Annie: An American Musical Comedy-Drama Film 2014 Style
This website was created to specifically promote the 2014 version of the movie Annie starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and Cameron Diaz. This American musical comedy-drama film directed by Will Gluck was a contemporary adaptation of the 1977 Broadway musical, Annie. Yup, it's been 37 years since audiences were first introduced to the red haired orphaned little white girl. The story lines are different, so if you are planning to rent the DVD of the 2014 movie expecting to see just a simple, freshening of the 1977 story line, you might be disappointed. I happened to like the updated version of Annie, as did my two daughters. Even though I have seen earlier iterations of Annie including the Broadway show, I went with an open and uncritical attitude, wanting just to be entertained. The particular day I went to see the movie was memorable for additional reasons. It was my twin daughters' birthday. I probably should have bought them Annie logo t shirts, but since I know they are Batman fans instead gave them stylish Batman t shirts and while I was on the site I bought a Batman sweatshirt for myself. The twins are at an age where they have decided that they want to look different from one another, so I bought their t shirts with two different colors and designs. For Lea I selected a Batman and Robin Team t shirt in black and for Lyla, I chose a Batman and Robin Wingman t shirt in red. My Hush Logo crew neck sweatshirt was the least obtrusive of the three designs. I have to say the adults with their kids waiting to get into Annie at the afternoon show we attended smiled when they saw us in line. We would have been a great advertisement for a Batman movie, that's for sure.
The songs are still there . No wait....unfortunately 2014’s “Annie” was poorly conceived with mediocre new songs and shockingly bad adaptations of the old songs like “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life.” according to some critics. It might have been more interesting if the director had just kept all the original songs and had them delivered by the characters in rap. (On the other hand, one critic gushed: "songs are ten times better than the ones in Into the Woods., " Really!)
The opening scene promises sharp commentary about class-divide, but the film really doesn't deliver. Maybe, but just know that the adorable red-headed Taylor Richardson in the opening of the film is not just any cutie-pie. Richardson was the child star who played Annie on Broadway! As one Rotten Tomato critic lamented: "the flick that follows mostly gives us a cocky, fully-formed child, broadly shticked-out adults, a musical-ness that comes across as show-offy, and almost no political savvy." The critic then goes on to write: "the movie’s denial of Annie’s blackness is not just part of its naive portrayal of NYC as beamishly melting-pot but a marketing ploy to make Annie seem more contemporary, urban and cool to a more-than-just-white-girls demographic (especially when Wallis sings duets with Foxx)."
I don't know if you would be better off seeing the live action 1982 film version by the same name starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, and Carol Burnett, which was adapted from the Broadway musical. Most of you older folks will know that the 1977 Broadway show was based on the 1924 daily comic strip by Harold Gray called Little Orphan Annie. But did you know that the comic strip was a spin off of the main character called Little Orphant Annie, in James Whitcomb Riley's short poem, "The Elf Child" ?
Well, even though the critics didn't love the film giving it a dismal 30%, the audience was more forgiving giving it a 60%. Not great, mind you, but the audience members who gave it 5 stars in their reviews obviously thought it was great.
Not wanting to leave on a down note, I have included reviews starting with the worst ratings and then moving up to some of the more positve 4 & 5 star reviews. Ultimately the final vote goes to you the viewer.
Audience Reviews
1/2 Star rating
Horrible Auto tuned garbage... Lazy choreography and phoned in performances... Watch the Original Annie again instead!
+++
1 Star
Horrible . Just horrible
+++
2 Star
I pity the people who saw this instead of Into the Woods. I pity those who actually thought this was better than Into the Woods. Most of all, I pity myself for watching this. I would warn y'all about spoilers in this review, but it isn't worth it.​
+++
A 3 star review
In the past few days, critics have had a grand time running all over the new film version of Annie with a steamroller. It's an easy movie to pick on. It's corny. It's flawed. It's too long. The musical numbers are, for the most part, forgettable. Plus it has the single worst performance of Cameron Diaz's career, which I'll get to in a moment. But the movie is what it is. It's fun. It's bright. It's Annie. It's exactly what you expect.
+++
From a 3.5 star review:
The film is produced by the team of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith along with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Beyonce Knowles who served as executive producers. …… this new version of "Annie" is very kid friendly and the musical numbers are great. Ms. Wallis' performance is dead-on target, but the rest of the acting falls just short of the mark.
+++
From a 3.5 star review:/p>
It's not the Annie that we grew up with, but our kids didn't grow up with that movie. They are growing up in a world without "orphans" and only foster kids. They are growing up in an entertainment era where unique is very catchy. Making music with more than just a traditional instrument. I think they did a great job putting this movie together, taking the story the older generation grew up with and updating it to get the younger generation involved also.
+++
Moving up to a 4 star review:
I have to admit I didn't hate this nearly as much as I expected to. In fact, if Cameron Diaz hadn't been cast, it would have actually been a really great updated version of a classic musical. I wasn't entirely sold on the new music and Jamie Foxx could never win me over to the extent that Albert Finney or Victor Garber did, but overall, it was really fun and I'm excited that it will bring the concept of musicals to a new audience.
