Annie

While I used to own the CD version of the Annie - Original Broadway Cast Recording , I have never seen the stage musical. I did see the 1982 movie version (Annie (Special Anniversary Edition)) on television. Despite having some of my favorite people - Bernadette Peters and Carol Burnett among them - that version was a big disappointment. Perhaps it was the poor choice of a director: while John Huston (for younger people, Angelica's dad) was one of the great Hollywood directors of all time, his background was primarily in dramatic and adventure films, and he also did a Western or two. ANNIE was Huston's first (and last) musical, and it showed, to disastrous effect, which may have been why the film did less-than-stellar business at the box office. I saw this 1999 Disney version on ABC, and just recently purchased the DVD. It is magnificent, and is everything the 1982 version was not, not only for the great songs and dances, but a marvelous cast: Victor Garber as Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks, Kathy Bates as the dastardly Miss Hannigan, Alicia Morton as Annie, Alan Cumming as the con artist Rooster (Miss Hannigan's brother), and two current favorites of mine: the adorable Kristin Chenoweth as Rooster's partner-in-crime Lily St. Regis, and the gorgeous Audra McDonald as Grace, Daddy Warbucks' secretary. The original Broadway Annie, Andrea McArdle, makes a cameo appearance in the big production number, "N.Y.C.," giving fans an added treat. Except for 5.0 surround sound and the WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY trailer, there are no DVD extras, but this is the version to buy, above all others. In 2014, Will Smith made a "redux" of this show for his daughter Willow (who "outgrew" the role and was replaced by the young Oscar-nominated actress, Quvenzhané Wallis). A hip-hop Annie? With Jay-Z (Mr. Beyoncé) doing the music? Oh, PUH-LEEZE. It bombed at the box office and went straight to video ( Annie [Blu-ray ]). What's next, a boy-band hip-hop version of A Hard Day's Night with One Direction? Lord, have mercy! (Several years ago, Disney came close to doing a motion-capture remake of Yellow Submarine , which The Beatles' Apple Corps initially approved, but cancelled the remake after a backlash from fans, and the failure of other motion-capture films at the box office. Apple reissued the original version instead). Another version, ANNIE LIVE, aired on NBC-TV in December 2021. While Harry Connick, Jr. was a ham as Daddy Warbucks, the rest of the cast was a disappointment. While the multicultural cast may have made sense for a contemporary musical, it was inappropriate for a musical set during the segregated Depression-era 1930s. The most ridiculous portrayal was that FDR was depicted as a non-smoker! While smoking is no longer allowed on modern soundstages, the cigarette holder was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's trademark! One would think that the actor would at least be given a fake cigarette holder as a prop. Memo to Amazon: the reviews of all of the different versions of "Annie" are all together in the same place. Please separate them, so as not to confuse customers.

I recommend this movie to anyone it's the perfect Christmas classic movie Annie is just such a classic in itself the 1982 one is based off of 4th of July they changed it to the 4th of July to make it summer but if you want to see the actual like show on a DVD that is put on the stage although they cut out some of the songs it's still this is a beautiful version of Annie Disney did a fantastic job I highly recommend this movie this version is amazing I love and grew up with the 1982 movie it'll always be in my heart but this is my second favorite version of Annie it sticks a lot to the musical like the Broadway show and there's a beautiful moment between grace Farrell and Annie and they sing tomorrow in her bedroom and it's just perfect I highly recommend this movie

Movie is just wonderful...very entertaining. Victor Garber is excellent and such a versatile actor. He blew me away as I had just seen Legally Blonde and talk about a night and day character. I loved how he played Warbucks. He is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. And who couldn't like the wonderful Kathy Bates! She did a great job as Miss Hannigan but what ruined it for me as a whole was when she pretends to be Annie's lost mother and she's not disguised well enough and it's obvious it's her instead of the usual Lily character played by the adorable Kristen Chenowith. Alan Cumming was equally brilliant. He's an incredibly versatile actor as well and his character of Rooster was absolutely tantalizing. He brought such an incredible depth to his character...actually almost lovable! I thoroughly enjoyed it very much. Costumes were absolutely fantastic as well as the choreography too. Sets and props absolutely great. Someone had a really good eye. I still enjoy my Carol Burnett version though and will keep these side-by-side and just choose which one I want to watch the next time. You will love this movie!

