'Little Women' Recap Part 1: Pilgrim's Progress

The eternal children's classic Little Women is back for a new generation.

Jo: Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents.

Before people asked themselves in the 90s if they were a Carrie, a Miranda, a Charlotte, or a Samantha, there was a different set of four female characters girls sorted themselves into: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The story of the March sisters has been a classic since 1868 when the first volume of Little Women was published. (Volume 2, which features Meg, Jo, and Amy getting married, is also known as Good Wives.) The story was an instant success and spawned two more books beyond Little Women and Good Wives, called Little Men and Jo's Boys. Considered the first novel to capture the idea of the "All-American Girl," the story has been adapted for the big and small screen since 1917 when the first silent movie version was released. Some of the more famous films include the 1933 version starring Katherine Hepburn as Jo March, and the 1994 version starring Winona Ryder in the same role. In between, there were two more big screen adaptations, averaging one every 20 years. And that's not including all the TV versions. The BBC alone has adapted it four times since 1950, the most recent of which is our version here.