Ending of "Annie"

I was just looking at "Annie" on TCM. I was absolutely crazy about the movie as a kid, but I've never seen the stage production, and I was just wondering, how does the stage version end, anyway? Surely they don't do all that stuff with the climbing/dangling/helicopter rescue. Maybe they would have if it had been a "Phantom"/"Miss Saigon"-era show, but I know it was from long before that.

Thanks, but I meant before that -- how does the kidnapping attempt play out?

The Disney TV movie adaptations are significantly truer to the material than any big screen one.

It's been a while, but from what I remember: Rooster and Lilly do show up with the locket, but Grace and Warbucks ask if Annie could spend one more night at the mansion and celebrate Christmas with them the next day before leaving, and R&L agree to this. The next day when they come back for Annie, they arrive right at the same time as FDR, who has come to tell Annie that the FBI has investigated her parents and discovered that they are dead. R&L are arrested as frauds and Hannigan is too.

It's never played out but it is written into the script that R&L intend to either kill Annie or do her harm: during "Easy Street" when Hannigan asks what will happen to Annie after the scam, Rooster shows a knife and laughs.

I'm a sucker for it too, I grew up with it and still love it, I haven't seen it in awhile, but I can't see what made it as bad as people say

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This is a story I know a little bit about.
The truth was the Director John Houston hated the project and truly DESPISED the song "Tomorrow", which is why young miss Quinn only sings it at the very end (I hadn't seen it since 1982 as I recall)as end credits roll.
Houston had a Production Assistant (it may have been Denise Dinovi if I recall correctly) who added the more comic strip elements, the chase, the Autogyro scenes and of course Warbuck's muscle - Punjab, a powerful Mystic and The Asp, His Japanese assassin.
It was not even finished when the Fans turned on it, if there was any element that could be altered, it was altered and the studio didn't care who knew.
ANNIE is set at Christmas time but since it was a summer shoot they re-set the situation to happen in early July for the film.
They re-envisioned Miss Hannigan from being a Villain which she is supposed to be to being a truly pathetic wretch who becomes the Heroine at the end.
So We had Eilen Quinn trying to do Her best on a film that was more a process of going through the motions than an act of creativity and Albert Finney who looked as out of place as Dracula in the Vatican doing the best He could with a roll that was really not Him.
Ah, what people do to pay the bills.
I wanted to like it but hated it on first screening.
But in 1985 I believe there was a superior (by My estimation)
made for TV sequel called 'ANNIE: A Royal Adventure' with a whole new cast (minus Grace), it was not a Musical but it was a superb transfer of the comic strip elements to a funny, touching, adventure.
The sequel was better than the original, this happens frequently because the new production staff can see clearly what blunders they made the first time.

I also recommend the Disney version from 1999, it was superbly made, it trimmed a few bits like "We want To Thank You Herbert Hoover" it was a true classic which could very well be better than the stage version.

When I saw ANNIE was on TCM the other day I let it slide because the more You know about something the more those prejudgements effect Your course of action.

I hope that was of some assistance to someone.

Updated On: 2/25/08 at 09:56 AM

1995, Thank You for correcting Me.
I rarely make errors concerning Movie facts and figures and appreciate keeping all details accurate.

Updated On: 2/25/08 at 04:36 PM

Annie in "Annie: A Royal Adventure" is Ashley Johnson, who played Chrissy Seaver on "Growing Pains" and Mel Gibson's daughter in "What Women Want." Her singing (there is one song) is dubbed by her older sister Haylie Johnson, who was on "Kids Incorporated" as Stacy Ferguson's (aka Fergie's) replacement.

I found Garber to be a MUCH superior Warbucks to Finney. He was stern but you could see past that to his emotional depths and his "Something was Missing" always gets to me.

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Yet again Thank You.
As I said I hadn't seen the feature since it first came out, and am going entirely on memmories from decades ago.

If I recall correctly Annie sang just the first few words with no musical accompaniment.
Is that REALY singing the song?
Yes Ashley Johnson was Annie in 'ANNIE: A Royal Adventure!' and She did a terrific job.
I re-watched My VHS of that film last night that Movie was extremely good, it really does stand on its own strengths, I would recommend any of You who never saw it to give it a try.

The 1999 TV Movie will stand as the very best, they did every single element and aspect of the film right.
I have had dozens of opportunities to buy the 82 version but have singularly looked for the other two, because they would be finer films for My out of control DVD collection.

I am going to disagree with a lot of people here in that, as a MOVIE, I prefer the 1982 version.

Yes it was quite heavily rewritten from the original stage show, but in the movie format it works so much better, it has lost a lot of the cheese and schmaltz from the show, which is fine for a stage musical, but doesn't transfer well onto film. By watching he 90's TV version it is way too over the top for a movie - fine for the stage which needs to be bigger than life but not for the subtlety of film. They are 2 different mediums and what might work in one, won't work in another. The 1982 version wouldn't transfer as well to stage. and as far as the film goes, it's nicer to have a more dramatic ending rather than Annie not even getting out of the house!

I think the 1982 version, and that's what it is a VERSION, was very well done, and also I much prefer the cast in 1982!

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"If I recall correctly Annie sang just the first few words with no musical accompaniment.
Is that REALY singing the song?"

No, they do the whole song, though it's not all a solo. Annie starts a cappella, and then everybody else -- I think FDR, Eleanor, Warbucks, and maybe Grace? -- joins in, and so does the orchestra.

Wasn't the first Annie film, along with A Chorus Line, one of the films of Broadway musicals that virtually killed off the genre. And wasn't the second Annie film one of the reasons why they've begun to make a (slow) come back?