Annie (character)

Annie is the main protagonist of the television film of the same name. She was born on October 28, 1922 (the day and month being revealed in a letter Annie reads "again", and the year being when her parents left the note and dropped her off). She was born to David and Margaret Bennett, and (as she is unaware that they died prior to the events of the film, and she denies being an orphan) her search for them is the main idea of the film. She was portrayed by Alicia Morton as her first film role.

Role in the film
Annie is first seen sitting by the window in the bedroom of the orphanage, where she sleeps instead of a bed like the other girls do. After hearing the orphans fighting, she scolds them, warning them that waking up Miss Hannigan will make her angry. She comforts Molly (the youngest orphan) over a nightmare about her parents. She reads a note to Molly (with the other orphans joining in), and sings the first part of "Maybe" to Molly, in order to lull her to sleep. She finishes as she is making sure the other girls sleep well. She sets off to find her parents, only to be stopped by Miss Hannigan. She asks her if she's going to beat her, but admits that she never hit any of the girls... but tells her that threatening to do it is worse. After asked what she says, she gives the wanted, usual response, "I love you, Miss Hannigan!". As she is brought back to the bedroom, Miss Hannigan has all seven girls scrub the floors and strip the beds for Mr. Bundles ("It's the Hard-Knock Life"). At one point, Annie scrubs the windows too.

As she is out in the snow, Annie goes over to a stand where a merchant sells hot roasted corn for a nickel. She takes a piece of roasted corn and makes off with it. Before she can even eat it, a stray dog takes it away from her, much to her dismay. He sadly gives it back, but is comforted ("Tomorrow"). She and the dog are seen by a policeman. She tells him the dog is hers and calls the dog Sandy due to his fur color. The policeman encourages her to call the dog by his name. She does it repeatedly until he comes over. The policeman then tells her to get a license, and warns her to get home before she gets pneumonia (go to juviy, but she isn't bothered by it). As she is headed home, she is seen again by the policeman, asking for her license, but they run off separately. The policeman runs after her until she is caught and reported to Miss Hannigan. As she is taken in, Miss Hannigan yells at her and makes her stay in her office while the former cooks up her punishment. For having run off, she tells her to scrub the floors with a dirty toothbrush. When Miss Hannigan asks her if she's glad she's back, Annie unenthusiastically answers, "Yes, Miss Hannigan," and is about to grab the toothbrush, but the former yanks it away, accusing her of lying, and interrogatively reminds her of the one thing she always taught her: Never tell a lie.

Much later, Grace Farrell, who works for the Board of Orphans, comes to pick up an orphan to spend a week at the house of Oliver Warbucks for Christmas. It is Annie who is taken along. After a tour ("I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here") of the White House, Annie meets Warbucks in person. Later, she is out sightseeing with Oliver and Grace for ice cream, and later to watch a Broadway show. They are then going home in a horse and wagon. During their ride they find Sandy and keep him as a dog.

Later, Annie has given Mr. Warbucks the other half of the heart and letter so he can give to the FBI in order to find her real parents. But the key was so old that they couldn't reveal who bought it therefore no luck was found.

Soon, Annie is heard with Bert Healy on the radio, as the latter announces $50,000 dollars to the couple who can prove themselves to be Annie's real parents. On Christmas Eve, after hearing that she is a Mudge, she is so disappointed that she runs up to her room, crying. The next morning, as Sandy can tell that the "Mudges" are not her real parents, he barks, but Annie, not knowing what he thinks is true, scolds him for being "rude". Later, as Rooster Hannigan (who had been pretending to be Ralph Mudge) and Lily St. Regis are arrested, Miss Hannigan (who had been pretending to be Shirley Mudge) tells her to tell the others how good she had been to her. Annie tells her she would, but she had always taught her never to tell a lie, much to the wrath of Miss Hannigan herself, who calls her a rotten gold digger and accuses her of bringing her to this. Much to Annie's pleasure, and that of the other girls, Miss Hannigan is sent to a psychiatric hospital forever.

The president has important news for Annie, but Mr. Warbucks explains that the FBI finally traced her real parents, David and Margaret Bennett, who died long ago. Annie finally realizes that she is an orphan, but is glad she is not a Mudge. So, she accepts Mr. Warbucks as a father, and Grace eventually becomes her mother by getting engaged to him.

Trivia

 * Usually, Annie's hair is a strawberry blonde and short and curly. This Annie's hair is auburn and wavy, though at one point, it is made curly when Annie is led to believe she is a Mudge.
 * All three original (debuting) actresses' first names begin with an "A", just like the character's. Originally, on Broadway, she was played by Andrea McArdle (who later appears in the Disney version as the Star-to-Be), while in the 1982 film, she was played by Aileen Quinn, and finally, in this, Alicia Morton played the role. That went for Ashley Johnson, who played the role in the 1995 (1996 internationally) sequel to the 1982 film, Annie: A Royal Adventure! (though she had debuted in Lionheart in 1990, and then appeared in Nine Months in 1995).