legacy documentaries' "almanzo wilder: life before laura"
If you had a remembrance book, you could write in it that the typically cynical and always picky pioneergirl had only nice things to say about the documentary, Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura.

Wilder family and other historical photographs, footage shot at the Wilder farm, live action, and animated and colorized Garth Williams and Helen Sewell illustrations are interwoven with narration by Dean Butler, scholarly commentary by William Anderson and others, and text from Farmer Boy. Katherine Cannon's read-aloud style is the very best I've heard, and I found myself wishing that I could listen to her read all the books while their illustrations moved along with the story, too. It was if the drawings were finally doing what I always pictured them doing in my mind, anyway. (Mr. Thompson cringing was perfection!)

The manipulation of actual photographs - and the use of music and sound effects with them - really made me pay attention. I must have seen that picture of Laura and Almanzo at Old Settlers' Day a hundred times, but this time I noticed something. Right over Laura's head are the old "hat / no hat" photographs that include Mary Power, Jake Hopp, and Florence Garland, among others. Look carefully; I bet you can pick out some other old favorites hanging on the wall.

The young men who portrayed Almanzo did a great job. The music was engaging. It was nice to see Morgan horses and oxen at the Wilder farm, and that so many different activities take place there during the year. The photos taken during restoration of the Wilder home are an added bonus in the feature about "The Wilder Homestead Today", as is hearing about all the hard work involved.

Dean Butler and Legacy Documentaries have done an excellent job of bringing both Almanzo's history and Farmer Boy to life. All the other Laura Ingalls Wilder heritage homesites should be demanding equal time!
- posted by pioneergirl at 11:54 PM