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Anime

  • The Flying House episode "Little Orphan Anna" is a thinly-veiled reference to the franchise.

Fan Works

Film -- Animated

  • The LEGO Ninjago Movie: The 2014 cover of "It's a Hard-Knock Life" plays during the scene where Lloyd travels across the city to get home.
  • Shrek:
    • Shrek 2: Donkey tries to cheer Shrek up by singing "Tomorrow", only to start trailing off and pass out as the Happily Ever After potion begins to take effect.
      Donkey: The sun'll come out... (yawns) Tomorrow... Bet your bottom...
      Shrek: Bet my bottom?
      Donkey: I'm comin', Elizabeth! (drops)
    • Shrek Forever After: In the alternate reality, Donkey sings "Tomorrow" while pulling a carriage carrying Shrek.

Film -- Live-Action

  • Addams Family Values: Wednesday and Pugsley are forced to watch various family movies, including Annie, at summer camp.
  • Austin Powers in Goldmember: When Dr. Evil and Mini-Me are in prison, they and their fellow inmates perform a ghetto remix of "It's a Hard-Knock Life".
  • Bad Teacher: The school puts on a production of Annie; Amy complains about the disappearance of the Annie wig and laments "The sun will not come out tomorrow". Coincidentally, Cameron Diaz would go on to play Miss Hannigan in the 2014 film version.
  • Deadpool 2 has Alicia Morton's rendition of "Tomorrow" playing in flashback scenes where Cable's family was killed, and in the film's climax.

Literature

  • Junie B. Jones
    • In Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal, when Junie B. and her friends play a Cinderella-themed dress-up game, she refuses the role of Cinderella's Ugly Stepsister, and instead volunteers to sing songs from Annie at the ball.
    • In Junie B. First Grader: Boo! And I Mean It, Annie is one of the costumes at the Halloween store Junie B. and her mom visit.

Live-Action TV

  • All That: In the pilot, Annie (portrayed by Katrina Johnson) makes three attempts to sing "Tomorrow", but each gets a ridiculous interruption.
  • The Big Bang Theory: In "The Maternal Combustion", while cleaning the kitchen, Raj, Howard, and Stuart burst out into "It's a Hard Knock Life".
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: In "I, Stank Horse", the Banks children sing "Tomorrow" to Carlton's favorite racehorse... only for a doctor to tell him that it's due to be put down tomorrow.
  • The Handmaid's Tale: Janine and the other Handmaids are scrubbing floors at the Red Center. To make the dreary task more cheerful, Janine starts singing "It's the Hard-Knock Life" and the others join in.
  • In the live-action drama based on Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Noa Takigawa is, as an Adaptational Backstory Change, a Former Child Star who used to play Annie in the Japanese localization of the play. Even in the present day, she sings the Tomorrow song to keep up her spirits.
  • In an episode of Young Sheldon, Sheldon gets the titular role in the school's play.

Video Games

  • Billboards and posters for "Fannie", a thinly-veiled (and, knowing Rockstar Games, crudely named) reference to the musical, can be seen throughout Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto III. The Liberty Tree website made by Rockstar to promote the game made it even clear about the work they were (passively) parodying, with theatre correspondent Morgan Merryweather describing the play as a "happy tale of a young girl who is definitely a real red head."
  • The Harbucks household in the Golden Era-themed Roaring Heights neighbourhood for The Sims 3 is a thinly veiled reference to the Annie mythos, with Olivier Harbucks and Shirley Templeton as its members. Shirley also doubles as a reference to Shirley Temple, though while both Annie and Shirley do have curly hair, Temple never appeared in any Annie adaptations contrary to what some may think.

Web Comics

  • In And Shine Heaven Now, a now adult Annie (going by Ann) has taken over Daddy Warbucks's business of arms dealing, and provides Integra and co. with new weapons. (Notably, thanks to the Comic-Book Time explanation on the main page, she only appears to be in her thirties in roughly 1999, much to Pip's delight.)
  • Ann Walker of But I'm a Cat Person is an Expy of Shine's version of Annie (note that both are done by the same artist).
  • In Hazbin Hotel, "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" is Alastor's favorite song. He even quotes the song and hums a few bars.

Western Animation

  • The Critic: In "Dukerella", Jay tries to cover his baldness with a variety of wigs, including an Annie wig (which makes him exclaim "Leapin' lizards!").
  • Family Guy:
    • In "Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater", the musical number "This House is Freakin' Sweet" is a parody of "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here".
    • In "Brian's Got a Brand New Bag", a group of unwanted DVDs at a video store perform "Maybe".
  • Robot Chicken:
    • A sketch from "Tell My Mom" involves Molly telling Annie that their "hard-knock life" is nothing compared to those of orphans in the Philippines.
    • A last sketch from "Maurice Was Caught" features Annie appearing on My Super Sweet Sixteen.
    • A sketch from "Snarfer Image" features Annie being considered for adoption by a couple. Here, it's revealed that she was a child sex slave and has multiple personalities (including Pippi Longstocking and Oliver Twist).
  • Tiny Toon Adventures: Near the end of "Whale's Tales", Gotcha Grabmore is forced to listen to a group of singing octopus pirates, the leader of whom asks "Would you rather they do the theme from Annie?"

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