Annie (1999 film)

Annie
DVD cover
Directed by	Rob Marshall
Produced by	Craig Zadan Neil Meron
Written by	Irene Mecchi Musical: Thomas Meehan Charles Strouse Martin Charnin
Starring	Alicia Morton Victor Garber Kathy Bates Alan Cumming Audra McDonald Jessie Cave
Music by	Danny Troob Songs: Charles Strouse Thomas Meehan
Cinematography	Ralf Bode
Editing by	Scott Vickrey
Production company	Walt Disney Television Columbia TriStar Television
Budget	$9 million
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	ABC
Release date	November 7, 1999 (1999-11-07)
Running time	89 minutes

Annie is a 1999 American made-for-television musical-comedy film from The Wonderful World of Disney, based on the 1977 stage musical Annie, which was based on the 1924 Little Orphan Annie comic strip by Harold Gray.

It stars Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Alan Cumming, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Lalaine, and introducing Alicia Morton as Annie.

It aired on ABC on November 7, 1999 and was released on DVD on May 30, 2000. This version earned two Emmy Awards and a 1999 George Foster Peabody Award.

Plot

Eleven-year-old orphan Annie (Alicia Morton) was left at a girls' orphanage when she was a baby with half a locket shaped like a heart with a key hole and a note from her parents saying they'll come back for her. The orphanage is run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan (Kathy Bates) who starves the orphans and makes them suffer. Tired of waiting for her parents, Annie tries to escape to find them, but is caught by Miss Hannigan. She finally succeeds in running away, and makes friends with a dog, who she names Sandy. But a policeman catches her and brings her back. When billionaire Oliver Warbucks (Victor Garber) decides to take in an orphan for Christmas, his secretary, Grace Farrell (Audra McDonald), chooses Annie. She is brought to his wealthy estate and bathes in a grand life.

Although at first uncomfortable with Annie, Warbucks is soon charmed by her. He wants to adopt her, but she still wants to find her real parents, so she announces on the radio a $50,000 reward for anybody who can prove they're her parents. The orphans tell Miss Hannigan, and her crooked brother Rooster (Alan Cumming), and his dimwitted girlfriend Lily St. Regis (Kristin Chenoweth) cook up a scheme to get the reward by posing as Ralph and Shirley Mudge (Annie's "so called" parents). Lily is left with the orphans after Miss Hannigan and Rooster leave, but Lily accidentally tells the secret. The orphans make her tell them what is going on, and she realizes that Rooster could leave her hanging as he has done before. She and the orphans come to Warbucks' mansion and they are soon found out when President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Dennis Howard) arrives with his Secret Service and evidence that Annie's parents are really David and Margaret Bennett and had in fact died several years earlier which was why they never returned for her. Rooster and Lily are arrested by the Secret Service, Miss Hannigan goes insane and is sent to an asylum, Warbucks and Grace become engaged, and Annie lives happily with her new parents.

Cast

• Alicia Morton as Annie
• Victor Garber as Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks
• Kathy Bates as Miss Agatha Hannigan- the main antagonist of the film.
• Alan Cumming as Daniel "Rooster" Hannigan/Danny the Dip- one of the two secondary anatgonists of the film.
• Audra McDonald as Grace Farrell
• Kristin Chenoweth as Lily St. Regis/Sadie Algonquin/Phyllis the Filcher- the second of the two secondary antagonists.
• Erin Adams as Tessie
• Sarah Hyland as Molly
• Lalaine as Kate
• Nanea Miyata as July
• Marissa Rago as Pepper
• Danielle Wilson as Duffy
• Andrea McArdle as Star-To-Be
• Dennis Howard as Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Douglas Fisher as Drake
• Kurt Knudson as Justice Brandeis

Musical numbers

Main article: Annie (1999 film soundtrack)

The movie's soundtrack was released on November 2, 1999 by Sony.

The songs in this version reflect those of the 1977 show, but it does not include a reprise of "Easy Street", "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover", "Tomorrow (Cabinet Reprise)", "Annie", or "New Deal for Christmas". But it does include a reprise of "N.Y.C." and of "Little Girls" that takes place at the end of the film, rather than after the song itself.

