Annie is a staple for classic Broadway brought to the big screen.

When I was a child, around three or four years old, my grandmother told me I would watch either King Kong or Annie every day. I am assuming this is one of the places where my love of film came from.

I cannot remember the last time I watched this movie, so I was excited to revisit it.

Annie is a Broadway play, which was made into a movie. It is about a 10-year-old orphan named Annie, played by Aileen Quinn. Her and the other orphans are mistreated by the caretaker, Miss Hannigan, played by Carol Burnett.

A wealthy businessman named Oliver Warbuck, played by Albert Finney, eventually takes her in for a week to look good for the media.

The soundtrack was memorable and is pretty much the reason the movie is memorable and adds to the quality of the movie.

The singing was not excessive, but if it was, it might not have been a problem since the songs are good.

Songs performed such as “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” could be considered classics, to either fans of the movie or to hip-hop fans who admires Jay-Z’s 1998 song, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”, which samples “It’s the Hard-Knock Life.”

This was Quinn’s first movie, and she really stood out.

Her ability to sing, dance, and act at such a young age makes her admirable.

Her appearance adds to the nostalgic feeling of this film. There are not many actors with red hair today, and some may only think of her if that topic is brought up. She also wore red a lot of the time which might have exclaimed everything.

Her character’s range was also something to take note of. When she stumbles upon her dog, Sandy, and has to fight off boys shows the different attitudes she could portray on screen.

In addition, her emotional scene when she talks to Warbuck about wanting to reconnect with her biological parents adds to how good of a job she did.

Relatively, the fact that her parents turning out being dead was a little odd.

It was good for the story line, and it did not have the typical happy ending; but for a children’s movie it seemed a little dramatic with the entire ensemble, but it was amazing nonetheless.

The movies length could have been shortened. Although it did not feel like it was dragging the entire time, for this to be a children’s movie, it was long.

Nonetheless, the film was great. It is a movie for anyone to enjoy.

Rate: 5/5.

Cam’ron Hardy is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at cahardy@eiu.edu or 217-581-2812.