+++
And a 4 1/2 star review:/p>
I think the critics who don't like this movie are just plain wrong. Recasting Annie as a modern black child could have been done badly, but here the implications of a black orphan in a modern context gave the story a depth that the original Annie lacked. No doubt it would have been terrible if they had just shoehorned a black actress into the part, but instead the entire movie was rewritten to create a modern sense of dialog, music and city culture. It was well done./p>
It is true that the story is an unrealistic fantasy of rags to riches, and greed giving way to love, etc. But that's true of the original Annie as well. I give the writers and musicians who re-imagined this story full credit for fleshing out cartoon characters and giving them history and depth, and also for updating the music and lyrics in a way that is true to the original while also being true to the musical style and social message of hip-hop.
+++
Finally, the 5 star reviews
This makes me want to get up dance and sing. Truly heartwarming, family friendly, and the most action packed musical ever.
+++
Better still ,this 5 star review.
I've seen the reviews and I would like to make one point clear. This is an Annie remake. Therefore, obviously, it won't be like the other two Annie that really did not re-invent the wheel. I took my daughter to see this film and she absolutely love it. My daughter saw the live Annie play first, then saw this movie. This is a children's movie. If anyone should really give a review for this movie, it should be them. Look at the movie for what it is, which is its own version of Annie. Appreciate that as an adult, don't compare, and let your child enjoy this fun filled movie.
+++
As I started out saying: This was the website that was created to specifically promote the 2014 version of the movie Annie. Once the movie faded from its theatrical release, this website's purpose was finihe. The site's domain registration expired and Annie-Movie.net disappeared from the web.
Recently I discovered that the domain was available, so I bought it with the goal of recreating as much of its original content as possible from archived pages. I did not want someone else to purchase the domain and re-purpose the site for something that had nothing in common with the original Annie-Movie.net website. Yes, that happens all the time.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE CONTAINS SELECTIVE ARCHIVED CONTENT FROM THE ORIGINAL SITE.
Since the site will not be exactly as you remember it, please be indulgent.
Now let's take a nostalgic stroll back to 2014 and the release of Annie.
More Background On Annie-Movie.net
Annie-Movie.net emerged during the publicity cycle surrounding the 2014 theatrical release of Annie, a contemporary re-imagining of the classic Broadway musical. Like many film-specific domains of the early 2010s, the site functioned as a focused promotional and informational hub designed to capture interest from families, educators, theatre fans, and moviegoers searching online for trailers, casting news, and reactions.
Rather than operating as a broad entertainment magazine, the website revolved around a single mission: keep attention on this particular adaptation of Annie and help audiences understand how it differed from previous versions they might remember from childhood. Visitors typically encountered story explanations, cast references, commentary on the updated music, and a wide range of audience reactions.
In that sense, Annie-Movie.net belonged to a familiar category of movie-era microsites — digital spaces that bloom around a premiere and often fade once the marketing push concludes.
The Film Behind the Website
The movie at the center of the domain was the 2014 adaptation produced during a period when Hollywood was revisiting recognizable intellectual property for a new generation. The production reset the story in modern New York City, reworked character relationships, and introduced contemporary pop and R&B influences into the score.
Casting played a major role in conversation about the film. A young Academy Award nominee took on the title role, supported by a group of established stars in adult parts. Producers with major visibility in music and film helped shape the project, which signaled that the studio wanted the remake to feel current, urban, and commercially vibrant rather than nostalgic.
Because earlier audiences had strong emotional ties to the stage musical and to prior screen versions, debate was inevitable. Annie-Movie.net leaned into that debate, presenting reactions that ranged from enthusiastic praise to sharp disappointment.
Relationship to the Larger Annie Legacy
Any site discussing a new version of Annie automatically steps into a lineage stretching back nearly a century.
The character originated in a newspaper comic strip in the 1920s. Decades later the property was transformed into a Broadway phenomenon, embedding songs like “Tomorrow” into global popular culture. Touring productions, revivals, school performances, and multiple screen adaptations ensured that generations of families carried their own mental picture of who Annie is and what her story should feel like.
By the time the 2014 film arrived, Annie was less a single narrative than a cultural inheritance. Annie-Movie.net reflected that reality. Much of its material addressed comparison — old versus new, traditional versus modern, familiar versus reinvented.
What Visitors Found on the Site
While exact layouts changed over time, archived captures and surviving pages show several consistent categories of material.
Film Overview
The backbone of the website was a summary of the remake: setting, premise, and tone. It explained that this Annie lived in foster care rather than an orphanage, that technology and media shaped the plot, and that political and celebrity culture influenced character motivations.
Cast and Creative Notes
The site highlighted performers and key creative figures to reassure potential viewers that the project had major talent behind it. For parents deciding whether to buy tickets, recognizable names mattered.
