MovieChat Forums > Annie (1982) Discussion > Is it realistic that....

Is it realistic that....

posted 7 years ago by drummergirl-93025
7 replies | jump to latest

....only one person would be in charge of an entire orphanage? I know that in the play, there are only six main orphans and that's all we ever see. But in this version of the movie, especially during Hard Knock Life and Sandy, we see a ton of other orphans all over the building. I mean, this is New York City we're talking about! In real life, that orphanage would be jammed full of kids of all different ages. From babies all the way up to teens. I just find it hard to believe that one woman would be expected to care for and raise ALL those children ALL by herself! Even for the 1930's, that seems a bit far fetched lol

[–] tinkerbell_jonna 7 years ago

That's one thing I didn't understand, in the Hard Knock Life scene, there appeared to be over 30 kids there, but later on in the movie, there only appears to be the main 5 or 6.

And yeah I've wondered if Miss Hannigan cared for the kids when they were babies, supposedly Annie was left with her as a baby, but it's hard to picture Miss Hannigan caring for a baby, unless she was a different person in those days.

[–] drummergirl-93025 7 years ago

I actually posted on this board a few years back about that very same thing. How I found it really hard to picture Miss Hannigan caring for a baby. And I'm sure Annie wasn't the only orphan to be left on the front steps as a newborn. It probably happened a lot. Can you imagine Miss Hannigan having to get up several times during the night to feed and change a screaming infant? And in the 1930's, she probably would have had to make her own formula too, which I also can't see her doing lol. But I guess we're not really supposed to speculate about stuff like that huh? Then again, maybe dealing with all those crying babies is what drove her to alcohol and depression....

[–] tinkerbell_jonna 7 years ago

One theory I always had about Miss Hannigan was, MAYBE when she was younger, she liked children and liked working with them ~hence why she took that job in the first place~ but over time, with little to no love life and being tied down to the job all the time, no vacations or anything, maybe she became bitter.

Or maybe at one time, when the girls were babies, maybe she had help working with her, or maybe the older orphans took care of the babies.

[–] muchmeow 7 years ago

Yup. Making the older orphans take care of the babies sounds more plausible.

[–] pioneergrrrl (2388) 5 years ago

Agencies are woefully understaffed now---during 1930's jobs for women were REALLY seen as extra. Hence only having one person running agency, and that one person just happening to be drunk, abusive, lazy.....etc is as much a satire as it is an actual statement.

Miss Hannigan thought Grace Farrell was an inspector when she rang because she was dressed how the professionals of that era (and how she) was supposed to look, clean, sober/conservative and upright.

[–] janX9 (446) 7 years ago

It's a movie. Over analyze much?

[–] Cheepshooter (672) 6 years ago

If we didn't, this website wouldn't exist!