Corrected entry: If Annie was dropped off at the orphanage as a baby and they aren't supposed to have any fun and really don't have any toys or anything, where does she learn how to swim? This is during the depression era. I'm pretty sure these were no community pools. She jumps into Mr. Warbucks' pool the day after she arrives and starts doing a backstroke.
Corrected entry: Annie, a small, probably weak, 10 year old girl, manages to prevent herself from falling from the bridge, simply by holding onto a very small gap by the tips of her fingers. Super strength?
Corrected entry: In the scene where Punjab is in the copter looking for Annie, you can see the skyline in the background as he flies around. The problem is there were no skyscrapers or neon lights in the early 30's.
Correction: The Empire State building was completed in 1931. Neon signs date back to the 1800's, and the first ones were introduced to the US in 1923. Both pre-date the 1933 timeline of the movie.
Corrected entry: When Miss Hannagan comes in the room at night because the girls were singing she yells at them to get up and start to clean and Annie said "but it's in the middle of the night" and then in the next scene when they're cleaning and singing, if you look out the window there is a bright daylight.
Correction: This is because the girls have been cleaning all night. Obviously they would not show a long boring scene of cleaning, so the change from night to day is to show how long the girls have been cleaning.
Corrected entry: When Miss Farrell and Mr Warbucks are looking for Annie, Punjab tells Miss Farrell which bridge Annie is at, but when Miss Farrell relays the info, she only says "They're on the bridge", and yet Mr Warbucks says "I know, I know" as if he KNEW which bridge she was talking about.
Correction: Actually Mrs Farrell says "they are on the BO Bridge, turn left" and he says "I know, I know" because he knows where that specific bridge is.
Corrected entry: When Punjab takes off in the helicopter to rescue Annie from Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters and Carol Burnette toward the end of the film, the copter takes off from Daddy Warbucks mansion you can see a window air conditioner in the second story window. Did those exist in the 1930's?
Correction: In 1931 H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman invented an individual room air conditioner that sat on a window ledge, a design that's been ubiquitous in apartment buildings ever since. The units are available for purchase a year later and are only enjoyed by the people least likely to work up a sweat - the wealthy. (The large cooling systems cost between $10,000 and $50,000. That's equivalent to $120,000 to $600,000 today.) Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/electrical-plumbing/a-brief-history-of-air-conditioning-10720229.
Corrected entry: Annie's birth certificate that Mr. Warbucks reads says Annie was born in October 1922. For her to be ten it would have to have been sometime after October 1932 but before October 1933 or else she'd be 11. Franklin D. Roosevelt is president in the movie, but it's too early. The story takes place at Christmas time [so must be 1932, otherwise she'd be 11], but Roosevelt wasn't inaugurated until 1933.
Correction: Although the original play takes place at Christmas, there is no evidence that this movie does the same. The facts of outdoor scenes having people wearing summer clothes [i.e. sleeveless dresses and T-shirts without coats/hats/gloves etc.] and the lack of Christmas decorations and the song "Christmas in New York" determine the movie takes place in the summer of 1933 hence Annie would be ten and Roosevelt would be president. The check given to Annie's "parents" was dated July 3, 1933.
Corrected entry: When Annie has brought Sandy back to see the orphans, Annie sings a bit, then some others, then Tessie. She sings: 'Specially when you're all alone in the night and you're small and terribly frightened..." it's clear that her lips are not in time with her recording.
Correction: Molly moves in front of Sandy and is moving her lips ever so slightly which makes it appear that she is supposed to be singing this line. It is actually the little girl hugging Sandy's lower half, resting her head near his tail, that is singing this line of the song.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Punjab is rescuing Annie from the bridge, he tells her he needs her to hold on as he need both hands to hold on to his turban. However he then continues the entire descent only holding on with one hand?
Correction: He tells her to hold HIM with both hands.
Corrected entry: In the scene where the girls get a dead rat and stick it down Miss Hannagan's shirt, when she is yelling at them one of the girls (the one with long dirty blonde hair) is mouthing the lines.
Correction: Miss Hannagan is a very predictable person. She usually says the sames things, (with anger, cruelty ect.) and the girl may have said it along just to be mouthy.
Corrected entry: When Miss Hanigan, Rooster, and Lily are singing easy street, if you watch, Lily has a hole in her dress and you can see her bra, and in the next shot the hole is gone.
Correction: There is no hole, I have checked this. It only looks like there is a hole and it is more likely a fact that the laundry put bleach in with her colored dress.
Corrected entry: When Rooster jumps over the fire escape and the girls get forced back into the orphanage, if you look carefully, Pepper is in front of Lily St Regis and is actually pulling her into the room.
Correction: Actually, Pepper and Tessie were both trying to pull themselves from Lily's grasp. Lily had stopped walking because Tessie was trying to pull away, while Pepper was trying to pull away from the other direction. It only looked like Pepper was pulling Lily into the room because Pepper was going towards that direction when she was pulling away.