1. "Overture"
2. "Maybe" - Annie
3. "Hard Knock Life" - Annie and Orphans
4. "Hard Knock Life" (Reprise) - Orphans
5. "Tomorrow" - Annie
6. "Little Girls" - Miss Hannigan
7. "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here" - Grace, Annie, and Warbucks' Staff
8. "N.Y.C." - Warbucks, Grace, Annie, and Star-to-Be
9. "N.Y.C." (Reprise) - Warbucks
10. "Lullaby" - Warbucks
11. "Maybe" (Reprise one) - Annie
12. "Easy Street" - Rooster, Miss Hannigan, and Lily
13. "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" - Bert Healy and the Boylan Sisters
14. "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" (Reprise) - Orphans
15. "Something Was Missing" - Warbucks
16. "I Don't Need Anything But You" - Warbucks and Annie
17. "Maybe" (Reprise 2) - Grace
18. "Tomorrow" (Reprise) - Grace
19. "Little Girls" (Reprise) - Miss Hannigan
20. "Finale: I Don't Need Anything But You" (Reprise) - Warbucks, Grace, and Annie

Awards and nominations

Won for:

• American Choreography Award — Rob Marshall
• American Comedy Award — Kathy Bates
• Costume Designers Guild Awards — Excellence in Costume Design for Television - Period/Fantasy (Shay Cunliffe)
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography - Paul Bogaev and Rob Marshall
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction
• Young Star Award Best Young Actress/Performance in a Miniseries/Made-For-TV Film - Alicia Morton

Nominations for:

• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film - Kathy Bates
• Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie - Kathy Bates
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Kathy Bates)
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Rob Marshall)
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special
• Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie

Comparison to 1977 musical and 1982 film

• This version ncludes a subplot involving Sandy, who goes missing in the 1977 version.
• Miss Hannigan poses as Annie's mother instead of Lily St. Regis.
• The White House "Tomorrow" reprise was replaced by a scene involving Grace Farrell and Annie after she finds out that the long-deceased Bennetts were her real parents and the Mudges are really Miss Hannigan and Rooster. In the 1982 version, it is only mentioned by Miss Hannigan (before the "Easy Street" number) that Annie's real parents were killed in a fire; their last name was never mentioned. Rooster is also shown to be forging a document when the orphans make their first escape attempt to warn Annie in the 1982 version.
• In this version, Miss Hannigan is taken to a psychiatric hospital at the end. This does not occur in the 1977 or 1982 versions.
• The 1977 version presents moral complexities that are simplified in this version, such as Miss Hannigan being a somewhat sympathetic villain in the 1977 and 1982 versions but instead being an entirely unscrupulous villain in this one.
• Annie's hair is straight and auburn rather than curly and carrot red.
• The character "Punjab" does not appear in this version.
• The character "The Asp" appears in this version briefly, running a Chinese takeout restaurant.
• At the climax of the 1982 version, Miss Hannigan tries to save Annie from Rooster but he beats her down in order to catch Annie. She is later shown as a showgirl at Annie's party dating Punjab (originally played by Geoffrey Holder).
• This version is more comical as compared to the 1982 version's slightly darker tone.
• The director, Rob Marshall, said he wanted to make this version as an allegory for the AIDS crisis.
• In this version, Warbucks asks Grace to marry him at the end. In the 1982 version, they only kiss which implies that they are dating. She is wearing a sparkling ring on her left hand which could also suggest they are engaged.
• In this version, the songs "Dumb Dog", "Sandy", "Sign", "We Got Annie", and "Let's Go to the Movies" were not used as they were in the 1982 version.
• In this version, instead of taking Annie to the movies (as in the 1982 version), Grace and Warbucks take her on a tour of N.Y.C., and later attend a Broadway show—all while singing "N.Y.C.".
• Unlike the 1982 version, Miss Hannigan and Rooster's Irish family lineage is referenced strongly during their performance of "Easy Street".

Production notes

This was Walt Disney and Columbia Pictures' first film collaboration. The dancers' costumes and the stage set of the Broadway section of "N.Y.C." are taken directly from the "Broadway Melody" ballet in Singin' in the Rain.

After its premiere on ABC, Annie has aired on cable channels such as ABC Family, Starz, & Hallmark Channel. Disney Channel also plans to air the film sometime in the future.

See also

• Annie Jr. - School and amateur productions of Annie.
• Annie - The 1982 film adaptation.
• Annie - The musical in which the films are based on.
• Little Orphan Annie - The Harold Gray comic strip from which the whole Annie universe is based.

External links

• Annie at the Internet Movie Database
• Annie at AllRovi