Both versions have “a very similar spirit,” Rebecca Sonnenshine tells PEOPLE
Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Netflix; NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie is based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical series
- Showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine tells PEOPLE what differentiates it from the ‘70s NBC show
- “It’s all about this family who supports each other and loves each other and they’re there for each other,” Sonnenshine says
The Ingalls family is back, but a lot has changed.
Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie series arrived on Thursday, July 9, and showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine tells PEOPLE that while the team behind the new show was “trying to really capture the books and use them as our jumping off point,” there are still connections with the NBC series, which aired from 1974 to 1983.
“I think the thing that binds the two shows is just this sense of it’s a love story about a family and it’s all about this family who supports each other and loves each other and they’re there for each other,” Sonnenshine says. “They entertain each other. There’s no Netflix. They sing together. They tell stories together. It’s very much about being present and in the moment and doing good work and being generous and finding a way to become part of the community.”
Those details, she adds, are “shared by both adaptations in different ways” and they both have “a very similar spirit.”
Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
Sonnenshine also details what it was like to create such a nuanced dynamic between Charles (Luke Bracey) and Caroline (Crosby Fitzgerald) this time around.
“I definitely wanted to do that. The books [show], as well, that Caroline is very agreeable, but I think that what we wanted was, they had a true love story. The real Charles and Caroline were madly in love. It wasn’t a marriage that they sort of agreed to. They really loved each other,” she says. “And that was something that was so appealing to me about this story, about telling the story. It’s a love story about a family, but it’s also a love story between Caroline and Charles.”
Sonnenshine adds, “To me, that indicates a sense of equality between them. Nobody’s making the decisions alone, that they are united in what they are trying to achieve for their family, which is a better life. And they don’t always agree on things. And sometimes there is conflict, but really inspired by a marriage that is inclusive of two very strong people.”
Credit: Eric Zachanowich/Netflix
Playing the Ingalls family is Bracey as Charles, Fitzgerald as Caroline, Alice Halsey as Laura and Skywalker Hughes as Mary. Ultimately, Sonnenshine says she and those behind the show “found a way to incorporate all the stories of” Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved books, while focusing on characters who were “driving the story forward.”
She also says it was “super important” to consult with members of the Osage community when developing the show, working with a script consultant, language consultant and a scholar along the way.
“We wanted to portray the Mitchell family as fully realized characters that the audience would know and love,” she says. “And we wanted to portray this relationship between Laura and Good Eagle, which really opens her mind and her perspectives, and we wanted it to be authentic. So, we really were so lucky to find incredible people to work with us on this.”
Little House on the Prairie‘s first season is now available to stream on Netflix.
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