Catching Up With Dolly Parton As 'Coat of Many Colors' Hits DVD

Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors, the NBC film based on Parton’s classic song about her mother’s love, hits DVD on May 3, just in time for Mother’s Day. When the film aired last December, it was a hit with critics and audiences alike.

Related: ‘Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors’ Is A Sentimental Beauty

“Through the years, people loved the song, but they really loved the movie. I was just so proud that it touched people’s lives in the way that it did,” Parton tells Yahoo TV in the video interview above. “You never know if something’s gonna be hit or not, and something so personal to you — you don’t know if it’s too personal.”

The film, which became the top-rated TV movie on a broadcast network in more than six years, dives deep into a family tragedy that shook — but ultimately strengthened — both the Partons’ faith and the relationship between young Dolly (Alyvia Alyn Lind) and her mother (Jennifer Nettles).

Related: Why the Coat in Dolly Parton’s 'Coat of Many Colors’ TV Movie Doesn’t Look Like the Real One

“It has brought families together, and it’s made people’s faith a little stronger. It’s like, ‘Oh great, I’m glad you talked about God. I’m glad you talked about your faith.’ I think that it really was meaningful to a lot of people,” Parton says. “I miss that type of stuff on TV myself, like The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie and those sorts of things. I wondered if there was a market for it, and evidently there still is.”

In fact, if producers can assemble the same cast, including Rick Schroder as Dolly’s dad — Parton would love to do another movie, perhaps with a Christmas theme, or maybe even a series. (For the record, we’d watch a movie centered on an older Dolly and the creation of Dollywood.)

image

In the meantime, Parton will be back in her beloved Tennessee on May 6 for Dolly’s Homecoming Parade, Pigeon Forge’s 31st annual salute to its hometown star. For the first time, the parade — which Dolly will lead from atop a float themed for her new theater in town, Dolly Parton’s Lumberjack Adventure Dinner & Show, will be streamed live on her Facebook page.

In June, she’ll hit the road for her largest North American tour in over two decades in support of her forthcoming album Pure & Simple with Dolly’s Biggest Hits. That gave us an excuse to ask Parton a very important question: Does she name her wigs? Her answer below.

And finally, on September 9, Rhino will release The Complete Trio Collection, a remastered three-CD set of the two albums Parton recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris — Trio (1987) and Trio II (1999). The third CD features 20 songs, including alternate takes of album tracks and 11 previously unreleased recordings from the trio spanning both album sessions.

Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors hits DVD May 3.