Many people pass off ANNIE as a children's musical, when in actuality it has one of the most sophisticated scores and the book is of a higher standard than of many other shows. It still holds a record of something like the 8th or 9th longest running show on Broadway, and it is a delight among theatre-goers. This new Disney version stays faithful to the stage score and script, not like John Huston's rambling version back in 1981 (refer to my review for this), and it is a delight to watch. It has that 'theatrical-style' feel to it. The esteemed cast, the bulk of which are seasoned Broadway performers, include Kathy Bates as Miss Hannigan, Alan Cumming as Rooster, Audra McDonald as Grace Farrell, Kristin Chenoweth as Lily St Regis, Victor Garber as Daddy Warbucks and the lovely Alicia Morton as Annie. Making a cameo in the 'NYC' number as ''Star To Be'' is (oh happy day) the original Broadway Annie - Andrea McArdle. The cast is sensational, and while I will not bring down the 1981 performers of Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters and Ann Reinking, they are far more believable in their interpretations. You must buy this new version of the Broadway smash ANNIE!

Love the updated production of Disney Annie! It's beautiful choreography and stunning! I Love the details and songs. Love this Christmas movi! It us the movie of Tomorrow ❤️

When I found out that they would remake Annie, I was very glad because the Carol Burnett version was horrible. I agree with the reviewer who said that the people that compared it to old movie version were lost. This version is based on the play which is a lot better than John Huston's(Carol, Bernadette) mess. This was done right with some of the songs that were left out of John Huston's version put back in. In his version Tomorrow was thrown away. In this version the song is done full speed ahead. Reportedly John Huston didn't like the song Tomorrow and that has to be the biggest number and it is in this version. People who want action should keep their Carol Burnett version, but people who like music and cultured Broadway entertainment should get this one. I will admit that Kathy Bates is a little too nice and I would have liked it if the movie were longer and they had kept the Depression story line in. Annie does have red hair in this but don't know if they styled it right in this. I was in a stage version of the Broadway play and realized then how much better the play is than John Huston's movie. The writers of that movie are the ones who tampered with the plot of the Broadway show and not the other way round. It made me mad to read some of the bad reviews that were given by some of the people on Amazon. They don't have any idea what they are talking about because they must have never heard the Broadway recording with Andrea McArdle. Andrea makes a cameo on NYC in this version and sings wonderfully well. She is the original Annie and the best of all of the versions, but the Annie in this one can sing well and they don't have that dumb song from the other movie version -Dumb Dog. So if you like good music well done, buy this one. If you want action, buy that awful movie version that wasted the talents of Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters, and Tim Curry with its claustraphobic set and action paced plot that was nothing like the musical which took place at Christmas and not Fourth of July. The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because it wasn't long enough and they left out We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover and the whole Depresssion which was crucial to the plot.

I grew up on the "real" annie, meaning the original broadway version, and never liked the 1982 aileen quinn "annie" film, directed by john huston. i made the mistake of showing my 4 year old daughter the john huston film-- VERY dark, unappealing, and the arrangements of the songs are not good. carol burnett, whom i usually LOVE, played a very dark version of miss hannigan, drinking, floozing, and actually quite scary and creepy-- totally inappropriate for young children. i think aileen quinn is extremely unappealing as annie, with none of the charm of andrea mcardle or any of the broadway annies. the next morning when my daughter asked to watch it again, i had to tell her the dvd was broken, because i just felt it was too dark, and charmless-- even the costumes and sets were without magic (and the jeffrey holder sub-plot is just silly). My daughter was furious and begging to see annie again, so i did some reading of reviews here on amazon, and found this one-- the alicia morton/kathy bates version. it's like night and day! this one is much more true to the original broadway version-- alicia morton as annie is charming, adorable, a great singer-- tough and sweet, but not saccharin like aileen quinn. the costumes and sets are charming, the musical arrangements are great, all the performances are strong, and it is great for young audiences. i am usually not a fan of "Disney-fied" musicals-- but they did a GREAT job with this one. and the andrea mcardle cameo was a huge treat for a fan like me. hooray for annie!! This is the only one to buy!!

A classic movie! Amazing cast!

j'ai chercher ce dvd pour ma filleule qui adore ce film. je suis très satisafaite de cet achat

A stunning cast brings this classic to the "silver screen" (and subsequent DVD) with style and flare. It even has a fun and amazing cameo by an earlier "Annie". A fantastic version for any fan of this beloved tale.

Happy

Todo muy bien

Per chi come me è appassionato di questo musical questa versione è ottima: molto simile al musical teatrale e con la qualità Disney. Risente dei suoi anni (è in 4:3) ma io lo preferisco al vecchio film. Attenzione che anche se il titolo recita "Edizione: Germania" io l'ho preso da un venditore esterno americano e mi è arrivata la versione americana NTSC e area 1. Quindi non riproducibile sul lettore da salotto nostrano. Con un piccolo "accorgimento" tramite PC sono riuscito a risolvere il problema.