''Little Annie Rooney'' is a

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog, Zero.

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the

Chicago Tribune Syndicate Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media S ...

had scored a huge hit with ''

Little Orphan Annie ''Little Orphan Annie'' is a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James Whitcomb Riley, and it made its debut on Aug ...

''. The name comes from the 1889 popular song of the same name, still familiar to many at the time. Although the King Features strip was an obvious knock-off with several similar parallels, the approach was quite different, and ''Little Annie Rooney'' had a successful run from January 10, 1927, to April 16, 1966.

Publication history

The strip's creators over the years included Ed Verdier (1927–29), Ben Batsford (1929-30),

Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

s by Nicholas Afonsky (1934–43), writer Brandon Walsh (1930–54) and

Darrell McClure Darrell Craig McClure (February 25, 1903 – February 27, 1987), was an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for his work on the comic strip ''Little Annie Rooney'' from 1930 to 1966. The strip took its name from an 1890 song by Michael ...

(1930–66). McClure's assistants were Bob Dunn and

Fran Matera Francis A. "Fran" Matera (December 9, 1924 – March 15, 2012) was an American comic strip artist best known for his King Features Syndicate adventure strip ''Steve Roper and Mike Nomad'' from 1984 to 2004. In addition to his extensive experien ...

. Daily * Ed Verdier (story and art): Jan 10, 1927 - July 20, 1929 * Ben Batsford (story and art): July 22, 1929 - Oct 4, 1930 * Brandon Walsh (story) & Darrell McClure (art): Oct 6, 1930 - 1954 * Darrell McClure (story and art): 1954 - April 16, 1966 Sunday * Brandon Walsh (story) & Darrell McClure (art): Nov 30, 1930 - Feb 4, 1934 * Brandon Walsh (story) & Nicholas Afonsky (art): Feb 11, 1934 - Aug 8, 1943 * Brandon Walsh (story) & Darrell McClure (art): Aug 15, 1943 - April 4, 1954 * Darrell McClure (story and art): April 11, 1954 - May 30, 1965 The Sunday page had a topper in the 1930s and early 40s. The first one, ''Fablettes'', began in the early 1930s and ended on March 10, 1935. This was replaced by ''Ming Foo'', which ran from March 17, 1935 to March 28, 1943.

Origins

Little Annie Rooney became popular in a 19th-century song by Michael Nolan. After Nolan sang "Little Annie Rooney" in English music halls in 1890, Annie Hart (aka "The Bowery Girl") brought it to the United States. When she performed at New York's London Theatre, the song became a hit, but the absence of any international copyright laws kept Nolan from collecting royalties. A bitter Nolan retired from composing, and his song later became a favourite piano roll and calliope tune, heard at circuses and carousels. The lyrics make it clear that the Annie of the song and the Annie of the strip are two different characters: :A winning way, a pleasant smile, :Dress'd so neat but quite in style, :Merry chaff your time to wile, :Has little Annie Rooney. :Ev'ry evening, rain or shine, :I make a call twixt eight and nine, :On her who shortly will be mine, :Little Annie Rooney. :She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau; :She's my Annie, I'm her Joe, :Soon we'll marry, never to part, :Little Annie Rooney is my sweetheart! :The parlor's small, but neat and clean, :And set with taste so seldom seen, :And you can bet, the household queen, :Is little Annie Rooney. :The fire burns cheerfully and bright, :As a family circle round each night, :We form, and ev'ry one's delight :Is little Annie Rooney. :We've been engaged close on a year, :The happy time is drawing near, :I'll wed the one I love so dear, :Little Annie Rooney. :My friends declare I'm in a jest, :Until the time comes will not rest, :But one who knows its value best, :Is little Annie Rooney. There is also a Scottish saying: "She is having an Annie Rooney," which means that someone is displaying rage and anger. Annie Rooney's pet expression was "Gloriosky!" That unique G-rated expletive and ''

s "Leapin' lizards!" both found their way into the

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

and

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

song "Gee, Officer Krupke!" in the musical ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

''.

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...

had both Annies in mind when he created his satirical ''

Little Annie Fanny ''Little Annie Fanny'' is a comics series by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder. It appeared in 107 two- to seven-page episodes in ''Playboy'' magazine from October 1962 to September 1988. ''Little Annie Fanny'' is a humorous satire of contemporar ...

'' for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', though the ribald parody owed far more to the original

Harold Gray Harold Lincoln Gray (January 20, 1894 – May 9, 1968) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the newspaper comic strip ''Little Orphan Annie''. Early life Harold Gray was born in Kankakee, Illinois on January 20, 1894, to Este ...

strip.

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

referred to ''Little Annie Rooney'' early in the first chapter of ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction whi ...

'': "Arrah, sure, we all love little Anny Ruiny, or, we mean to say, lovelittle Anna Rayiny, when unda her brella, mid piddle med puddle, she ninnygoes nannygoes nancing by."

Films

Prior to the creation of the identically titled comic strip,

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

starred as a girl of the slums in

William Beaudine William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and car ...

's 1925 silent comedy-drama ''

Little Annie Rooney ''Little Annie Rooney'' is a comic strip about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog, Zero. King Features Syndicate launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the Chicago Tribune Syndicate had ...

'' (United Artists), set in New York's Lower East Side. Audiences found nothing unusual about 32-year-old Mary Pickford portraying a 12-year-old, and this became one of her most successful films.

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

has aired a restored version, produced by the Mary Pickford Foundation. The

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...

did a ''

'' animated ''Screen Song'' in 1931.

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

purchased the rights to the comic strip and planned to turn it into a film starring child actress

Jane Withers Jane Withers (April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show host. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list for ...

. This project became the 1935 film ''

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

'', Withers' first starring role.

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

did her first teenage role (receiving her second screen kiss) in ''

Miss Annie Rooney '' Miss Annie Rooney '' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin. The screenplay by George Bruce has some similarities to the silent film, ''Little Annie Rooney'' starring Mary Pickford, but otherwise, the films are unrelated. ''M ...

'' (1942); the George Bruce screenplay is not an adaptation of the comic strip but instead dramatizes the situation of a poor girl with a wealthy boyfriend. In Gavin Lambert's 1963 novel "Inside Daisy Clover," which is set in the 1950s, Daisy becomes a star after appearing in her first movie, a musical remake of Mary Pickford's "Little Annie Rooney."

Reprints

''Little Annie Rooney on the Highway to Adventure'' was one of several

Big Little Books The Big Little Books, first published during 1932 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, were small, compact books designed with a captioned illustration opposite each page of text. Other publishers, notably Saalfield, adopted t ...

. After a 1935 book of reprints, ''Little Annie Rooney'' was seen in comic book reprints —

David McKay Publications David McKay Publications (also known as David McKay Company) was an American book publisher which also published some of the first comic books, including the long-running titles ''Ace Comics'', ''King Comics'', and '' Magic Comics''; as well as ...

's ''Feature Book'' #11 (1938), ''King Comics'', a 1948 three-issue series published by

St. John Publications St. John Publications was an American publisher of magazines and comic books. During the 1947-1958 existence of its comic-book division, St. John established several industry firsts. Founded by Archer St. John, the firm was located in Manhattan a ...

and the ''Treasury of Comics'' annuals (1948–1950), also from St. John.

References

Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995.

External links

''Little Annie Rooney''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on November 10, 2015. {{King Features Syndicate Comics 1927 comics debuts 1966 comics endings Action-adventure comics American comic strips American comics adapted into films Comics about orphans Comics about women Humor comics