Little Orphan Annie

Little Orphan Annie is a Comic strip created by Harold Gray.
Elle appears the August 5th 1924 in the New York Daily News and made since part of the more great classics of the American Cartoon.

History

Lettror of Sidney Smith on his series The Gumps, Harold Gray decides to fly of his own wings and proposes with Joseph Medill Patterson a project of series: Little Orphan Otto , adventures of a dynamic little boy. Paterson accepts the project but, considering that there exists already well too much of stories for boys, request with Harold Gray to re-elect its hero, to make a heroin of it and to put on a dress to him. Perhaps did Gray remember the poem of James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916), Little Orphant Annie to find the name and the temperament of its heroin?

Á to leave the Economic crisis of 1929, Harold Gray uses its cartoons as platform for its very preserving political ideas - but it is advisable to be careful on this subject, Gray is often pointed finger like reactionary but, above all, he seeks to include/understand the world (the 40.000 miles testify some which he said to traverse each year for better knowing his country), which is of course paradoxical since, in its position of author, he is before all the creator of a world.

In Annie, Harold Gray develops a complex political ideology: its heroes Annie and Oliver " daddy" Warbucks obtain all that they want by their will and their direction of the businesses. For them, the audacity always pays. But all the protagonists of Little Orphan Annie are not in this case, many which is those need a " blow of pouce" , and even sometimes, of charity (that Warbucks disguises readily in providence, in order to preserve the dignity of the people of which it shows the benefactor). If the ideal of hero of Gray is well what one " names; battants" , the author points out regularly that everyone is not a " battant" , nor cannot become it, and he often also recalls that a buisnessman must have an ethics and that there does not exist easy money.

Sometimes, animated of a great concern for pedagogy, Harold Gray details the mechanism of certain economic sectors, showing for example how a trade can develop, how to use publicity, etc

During Years 1940, Little Orphan Annie is followed daily by 25 million readers. After the death of its author in 1967, Little Orphan Annie continues after a fashion, under the pencil of Philipp Blaisdell in particular, until in 1974.

The success of the musical comedy Annie makes it possible Leonard Starr to make revive the character in 1979, under the new title of Annie (and either Little Orphan Annie ).
En 2000, Leonard Starr takes his retirement and leaves the hand with Jay Maeder and the draftsmen Andrew Pepoy, Alan Kupperberg and Ted Slampyak.
Today Annie always appears. She does not wear any more her red dress but a Jean and pants.

Characters

Annie , whose favorite expression is “ Leapin' Lizards! ” ( lizards jumping! )
Oliver Warbucks , which appears the September 27th 1924. Billionaire coil-made man, it is caught affection for Annie quickly. In 1969, it is reached of a cancer, just like its author Harold Gray. It survives it - Harold Gray, not. Warbucks is a very complex character. It grew rich by selling ammunition during the war by 1914-1918 but suffers from its reputation of “ merchant of canons ”. At the beginning of the history, it is married. His wife disappears as discreetly as quickly from the strip, and, a few years later, Warbucks éprend of a former actress, Trixie Tinkle.
Sandy , which appears the January 5th 1925. It is the dog of Annie.
Punjab , which appears in January 1935, is the servant and the bodyguard Indian of Mr. Warbucks. Mysterious and faithful.
Asp , which appears February 21st 1937 is the second servant and bodyguard of Mr. Warbucks. Like Punjab (or perhaps more because it is often shown very discrete), it is mysterious, worrying, and has magic capacities.
Mr. Am , which appears the April 18th 1937, is by far the strangest character of the series. Speaking about the thousands of languages, knowing the ground whole and alive since million years (since always and for always, according to Warbucks), it is able to return the life to dead (Asp and Warbucks in fact), this character makes it possible his author to slip into the series various philosophical thoughts. For much, Am is a personification of god (who said to Moïse: I am that which is (am) ; in English: I amndt who I amndt ). A quotation: “ All the modern cities resemble each other, Babylon, Jericho, this one York ”

Around Annie

The series knew several adaptations:

between 1931 and 1940, Little Orphan Annie is a radiophonic series with success, sponsored by the mark Ovaltine.
the first adaptation of the adventures of Annie for the big screen is Little Orphan Annie (1932), a film of John S. Robertson with Mitzi Green, Buster Phelps, May Robson and Edgar Kennedy. A film left in 1938 bears the same name but does not seem related to the cartoon.
Annie, musical comedy of Broadway, in 1977 (which takes the politques opinions of Harold Gray to grain-hair)
Annie, film of John Huston, in 1982, which carries to the screen the piece of music of 1977.
Annie 2: Miss Hannigan' S revenge (1990) is a part of Thomas Meehan, with a music of Charles Strouse and words of Martin Charnin, is the team of the musical comedy Annie . Tested on the public of Washington, the part is finally, abandoned!
Annie Warbucks (1992), is a version improved of Annie 2: Miss Hannigan' S revenge .
Annie: In Royal Adventure!, film of Ian Toynton with Ashley Johnson, Joan Hakes and George Hearn (1995), left in video only and intended, for Columbia, to deaden the acquisition of the rights of the musical comedy Annie - right which allowed their owners the realization of a continuation.
Annie (telefilm, 1999), telefilm produced by Disney in 1999 (distributed in DVD-VHS) which takes again the musical comedy of Broadway by cutting down it by its political character.

The character in addition was imitated or parodied on several occasions:

Little Annie Rooney (1927), by Darell McClure, directly inspired by Little Orphan Annie (it was undoubtedly an attempt of the King Features Syndicate to recover the success of Little Orphan Annie) and with which the French assistantship in particular confuses it, because contrary to Little Orphan Annie, Annie Rooney was published in France in the Journal of Mickey and was published in the form of collections, in the famous Copyright collection of the editions Futuropolis, shortly after the exit of film of John Huston.
Little Annie Fanny, in Playboy, by Bill Elder and Harvey Kurtzman (1962), which parodies as much Little Orphan Annie that Little Annie Rooney .
Walt Kelly (Pogo) or Al Cape (Lil' L Abner) parodied Annie in their respective works.
the Tijuana bibles (or Dirty Comics , or Eight Pagers ), clandestine and erotic cartoons of the Années 1930 - 1940 which parodied the series with the mode obviously took Annie for target.

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