Warning: TONS of spoilers in this one.
As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, I really enjoy
musicals. I’m in a sense trying to catch up with pop culture (I always seem
just slightly behind sometimes), but I take strides to catch up at a reasonable
and inexpensive rate. For instance, did you know that if you go to Goodwill
(not a sponsor of this blog, but if they want to be, I’m interested), or really
any thrift store, you can find retro entertainment at really inexpensive
prices? I probably spent at least $30 total on VHS tapes alone.
Goodwill usually sells VHS tapes for $.50, $.25 at outlet stores. Community Thrift also marks down its VHS’s
and DVD’s to exceptionally low prices if you wait long enough. I got Shrek 2 on
DVD once for $.45! That’s insanity. If you don’t have a VHS player... First of
all, shame on you (lol, just messing with you), secondly, just look around ye
olde thrifte storee (???) and you’ll more than likely find a gem of a player.
By that, I mean one that plays VHS’s without eating the tape.
Anyway, I say all this to mention that
I’ve purchased Annie of the 80s and of the 90s from Goodwill, and
decided to watch them.
The basic gist of the story is as follow:
Annie lives in an orphanage run by the mean Ms. Hannigan. She and a bunch of
other girls are pretty much her indentured servants. A rich politician named
Warbucks is running for mayor, and he needs to perform some philanthropy to win
votes, so he fosters Annie just for the press to eat it up. Annie ends up
winning the hearts of him and his secretary, so they arrange to officially
adopt Annie. Ms. Hannigan obviously doesn’t want to lose the “servant girl” who
caused her so much trouble, and her access to Warbucks’s money is a ticket out
of poverty and into her own luxury. She convinces her brother “Rooster,” and
his girlfriend to pretend to be Annie’s parents, for whom she’s been looking
pretty much nonstop. Warbucks reluctantly hands Annie over to her “parents,”
even granting them a large sum of money as a reward. The villanous trio try to
escape with Annie, looking to dispose of her somewhere, but...
Hmm... It just occurred to me that every Annie has
a different ending in the movies. Basically, everything
ends up right some way or another.
In the 80s version, Annie escapes with
the check and tears it apart, causing Rooster to fly into a rage as he chases
her to kill her.
Yes, it’s that heavy.
Annie gets saved pretty much by the skin
of her teeth as Warbucks flies in on his helicopter. Ms. Hannigan does end up
with a change of heart and tries to keep Rooster from getting his hands on
Annie.
In the 90s version... Crud. I forgot how
the chase happened. Sorry, folks, I gotta watch the tape again. I do remember
that Ms. Hannigan doesn’t change her heart toward Annie or the other orphans,
and she ends up getting carted off to a psych ward. There must’ve been some
chase in all that, though.
That’s the movies in a nutshell, or at
least the first two. Before I get to the 2014 version, I’ll elaborate on these
two tapes.
I personally find the 80s version to be
the best of all of these, hands down. Seriously, look at “Hard-Knock Life.”
These girls are incredible!
And of course, Carol Burnett can never be
topped as Ms. Hannigan. Just the perfect blend of mean, secretly soft, and
insanely drunk in her version of “Little Girls.”
Annie in this version is completely
adorable, too. This curly ginger gal can seem almost like a tomboy, but is also
feminine and vulnerable. Did I mention she’s adorable?
Now THAT’S a heroine to emulate to young
girls! At least to some extent.
The only drawback I have is more of a
caveat for first-time viewers. There’s a movie musical, then there’s a
movie musical. This one is pretty much an entire musical on tape, which
I don’t personally have a problem with, but I was not prepared for it. To be
able to watch it all in one sitting is hard.
Point is, it’s pretty much perfect as it
is.
The 90s version was a lot shorter, to the
point where it almost felt too short. Didn’t help that I virtually
watched them back-to-back. This one is nice for a family to sit down and watch
in one sitting. It’s also a bit more light-hearted than the heavily-toned 80s
version. I mean seriously, you can feel the Depression Era in the other
movie.
My issue with this one is that it does
seem a bit more forgettable than the original, but possibly for the reasons
mentioned in the above paragraph. It didn’t quite feel thoroughly acted, it
looked like a bunch of people decided to perform Annie. It’s not a bad
rendition at all, just less intense than the original. Still, it had LaLaine in
it, so that was pretty cool. Oddly enough, they cast Kathy Bates as Ms.
