There are precious few tomorrows left for Little Orphan Annie.
Phil Rosenthal breaks the news in today’s Chicago Tribune:
Through more than 85 years of hardships and challenges — spanning the Great Depression, a world war, foreign cabals, corruption at home, several kidnappings and, well, being an orphan — she somehow always found a way to triumph.
In the changing media landscape, however, Little Orphan Annie has run into adversity not even she could overcome. The sun will come out tomorrow, but the tomorrow after June 13 will be the first in generations to dawn without “Annie” appearing in a daily newspaper.
The final Sunday panel of the strip, once seen in hundreds of papers but now run by fewer than 20, will end with Daddy Warbucks uncertain over what happened to Annie in her latest run-in with the Butcher of the Balkans. And, leaping lizards, what about her dog, Sandy? Arf….
It’s sad news, but she had quite a run — newspapers, radio, movies, Broadway. We can’t help but wonder how many people under the age of 40 are still reading the strip.
Godspeed, Annie. Give our regards to Dondi.