Miss Hannigan

Miss Agatha "Aggie" Hannigan is the main antagonist of the musical "Annie" and its 1999 film adaptation, while she is the secondary antagonist of the 1982 film and a minor character in its 1995 sequel. In the 1982 Columbia theatrical film version, she is played by Carol Burnett (who later voiced the Sour Kangaroo in "Horton Hears a Who" in 2008), and Kathy Bates (known for playing Annie Wilkes in "Misery") in the 1999 Disney TV film version. She is an alcoholic caretaker of the Orphanage in NYC. She despises children, particularly girls, but she loves her job. Her helpers are her brother and his girlfriend Rooster and Lily St. Regis (the former of which is in jail prior to the events of the film versions). In the 1995 TV sequel to the 1982 film, "Annie: A Royal Adventure", Miss Hannigan appears, but has a minor role and is played by Carol Cleveland and presumably, her voice is dubbed by the late Mary Kay Bergman.

In both film versions, Miss Hannigan wakes up the orphan girls and makes them scrub the floor until it shines "like the top of the Chrysler building" (In the 1982 version, she does it after hearing Annie sing to Molly, but in the 1999 film version, it was after Annie tries to sneak out to find her parents.) (According to the 1982 film, if it didn't happen, their backsides would). The same day, Annie (the protagonist) hides in the laundry basket (which Mr. Bundles takes away). As Annie is brought home by a cop that Miss Hannigan sends (along with a stray dog named Sandy), the latter (Miss Hannigan) threatens to send Sandy to the sausage factory. Because of this, Grace Farrell (the board of the orphans and secretary of Oliver Warbucks), who decides to take Annie to Mr. Warbucks' house for a visit, takes Sandy with her.

While Annie is gone, Miss Hannigan's brother, Rooster, and his girlfriend have escaped from jail, and pay her a visit. They intend to use the situation that Annie is at a billionaire's house for wealth, but without knowledge.

In the 1982 film version, Miss Hannigan goes with her helpers (who are taking Annie away), and suddenly changes when Rooster is about to catch and kill Annie (who has escaped onto the drawn B&O Bridge) and is knocked down for trying to stop him. When Rooster slides back down (due to Punjab knocking him after catching Annie), Miss Hannigan scolds him and beats him with her purse. Rooster and Lily are then arrested. Later, she, now a good woman, and is among the guests at a party where FDR and the First Lady are enjoying themselves.

In the TV sequel "Annie: A Royal Adventure!" Miss Hannigan is only a secondary character and may not really be villainous. She appears when Molly is first talking to Annie while the latter is delivering papers (and a small homemade pie to her), looking for the former. Later, she is shown again when Annie and her friend Hannah knock on her door. Annie claims she and Hannah had all the fun doing the chores she had them do, and ask to repay her by taking part of her burden off her hands for a whole week. Since Miss Hannigan doesn't get it, Annie offers to take Molly with them on their trip to London, giving her "one less little brat to worry about for seven days". Miss Hannigan refuses the idea, causing Hannah to point out that she is meaner than she can remember. There, Miss Hannigan appears again, yelling for the ship (known as the Queen Mary) to be stopped because Annie and Hannah had stowed Molly away on the ship. Nobody listens, and she is never seen again, but spoken of.

In the 1999 film version, after Miss Hannigan and her brother (pretending to be Annie's parents, the "Mudges") try to get her, and the orphans reveal who she really is (after blackmailing Lily into revealing what would happen to Annie right after accidentally revealing the secret), she and her helpers are arrested by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Secret Service.