Leapin' lizards! (Annie [1999] (DVD))

Member Name: Sophie5914

Product:	Annie [1999] (DVD)
Date:	08/08/01 (113 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some new songs, Acted well

Disadvantages: Some old songs are missing

I love this film! It's set in the 1930s, and is about Annie, a 10-year-old orphan. Her parents left her on the steps of an orphanage when she was a baby as they couldn't afford to keep her. However, they left her with a locket around her neck, and promised they'd come back for her. Until then, Annie's stuck in the orphanage with the Miss Hannigan - the orphanage's drunken tyrant.

But then Grace Farrell (personal secretary to Oliver Warbucks, the billionaire) visits the orphanage. Mr Warbucks wants an orphan to spend a week with him in his home, and Grace chooses Annie.

Mr Warbucks is a very busy man, and he doesn't really plan on doing anything with Annie, he'll leave it all up to Grace. But he soon grows to like her, and decides to adopt her. But all Annie wants is her real parents - and so he offers a $50,000 reward for anyone who can prove that Annie is their daughter.

But Miss Hannigan and her evil brother Rooster have a plan to get their hands on the cash...

This film is based on the stage production, but there are lots of changes. There are some new songs - like "Dumb Dog" and "Let's Go To The Movies" - and some old ones are missing - like "NYC" and "A New Deal for Christmas". Also, the story is slightly different - it's set in summer, not winter, and has a more exciting ending.

It's all performed very well. Aileen Quinn is good as Annie, but Carol Burnett and Tim Curry are truly brilliant as Miss Hannigan and Rooster. The songs are great, and each is sang very well. I love the choreography, too, it's excellent.

There film was re-made by Disney in 1999, starring Alicia Morton, Alan Cumming and Kathy Bates. It's much more like the play, and I have to say that I prefer it to this version, even though Kathy Bates is nowhere near as good as Miss Hannigan as Carol Burnett was.

But this is still as great movie, an
d I'd definitely recommend it to both adults and children - anyone who likes musicals!

Summary: