Thanks for the memories!

Such a frustrating disappointment

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Walt Disney Television collaborates with Columbia Tri-Star Television in this TV movie adaptation of this stage musical about a happy and enthusiastic female foster kid .It will be the second the TV/film adaptation of Annie after it was the first film was initially released in 1982. Alicia Morton stars in the role of Annie together with Victor Garber, Audra McDonald, Alan Cumming, Kathy Bates and Kristin Chenoweth.Annie hates the orphanage especially her foster mom,Miss Hannigan.That is why she is very excited when a famous and eccentric billionaire Daddy Warbucks picks her up to spend Christmas at her mansion for one week.Warbucks is impressed with Annie's optimism and positive attitude especially with her hopes of seeing her real parents again to comeback and pick her up.To help her,Warbucks offers a million dollars of reward to come back and claim her as her real parents.Seeing an opportunity here,Miss Hannigan makes a plan and convinces her brother Rooster and his girlfriend Lily to come out as her allegedly real parents to claim her.It may not be as good as the 1982 film version,this Disney TV movie is definitely fun to watch and full of entertainment.The songs are fun and lively.Alicia Morton did a wonderful job as Annie.The singers were also a lot better.But obviously,the characters aren't up to par with it for Albert Finney and Carol Burnett are a lot better compared to Victor Garber and Kathy Bates.But overall,it was still worthy to watch.

The cast is superb, and the screenplay is creatively loyal to the original Broadway script, but all that is beside the point. When Walt Disney reflected on the disappointing box-office performance of his animated feature, ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1953), he tersely explained, "It had no heart." We need only compare ALICE to CINDERLLA (1950) to understand what he meant. Perhaps many of his live-actor features met that standard, yet NOWHERE have I ever found a film with so much "heart" as this production. The Broadway original is said to have contained political overtones, and the 1982 motion picture was frankly crafted to reflect John Houston's considerable talents, but this version of ANNIE was made for all of us who want to be moved by a story and still feel jolly-well elated about the way it develops and ends. It takes quite a rare blend of ingredients to create a composition of this quality, no matter what kind of advantages its creators have at the start. This production succeeds for one overriding reason: everyone concerned put every last ounce of heart they possessed into it!

Like the ridiculous notion that Ridley Scott was ostensibly toying with a few years ago of remaking 'Citizen Kane' this re-adaptation of 'Annie' pales beside John Huston's magnificent film of this stage musical. However, Rob Marshall before 'Chicago' is clearly very much in charge of the theatrics, and his choreography and mise en scene is fine. The problem is simply in the casting. Almost without exception, the roles are, simply, too big for the players. In singing & dancing, Alicia Morton can stand beside Aileen Quinn, but not in charisma and screen presence. Victor Garber and, particularly, Audra McDonald slip further down the comparison ladder, as does Alan Cumming. While Kathy Bates is no Carol Burnett, however, she does give a certain gravitas to Miss Hannigan. Only improvement, as far as I can see is that Sandy makes a better mutt. For cinephiles, also, there is a major let-down in the substitution of the anaemic 'NYC' for the sensational 'Let's go to the movies' sequence in Huston's film. All of the above notwithstanding, if we remember it is only a TV movie, with all of the budgetary implications of that, it is an honourable effort, but why would anyone want to watch this rather that Huston's minor masterpiece.

I like this film because Alicia Morton looked like a Tom Boy in that orphanage. She looked like a boy excepted in I Don't Need Anything But You.After that she looked like43 a Tom Boy Again.However It's a great movie.Sarah Hyland who played on One Life to Live was A cute Molly. I remember when that t movie came out. I saw that on Sunday Night.That one scene that I saw was when they brought Alicia Morton in the back of the set During the song I Think I'm Gonna Like It Hear was Because it was very hot on the set.These Orphans in this film are just like the short circus kids on The Electric Company.I like both of these versions.