Annie: A Royal Adventure!, on ABC
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This first aired in 1995, but I didn't see it until 2015, and then basically just because I got a 2-DVD set that also includes the 1982 theatrical film Annie. Well, actually, I also kind of wanted to see it because it starred Ashley Johnson, whom I know from a few other things. Once I actually watched the movie, I found that the cast also includes some other familiar people. There's Joan Collins; I'm not quite sure if I've seen her in anything else, but I've certainly been aware of her, like, forever, so I thought it was fun to see her in this. And there's Ian McDiarmid, whom I know best from the Star Wars prequels. And the actresses playing Annie's friends are vaguely familiar to me from other things, I guess. Anyway... this movie is sort of a sequel to the 1982 movie, but not really. I think it's more apt to say that it's based on the "Little Orphan Annie" comic strips, like the other movie, but not part of the same continuity, exactly. Aside from the whole cast being different, there are some other changes, the most important being the fact that the character Grace Farrell isn't in this movie (and apparently doesn't exist in the continuity of the movie). Also, Annie has a new best friend named Hannah, who wasn't in the original movie. But for the most part, if you've seen the 1982 movie, you'll understand who most of the characters in this movie are.

I'm not sure exactly when the movie is set, but presumably within a few years after the events of the 1982 movie (which was set in 1933), in which Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks adopted Annie from the orphanage run by Miss Hannigan. It starts with Annie (Johnson) and her dog, Sandy, delivering newspapers, then meeting up with her friend Hannah. Unbeknownst to them, they're being followed by a couple of sketchy guys in a car, Rupert and Murphy. Anyway, Annie decides to consult a fortune teller, who warns her about a trip she's going to take, and being surrounded by sinister characters. Annie and Hannah then go back to Daddy Warbucks's mansion, where they learn that he's planning a trip to England, where he's going to be knighted. He agrees to Annie's request to bring Hannah along. They also want to bring their friend Molly (who still lives at the orphanage), but Miss Hannigan refuses to let her go. So, naturally, Annie and Hannah sneak her aboard the ship in piece of luggage. Accompanying Annie, Hannah, Sandy, and Daddy Warbucks are his bodyguards, Punjab and Asp, as well as a brilliant (but seemingly agoraphobic and sort of dotty) old scientist named Eli Eon (McDiarmid). They soon meet a woman named Lady Edwina Hogbottom (Collins), who befriends Warbucks. And it turns out there are a couple of sinister characters on the ship- Rupert and Murphy, who want to kidnap Eli, to get information about one of his inventions, for their boss. Of course, Annie and her friends foil their plot, which leads Warbucks to decide to allow Molly to stay with them in England instead of immediately sending her back to the orphanage. But they're not out of danger once they reach England, because Rupert, Murphy, and their boss will continue trying to capture Eli, to force him to help with the boss's evil plan, the nature of which I won't reveal. Meanwhile, the kids befriend a boy named Michael, and his family. Also, Eli and the girls and Michael (and Sandy) all visit Lady Hogbottom's castle, where there's an old butler named Derwood who doesn't do much except sleep, and a pretty maid named Charity who is constantly stealing things.

Anyway, I'm leaving out several plot points, but of course there's a happy ending. I suppose I should mention it's all rather campy and ridiculous, sometimes even cringeworthy. Certainly nowhere near as good as the original movie. Also, unlike the original, this isn't a musical... although they do all sing "Tomorrow" at the end. And um... I dunno what to say except that in spite of not being a very good movie, I thought it was kind of fun, and had its good points. It's difficult to imagine I'd ever want to watch it again, but I guess I'm glad to have seen it once.

There are also unrelated remakes of the original movie, a 1999 TV movie and a 2014 theatrical movie, neither of which I've seen, but would probably like to, someday.