The streaming service Netflix is launching the reboot of "Little House on the Prairie" on July 9. The TV classic originally aired on German television starting in 1976. The contemporary new adaptation from Netflix now stays closer to the source novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) compared to the well-known TV series. At the same time, the story is also told more strongly from the perspective of Native Americans who were driven from their land by white settlers. Season one consists of eight episodes, all of which will be released on Netflix at once.
What "Little House on the Prairie" Is About
The Ingalls family moves from Wisconsin heading west. In the still sparsely populated state of Kansas, they want to build their new "forever" home, as one of the trailers for the period series also states.
The small family consists of the hands-on, optimistic father Charles (Luke Bracey, 37) and his wife Caroline Ingalls (Crosby Fitzgerald), as well as their two daughters Mary (Skywalker Hughes, 14) and Laura (Alice Halsey, 11), who couldn't be more different: While Mary presents the image of a young lady, follows rules and appears conformist, Laura is a veritable free spirit, adventurous and interested in the unfamiliar. With her cowboy hat, she appears tomboyish. The unknown of the West and their new home exerts an irresistible appeal on her.
Between Glossy Series and Survival Story
Already in the first episode of the "Little House on the Prairie" reboot from Netflix, the harshness of the West and wild nature becomes clear. The Ingalls family's wagon almost tips over in a raging stream. The beloved family dog Jack is lost. Hunger, cold, and wild animals threaten life and limb.
However, the Ingalls family sticks together and is stronger together - a major theme of the Netflix series. And they are not the most ordinary people. Daughter Laura grows into a modern woman at a time when women didn't even have the right to vote. Father Charles is a builder and explorer - and thus almost too obviously personifies the pioneer spirit that, according to the United States' own self-understanding, made the country great.
But there are also some shortcomings and compromises in the new Netflix production. The Ingalls family lives entirely in nature, especially in the first episodes of the first season of "Little House on the Prairie", since they don't yet have their own house. However, their clothing and the surroundings of the house construction site consistently appear too clean and therefore unrealistic. A bit more dirt would have done the frontier series good in places. Everything appears too clean to really convey to the audience the harshness of nature.
For some viewers, the Netflix series is also likely to offer an unusual, rarely seen and half-baked mixture. In part, this is a feel-good story, in part it's about the hard-fought struggle for survival. The closest comparison that comes to mind is the supernatural period series "Outlander", whose later seasons also take place in the later United States - and which also offers a somehow unrealistic glossy version of American nature.
A second season of the Netflix reboot of "Little House on the Prairie" has already been ordered and will come. The series will therefore continue.