Commentary on Music
Few elements of the remake triggered as much conversation as the soundtrack. Annie-Movie.net gave space to differing opinions — some praising modernization, others wishing the traditional orchestrations had remained untouched.
Audience Reactions
One of the most distinctive features of the site was the inclusion of varied ratings and mini-reviews. Instead of presenting a unified marketing voice, it displayed disagreement. Harsh critics, moderate defenders, and passionate supporters all appeared side by side.
Tone and Editorial Personality
Unlike official studio websites that present polished advertising language, Annie-Movie.net carried a more personal, almost blog-like feel. The writing sometimes wandered into anecdote, memory, or humor. The voice felt closer to that of a moviegoer chatting in line at a theater than a press department issuing statements.
This informality likely helped the site feel approachable, especially to parents and casual visitors who wanted quick impressions rather than corporate messaging.
Popularity and Discoverability
The domain never operated at the scale of national entertainment portals, yet it benefited from search interest generated by the film’s advertising campaign. During release windows, families typing the movie title into search engines would naturally encounter any domain containing the name.
Traffic almost certainly declined once theatrical marketing slowed. That lifecycle — surge, plateau, drop — is typical for single-film sites.
Expiration and Rebirth of the Domain
After the promotional period ended, the need for a dedicated website diminished. As often happens, registration was not renewed and the address went dark.
Later, an individual acquired the domain with the explicit intention of preventing unrelated or misleading reuse. The new steward attempted to reconstruct portions of the earlier material from digital archives. Because not every page could be perfectly restored, visitors are reminded that what they see is selective and incomplete.
This act of reclamation transformed the site from marketing tool into preservation effort.
Why Preservation Matters
Early movie websites were rarely treated as historical artifacts. Studios focused on the next release, not the maintenance of old promotional platforms. As a result, many disappeared.
Yet these pages document how films were introduced, debated, and remembered. They capture fan expectations, anxieties, and excitement in real time. Annie-Movie.net, in its revived form, serves as a small museum of that moment in 2014 when a familiar red-haired heroine was reinterpreted for contemporary audiences.
Debate Around the 2014 Adaptation
The remake generated conversation across several themes:
-
Whether modernization enhanced or diluted the spirit of the musical.
-
How race and representation reshaped audience understanding of Annie.
-
Whether updated pop production could coexist with theatre traditions.
-
How nostalgia influences adult viewers compared to children encountering the story for the first time.
By presenting sharply different viewpoints, the site mirrors how families often discuss remakes at the dinner table after seeing them.
Audience: Who the Site Speaks To
The primary readership appears to include:
-
Parents deciding on family entertainment.
-
Adults comparing versions across decades.
-
Young viewers discovering Annie for the first time.
-
Fans interested in how classics evolve.
Because the writing avoids academic language, it remains accessible to casual readers.
Cultural and Social Significance
At first glance, a modest fan-style domain might seem minor. But it sits at the intersection of several important developments:
-
Hollywood’s reliance on reboots.
-
The internet’s role in shaping pre- and post-release conversation.
-
The fragility of digital heritage.
Without someone choosing to rescue the domain, a piece of that history would vanish.
Comparison With Official Campaign Sites
Official movie pages typically emphasize ticket sales, trailers, merchandise, and partnerships. Annie-Movie.net, particularly in its current form, emphasizes memory and interpretation. Its value is not commercial urgency but retrospective context.
Educational Value
Teachers, media historians, and students can use the site to explore how adaptations are received differently across generations. It becomes a case study in evolving taste, marketing language, and the shift from orphanage narratives to foster-care frameworks.
The Role of Fan Custodianship
The revival of Annie-Movie.net illustrates a broader pattern: individuals often step in where corporations move on. Through archived material, they reconstruct digital environments that would otherwise be irretrievable.
Limitations of the Reconstruction
Because the reborn site relies on fragments, some menus, images, or subpages may differ from the original. Visitors expecting a perfect time capsule must accept approximation. Even so, partial survival is better than disappearance.
Annie as an Evergreen Property
Every generation reshapes Annie. Stage revivals reinterpret casting, choreography, and politics. Film versions adjust technology, humor, and pacing. Websites like Annie-Movie.net freeze one of those reinterpretations, offering future viewers a window into how 2014 imagined optimism, wealth, media, and childhood.
Emotional Through-Line
Despite arguments about songs or style, nearly every review acknowledges the same core idea: Annie represents hope. The endurance of that message explains why the property continues to return — and why people still seek out a domain tied to a film released more than a decade ago.
Present-Day Function
Today the site acts less like advertising and more like a curated scrapbook. It invites visitors to revisit reactions, remember premiere-era excitement, and reconsider how their opinions may have changed.
Annie-Movie.net began as a momentary spotlight for a new Hollywood remake. Time turned it into something else: evidence of how audiences negotiate memory and change. Through preservation and selective reconstruction, the domain now contributes to understanding the life cycle of film promotion and the enduring pull of a character who promises that tomorrow will arrive brighter than today.