A Comparison Of Films Annie 1982 And Annie 2014

Since her advent in Harold Gray's comic strip, Little Orphan Annie 1924-1964, adventurous Annie gains complex lineage of variation and interpretation in numerous forms of media. Even though the comic strips featured Annie and her dog, Sandy, with a spitfire attitude when it came to Mr. Warbucks, the films introduced Annie as a little orphan girl in search of a home and her parents. With inspiration from Gray’s comic strips, director John Huston created his own adaption of Annie as a musical and kept characters Punjab, Warbucks’s genie bodyguard, as well as Ms. Hannigan and Grace Farrell to create a children’s movie. Two films turned up in the years following the original 1982 Annie: Rob Huston’s 1999 adaption of Annie and Will Gluck’s 2014 version of Annie, both featured Annie as equally as before yet Will Gluck’s changes the whole political and great depression era theme set in the other two older films as well as the characters primary features. Annie 1982 and Annie 2014 both devote the movie to Annie as a perky outgoing child whose personality has the power to transform others including the audiences’. This paper will compare and contrast the classic cinematic film Annie, the 1998 version, with the all too modern version of Annie in 2014 for the purpose of demonstrating the importance of a positive outlook on life no matter the circumstances and how the films reveal this message to their audiences.

To comprehend Annie’s persona demands previous knowledge of Annie’s origins and the methods in which different versions have shaped her overall character. As previously stated, Annie began in a comic book series created by Harold Gray for an audience of adults but her new and utmost recent character portrays a black American girl in a modern day setting of busy streets filled with shiny innovative cars, advanced technology provided by Mr. Stacks and character diversity. Although, unclear about the change in the character’s race, one thing remains apparent, that the recent film creates its own series of events leading up to the moment when Annie meets her version of Mr. Warbucks, Mr. Stacks. Most importantly, the recent film capitalizes on the music in the film and adds a few of their own songs absent from the original movie.

The earlier interpretations of Annie have shaped Annie’s character in the latest Annie by putting politics aside and focusing on the central point of bonding and getting to know someone truthfully opens one up to a whole new world of possibilities, Even though the disconnect in the Annie 2014 film from the original takes away from the unrealistic characters that supplied imagination to children that watch the movies. Annie symbolizes being pure at heart and with a given amount of time that purity can enter into somebody else. Basically, A little orphan girl named Annie becomes displaced by her parents and unwillingly has lived her whole life in an orphanage with other little girls. With luck Annie’s chosen to spend a week in the house of a respectable rich man where, with bonding time, a relationship grows strong enough for Annie to get a permanent home/parent and for the man to learn to love. Annie’s character in both movies consists of acting genuine and engaging with whoever she meets to leave a lasting impression. The characters stay relatively the same in the Annie 2014 film, they just contain different names and backgrounds. For example, the name Mr. Warbucks no longer exists in the remake but instead changes to Mr. Starks via director Gluck’s which is still a clever reference to money. Both films compare in that they are both musicals and every somewhat important scene dedicates a song to it. The signature song ‘Tomorrow’ qualifies as one of the most memorable songs in the movies and leaves the audience humming to the tune. The action and climax rely heavily in the part of the movies where antagonists trick Annie into thinking that her parents returned when,in actuality, they wanted to gain some kind of compensation.

The first adaption of the film and the 2014 version of Annie depend on the use of “image” by characters Stark and Warbucks to bring about the need for housing an orphan for a week. With good publicity, the men figured their public ratings would increase. Grace Farrell, Mr. Warbucks’s and Mr. Stack’s assistant, and Ms. Hannigan, enraged alcoholic that runs the orphanage, play a major role in helping Annie develop her character throughout the films by making Annie susceptible to the real world. Most importantly, the bonds between Annie and her billionaire adopter form through the moments they have alone. Moments where a character feels vulnerability towards another character and develops a respectable relationship. In Annie 2014, her scene comes when she makes food for Mr. Stacks. Here Annie shows her quirky creative self that makes Mr. Stacks initiate a genuine conversation with her. For Annie 1892, her magical bonding moment comes once she decides to go for a swim coincidentally when Mr. Warbucks occupies the pool as well. As mentioned earlier in my preceding paragraph, settings differ considerably between the two films. Annie 1982 has a setting based on the Great Depression Era. In her article comparing Little Orphan Annie and Housekeeping, Joanne Hall establishes that the character of Annie “has not escaped the strong association with the 1930’s” (41). Meaning that Annie lives near clustered buildings; the streets remain flocked by vendors of cheap products such as apples and police walk around surveying the streets. For Annie 2014, the different settings of latest cars and wide bustling streets of people compared to the original accommodate for a more realistic movie, one that we can all relate to. One of the big differences between the two films must be the way in which the girls are selected to stay with the rich men. Unlike Annie from the1982 film who got chosen to stay for a week with Mr. Warbucks based off her humorous insistent behavior, Annie 2014 coincidentally runs into Mr. Stacks giving him good publicity when he saves her from an incoming van and invites her to dinner as another publicity tactic. Annie jokingly points out that adopting her would benefit Mr. Stacks yet again in his campaign for mayor to which he remorsefully agrees.

Annie in the recent version of Annie acknowledges her situation and takes advantage of Mr. Stacks in that she used his cellphone company to hopefully track down her parents through all phone records. The whereabouts of Annie’s parent’s in the remade movie lack any implication of where they might be or if they died. In contrast to the lack thereof, Ms. Hannigan points out in Annie 1982 that Annie’s parents died in a fire and left behind Annie’s other locket half. The dearth of sympathy shown by Ms. Hannigan fills the audience with hatred for her, she completely disregards Annie’s existence in that halved locket. The films primarily classify in the genre of a musical and must carefully consider whether the audience prefers a regular song or an actual performance. Being a multi-racial movie adaption shouldn’t have been the only thing going for the Annie 2014 interpretation, the voices need authenticity. Cameron Diaz’s version of ‘Little Girls’ seemed extremely lazy and sluggish even if she was acting as a drunkard. In Burrell’s article talking about the evolution of Annie, she laments that the singing from Cameron Diaz does not give her an “overwhelming sensation to drop to her knees dramatically” to sing along (54). Annie 2014 surprisingly added their own music into their scripts.

The song ‘Opportunity’ sung by actor Quvenshanez compliments the actors actual voice and implements it rather than an autotuned offbeat performance like in the rest of the movie’s songs. The audience of the original Annie wanted to see movies that would uplift them from the current turmoil present around the 1930’s which involved the great depression that caused thousands of families financial strife and decreased morale. In Pollard’s article discussing the effects of non-traditional musicals on the American culture, Laura Pollard states that “Annie hyped the spirit and determination of New Yorkers while also presenting poverty and a little orphan girl” (67). Naturally, If the 2014 version depicted a New York in a Great Depression Era it would not appeal to current trends in the American culture. This can explain the total disregard for including Franklin D. Roosevelt in the recent film and all the topics of war. Therefore, the audience receives a modern approach in Annie 2014 that makes practical sense. Mr. Stacks earns his money through owning and running his own cellphone company which accounts for his egotistical personality and his dire need for good publicity as a mayor to increase his cellular device profits. In conclusion, the settings and the change in the character’s race make up similar adaptions of Harold Gray’s comic strip. The portrayal of Annie as a strong wandering girl