In 1933, during the Great Depression, eleven-year-old Annie Bennett, Annie Belle, has been on her own at the NYC Municipal Orphanage Girls Annex since infancy. The only things she has from her biological family are a half of a heart-shaped locket with a key hole and a note promising that her parents would come back for her. The orphanage is run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan, who starves the orphans and keeps them busy with child labor to build up “work experience” until they eventually find “respectable” jobs in New York City as adults. One night, Annie grows weary of waiting for her parents and makes a bold attempt to escape, but she’s caught. When Miss Hannigan is momentarily distracted, Annie slips into the dirty laundry bin and, with luck, manages to slip away into the city.
Out on her own, Annie befriends a stray dog she names Sandy, a companionship that brings her a glimmer of hope. A police officer, L.T. Ward, eventually tracks her down and returns her to the orphanage, where Miss Hannigan punishes her with extra chores. The turning point comes when billionaire Oliver Warbucks decides to open his doors to an orphan for Christmas. His secretary, Grace Farrell, selects Annie to join Warbucks’s lavish mansion, where the contrast between Annie’s rough beginnings and Warbucks’s opulent world becomes immediately clear. At first, Annie feels out of place amid the marble halls and staff, but Warbucks is quickly won over by her warmth and resilience. He longs to adopt her, yet Annie remains determined to find her real parents, so he makes a high-stakes public appeal: on the radio, he announces a $50,000 reward for anyone who can prove they are her parents.
The news stirs trouble back at the orphanage, as Miss Hannigan seizes the opportunity to enlist her younger con artist brother, Rooster, and his dimwitted girlfriend, Lily St. Regis, to claim the prize by posing as Ralph and Shirley Mudge. They intend to cash in and then harm Annie once she’s in their grasp. Lily is left with the orphans when Miss Hannigan and Rooster slip away, but Lily’s conscience deepens and she realizes the danger they’re in. The orphans uncover the scheme and confront her, forcing Lily to reveal the truth. Meanwhile, the couple’s ruse unfolds at Warbucks’s mansion, and Lily demands her share while the orphans shout their support for Miss Hannigan, affectionately proclaiming, “We love you, Miss Hannigan!”
The pursuit culminates in a dramatic interruption as President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrives, accompanied by his Secret Service. They reveal the real identities of Miss Hannigan, Rooster, and Lily, leading to the arrest of the schemers. In a climactic moment, Miss Hannigan tries to pin the whole plot on Annie, but Annie’s earlier lesson—“you taught me never to lie”—drives home the truth and drives Miss Hannigan to despair, ending with her removal to a psychiatric hospital.
With Miss Hannigan out of the picture, the President confirms the truth about Annie’s past: her real parents were David and Margaret Bennett, who unfortunately died when she was a baby, which explains why they never returned for her. Although Annie is saddened by the news of their deaths, she finds comfort in knowing they truly did love her. Warbucks formally adopts Annie, and Grace’s partnership with him becomes more personal as they become engaged. The President ensures a heartwarming future for the other orphans as well, pledging that each of them will be adopted into stable, loving families. In the end, Annie begins a new life with Warbucks, Grace, and their beloved Sandy, while a hopeful future unfolds for all the children who shared the hardship of the orphanage.
