When news first broke that Annie was returning to the big screen on Dec. 19, fans of the original movie had their doubts. Could Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, and Cameron Diaz live up to the acting (and more importantly, singing) standards that their predecessors set? Would the story make sense in a modern setting? Why are Jay Z and Will Smith trying to fix something that isn't broken? Over time, we warmed up to the idea of a 21st century Annie and anxiously awaited the film's arrival. But in order for us to truly enjoy the magic of modern Annie, we had to temporarily forget that the first one ever existed, because if you go into the theater expecting a replica of the tap-happy film from the 1980s, then you're bound to leave disappointed.
Rather than duplicate the original movie, director Will Gluck decided to make a modern version that kids today would not only love, but also understand.
"I remember going to see the musical with my kids, and they're singing about FDR, and the New Deal, and Hoover," Gluck recalls. "I looked around and asked the kids, 'Do you understand anything that's going on here?' And they said, 'No. We're waiting for the dog.'" It was then that Gluck realized he wanted, or rather needed, to share Annie's story of optimism, hope, and love in a way that today's kids would appreciate. Of course, remaking a classic comes with its share of pressures, but Gluck managed to keep them at bay throughout production.
"I don't think we felt that [pressure] when we were making the movie," he says. "We just wanted to make a movie that we thought was good with great actors and great music that had the message that we loved."
And he did just that. Like the original, the film follows Annie on her journey to finding her birth parents. Along the way, she literally bumps into mayoral candidate William Stacks (our modern Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks), who takes temporary custody of Annie in hopes of boosting his political standings. Their PR-inspired relationship quickly evolves into something deeper, and Stacks considers adopting the orphan. That is, until Miss Hannigan interferes.
But as noted earlier, there are a few additions, subtractions, and twists that separate Gluck's film from the original. Read on to find out what changes to expect when you see Annie this weekend (and one thing that stays the same).
