I recently saw the new Annie movie with two of my daughters. It met with positive reviews from all three of us. Our discussion after the movie focused on comparing this new modernized version with the classic Annie that came out in 1982. It just so happened that my girls and I had also watched the older version less than a week earlier at home, without any knowledge that we would be going to see the new one any time soon.  So, it made for an interesting discussion that I’ll try to highlight here. In my opinion, when a beloved classic is remade the question of “how does it compare to the original” is just as interesting as the question of “how good is it?” Traditional movie reviews are all over the internet. Here’s a good review of Annie at movieguide.org. Below, I’ve given you something different; a comparison of the old and the new, taken from the consensus of the opinions of myself and my two daughters.

Overall Enjoyment of the Movie – The 1982 version (just barely)

The Music and Singing – The 2014 version

Dance Routines – The 1982 version

The character of Annie – We’ll call this one a tie. Quvenzhane Wallis (2014) and Aileen Quinn (1982) were equally wonderful.

The character of the Rich Guy – Jamie Foxx (2014) was the unanimous favorite.

The character of Ms. Hannigan – Carol Burnett (1982) was born for this role. Cameraon Diaz never had a chance.

The Climactic Scene – The ending of the 1982 version did a much better job of building excitement and tension as Annie was put in real danger, and then tugging at our hearts as she was united with her true family. The new movie’s ending gave us plenty of warm andfuzzies, but the tension was almost non-existent.