dealers, livestock breeders, caterers, curators, pageant managers, cable code experts and besides have entered nearly every ordinary profession…
Women Shall Rule. A man made world we have called it now and then, implying that women would have done so much better in managing its affairs. The signs indicate that we are going to have a chance to remake it nearer to the heart’s desire. I wish I might be sure that we would be equal to our opportunity.”
Dean - Thank you for the trailer. You’ve shot some beautiful vision. Maybe the snow was a blessing in disguise? We here in Australia are looking forward to seeing the finished product soon.
Regards
Carrie
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