Corrected entry: The bench used in Mrs. Farrel and Annie's duet number has wheels that are plainly visible. The chair that Annie spins in likewise has wheels, where all other chairs in the room don't.
Correction: Casters on furniture were patented by David A. Fisher in 1876 (and have been around since even earlier). Specifically designed to move furniture across hardwood floors, they were made from glass or leather and were very heavy. They definitely would have been on chairs and benches when Annie was set. As for Miss Hannigan only having one chair that rolls, she may have felt she didn't have room for more than one or she may not have been able to afford more than just one (remember that she doesn't make or get that much money).
Corrected entry: In the very beginning, when Annie is singing "maybe" by the window, you can see that she's only got a dirty knit dress on, but later when she's comforting another orphan, you can clearly see that shes got knee-length shorts on. Maybe the producers thought she was showing a bit too much "leg" for the 1930's.
Correction: Annie has her knees up to her chest and she has pulled the knit dress over her knees, you can see her pulling her legs out when she finishes her song.
Corrected entry: At the beginning, Annie tells Miss Farrell she's 10 years old. Annie's birth certificate reads that she was born in 1920, yet the film takes place in 1933.
Correction: Mr. Warbucks reads Annie's birth certificate when her "parents" (who are actually imposters) present it to him toward the end of the movie. He reads it softly, but he does actually say "1922" as the year of Annie's birth. The subtitles (on the DVD) also say "1922".
Corrected entry: When Annie kicks Mr. Warbucks after her karate lesson, he asks Punjab to help him with his leg. Punjab works his magic and Mr. Warbucks' leg feels better - well, it should since she kicked him in the other leg.
Correction: Annie kicked Mr. Warbucks in the left leg. The leg the magic guy heals is the left leg so he healed the correct leg.
Corrected entry: In the scene where Annie and Grace get dressed for the movie, they sing and dance. Grace is wearing a silky undergarment and has her hair down. There is a cut to Annie tap dancing and then they leave the room. Grace is now fully dressed and has her hair up in a rather elaborate style. She couldn't have done all that in such a short period of time.
Correction: This is simply a way of getting things moving faster, just like in cartoons. They wouldn't have sung the song and waited for grace to go and get changed and then have gone to the movies.
Corrected entry: When Annie is in the truck with Rooster, Lily and Miss Hannigan, Lily said that she wanted a gold la met number, and Rooster said 'if they sell them in Atlantic City, we ain't stopping 'till we hit Atlantic City'. Although it is not specifically mentioned, since they had a $50,000 certified check, it is assumed that they are planning to go to Atlantic City to gamble. The only problem was that this movie took place in 1933. The only thing they would have enjoyed in Atlantic City at the time may have been a few novelty stores and the Boardwalk. The first casino didn't come to Atlantic City until 1977, 44 years later.
Correction: Atlantic City was a "hot spot". It was the city that Monopoly was later based on. It had luxurious hotels (seven to be exact) bootlegged liquor (since it was during Prohibition), prostitution (scandalous I know, but probably right up Rooster's alley) and was were anyone famous went (Al Capone was a VERY frequent visitor). They did allow gambling in the hotels (the Drake Hotel was known for it) though they weren't casinos as we know them, just poker and Black Jack tables and possibly Roulette wheels. $50,000 would have gotten them all the luxuries they wanted and provided them with the "Easy Street" life they wanted even without gambling their money.
Corrected entry: When the kidnappers stop at the traffic lights, and the orphans spot Sandy and start calling him, surely Miss Hannigan, Rooster, Lily or Annie would have heard them, considering the windows are open and they are all calling Sandy quite loudly.
Correction: They DID hear the orphans but chose to ignore them. If you look, Annie is struggling to get to them and is leaning towards the sound of their voices, so she heard them. The rest of them were anxious to get away and they knew if the reacted, they'd be caught, so they just act like they don't hear anything.
Corrected entry: When Rooster and his partner turn up outside the orphanage posing as Annie's long lost parents, Miss Hannigan claims to be taken in by them and wouldn't have known it was her own brother. However, when searching for Annie's broken locket, she reveals that she knew Annie's parents had been killed in a fire many years previously. I know she was a drunk, but surely even she'd remember Annie's parents were already dead?
Correction: Miss Hannigan knows Rooster is her own brother. It's just a plan concucted by them, hence the bathroom scene, to get Annie back.
Correction: There isn't any indication that she'd only been at Warbucks' house for one day. Plus, Kate says to Annie at the beginning of the movie, "All you ever do is run away." Annie has run away from the orphanage multiple times, and is very street-smart. It's not at all unlikely that there was a lake she was familiar with that she taught herself to swim in over the years.