Hannigan in here, which was a particularly odd choice, in my opinion. No doubt,
Bates was pretty good in there, but she had ENORMOUS shoes to fill. All in all,
she played a decent role.
You may remember LaLaine as Miranda from
Lizzie McGuire.
I remember when I saw the trailer for the
new Annie... I was shocked. I was happy that a black girl was playing
Annie, despite the knowledge of what backlash was going to pour all over the
internet, and that she did have curly hair, even though it was brown (the 90s
Annie had red hair, but it was straight most of the time), but I was also worried about it because they
modernized it, plus they changed the name Warbucks to Stacks.
I didn’t see it when it first came out,
but a guy friend of mine highly recommended it to me. I really did want to watch
it, but life ended up getting in the way and it got pushed onto the back
burner... until a couple of weeks ago. A galpal of mine named Sarah told me
that there was a theatre playing $1 matinees (I told you I like cheap
entertainment!). It was a very quaint little theater, just perfectly sized as a
one-screen theater, just like in the olden times, or The Muppet Movie.
When she told me that the 2014 Annie would be playing, I was all for it!
It was the first time either one of us would’ve seen it, and we were both
thinking the same thing:
Please don’t mess it up.
Please don’t mess it up.
Please don’t mess it up.
She’d only seen the 90s version -- and
yes, I told her to check the original, too -- but neither one of us left that
theater disappointed.
The movie starts out in a public school
in NYC (liking this already...), where Annie gives a report about the New Deal.
I’m guessing that’s a nod to the setting of the original film. When she returns
to Ms. Hannigan’s place, the story pretty much starts there. Ms. Hannigan is
played by Cameron Diaz this time, and she’s a former MTV star.
Quvenzhané Wallis plays this new Annie,
and she brings a nice, new perspective to the character. Annie is a very
streetwise optimist of a kid, with a big heart of gold.
The storyline is pretty much the same,
but with more pop culture references than the 90s WB cartoon series put
together. Okay, that’s a major hyperbole, but still. This story also seems to
adapt well to the 21st century, as a whole. The problem with many
modern adaptations in films is that it tries to reinvent the wheel... This one
just gives the wheel a new design. It’s not trying to be the original Annie,
just something for a certain generation. It’s cute, it’s fresh, and it’s just
enough. I will say, though, I think they did a little overkill on language and
potty jokes, which is unfortunately to be expected in a lot of children’s
entertainment today. Seriously, how little intelligence do you think these kids
have?
The ending is interesting. Let’s just say
that Ms. Hannigan’s brother and his girlfriend cannot exactly be this Annie’s
“parents,” so they made one of Stack’s employees crooked and had him team up
with Ms. Hannigan to hire people to play Annie’s parents. The chase scene
happens on land, on the air, and in cyberspace??! Yup, kids seeing Annie as
she’s being driven away (she becomes a major celebrity in this movie) tweet and
blog using their cell phones, which helps the heroic team (including a reformed
Ms. Hannigan, as in the 80s film) track her down.
Overall, this movie wasn’t bad.
Obviously, it’s not better than the original, but I would dare say it’s better
than the 90s film. It was a new perspective on an old tale, and it actually
worked!
I don’t have any very serious issues with
any of these films, and I say enjoy each one in good health. Watch the original
80s Annie for above and beyond performances in an unforgettable classic.
Enjoy the light-hearted 90s Annie for easy viewing and nostalgia. And of
course, view the 2014 Annie for some more modern, relatable humor told
in a whole new way!
Ta-ta!
Who’s your first or favorite voice crush?
(Voice crush: n. an infatuation, usually non-romantic, with a person’s
exceptional singing or speaking voice or a person because of that person’s
singing or speaking voice.)
I’ll give you guys an example with my
answer: My first voice crush was Paolo Montalbán from the 1997 adaptation of Cinderella.
My favorite would have to be this guy friend in my high school class. I’ve
never told him, but I figure now is a good time to mention it, since I’m long
past high school. I also enjoy listening to Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Holliday
belting... and that’s (obviously) a non-romantic-woman-admiration type of
“crush” if that makes any sense.
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