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Little Orphan Annie is a full page (later half page or tab) American comic strip, created by Harold Gray, that first appeared on August 5, 1924. The title of the strip, which was suggested by the syndicate, may be loosely based on James Whitcomb Riley's eponymous character from his 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" (sic).
Background In Gray's version, Annie, an orphan, was taken in by "Daddy" Oliver Warbucks, a prototypical capitalist of almost unlimited wealth and influence. With his right-hand men, Punjab (an eight-foot native of India who first appeared in 1935) and The Asp (an inscrutably generalized Oriental who appeared in 1937), Warbucks tackled international intrigue and the neverending plots to kidnap or harm Annie. The strip, and Gray in his discussions of it, glorified the American business ethic, although corrupt businessmen often appeared as villains. Warbucks repeatedly suffered seeming death at the hands of his enemies, leaving Annie to fend for herself until his next appearance. Gray once killed off Warbucks in protest against the liberal New Deal economic policies, only bringing him back to life when FDR (US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt) died. Annie's main physical characteristics are a mop of red, curly hair and vacant circles for eyes. She is always accompanied by her dog, Sandy. Her catchphrase is "Leapin' lizards!" Sandy the dog, meanwhile, originated the catchphrase, "Arf!" After Gray's death in 1968, the strip continued under other cartoonists, but was replaced with reruns in 1974. Following the success of the Broadway musical Annie (see below), the strip was resurrected in 1979 as Annie by Leonard Starr, cartoonist of Mary Perkins, On Stage; and the only one besides Gray to achieve notable success with the (Little Orphan) Annie strip. Upon Starr's retirement in 2000, he was succeeded by New York Daily News writer Jay Maeder and artist Andrew Pepoy, beginning Monday, June 5, 2000. Pepoy was eventually succeeded by Alan Kupperberg (2002-2004) and Ted Slampyak (2004-). Annie attributed her lasting youthfulness to the fact that she was born on leap day, February 29, and so, only aged one year in appearance for every four years that passed. Episode guide Adaptations On April 6, 1931 Little Orphan Annie debuted on the Blue Network of NBC. The next year it was made into a movie starring Mitzi Green as Annie, and Edgar Kennedy as "Daddy" Warbucks. In 1977, Little Orphan Annie became a Broadway musical, called Annie, with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and book by Thomas Meehan. The original production ran from April 21, 1977 to January 2, 1983; there have been other productions around the world, and the musical has been filmed several times, notably in a 1982 version directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney as Warbucks, Aileen Quinn as Annie, and Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, the matron of the orphanage. The story took considerable liberties from the strips, such as Oliver Warbucks inviting Franklin D. Roosevelt to his home and generally supported his New Deal economic policy. Harold Gray deeply loathed Roosevelt and fans noted that he never had Warbucks interact with that President in any form, much less support policies that Gray adamantly opposed. The Broadway Annies were Andrea McArdle, Shelley Bruce, Sarah Jessica Parker, Allison Smith, and Alyson Kirk. Some of the notable actresses who portrayed Miss Hannigan are Dorothy Loudon, Alice Ghostley, Betty Hutton, Ruth Kobart, Marcia Lewis, June Havoc, and Nell Carter, and Sally Struthers. Famous songs from the musical include "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life". Parodies The strip lent itself easily to parody, which was taken up by both Walt Kelly in Pogo (as "Little Arf 'n Nonnie") and by Al Capp in Li'l Abner, where Punjab became Punjbag, an oleaginous slob. Most famously, Harvey Kurtzman produced a long-running parody for Playboy Magazine called Little Annie Fanny where the lead character is a busty waif who keeps running into the strangest sexual situations and losing her clothes. Children's television host Chuck McCann became well-known in the New York/New Jersey market for his imitations of cartoon characters, including Annie. McCann would put blank white circles over his eyeballs during his over-the-top impression. The 1980s children's television program You Can't Do That on Television in its - later banned - "Adoption" episode, parodied the character as "Little Orphan Andrea". Andrea, like Annie, sported curly red hair and a red dress, but unlike her was a very naughty orphan who had a habit of beating the other kids up. "Orphan Annie Eye" The unusual appearance of the eyes of the subjects (totally lacking pupils) has been used by histologists to label a type of cell associated with thyroid disease. Illustration Reprints | ||||||||
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