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dgrauman
Reviews
The Wonderful World of Disney: Annie (1999)
Better than 1982 movie, but still not as good as Broadway.
I wasn't going to write any comments on this movie I thought it stood alone and didn't need any commenting but I see I am wrong. I felt that while this movie was much slimmer and a little chopped from any previous version it was the most faithful retelling so far. This movie was based on the original Broadway musical, not on the 1982 movie version which really doesn't resemble the Broadway musical at all. In the 1982 version some of the songs are the same, but many are different, changed, added, or deleted. This version restored many of those songs (i.e. "N.Y.C." & "Something Was Missing") but even in this version there were a few that are still missing ("We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover.") The 1982 movie added many songs "Sandy", "Dumb Dog", "Sign" all of which were never in the Broadway version and really weren't necessary (in my opinion) also if I remember correctly (and I might be mistaken) in the Broadway version Miss Hannigan is not a drunk that was added in the 1982 version. Also added in the 1982 version is the number of orphans, on stage there are 7, this was trying to be truer to that. I have to say that I do feel better saying this because I think there is at least a little bit of confusion as to what this is a remake of. It isn't a remake of the 1982 movie, but of the original 1977 Broadway musical. As to performances in this version, I thought they were all excellent and I liked the re-writing of Hannigan being Annie's mother.