Earlier today I went to see Annie with my family. My mom, brother, sister in law and all three kids (plus one friend). Before I left the house I was on Facebook and someone wrote an update that basically said she had seen the movie and thanked them for ruining her childhood.

Ruining her childhood? Really? Because they decided to remake a movie and update it? I don’t really think you could call it a full “remake”. I think I would say that they took the adaptation of the original and made it current.

This year I saw Wicked and Les Miz. Both plays were not the first time for me. Both plays this year were revivals of the original plays. I even remember turning to a friend of mine during the production of Wicked and saying that this is a totally different play than I had seen before.

I will say that Jamie Foxx is not Albert Finney’s Daddy Warbucks. Cameron Diaz is not, and would never be Carol Burnett’s Mrs. Hannigan, and no one could beat Ann Reinking as Grace. The supporting original cast of Tim Curry and Bernadette Peters are not even in the movie. But of course my favourite city of New York is a beautiful supporting actress in the movie.

And of course, Jeffrey Holder, as Punjab passed away this year.

HOWEVER, the movie is current. It is the only way it could be. Otherwise why bother? They tweet, use cell phones, use smart technology all over the movie. There are new songs and they change some of the words of the original songs. They are called “foster children” and not orphans. I think that our kids will enjoy it because it is current to them. I turned to my almost 10 year old niece during the movie and said that Annie was about her age, which shortly after she said she was 10 so I was bang on. I would have been 11 in 1982 when the original movie came out, so it would have been the same for me as it was for my niece.

I don’t want to give away all the nuances in the movie. It is worth seeing. But not to go in with the attitude that is going to “ruin your childhood”. “We got Annie” back in our day, and these young kids have the “new” Annie. I don’t think this will be a classic like the original, but it is an enjoyable, holiday, family fun movie.