 In 1933, during the Great Depression 11 year old orphan Annie Bennett was left on her own at an all girls orphanage when she was an infant.The only two things that she received from her family was half a heart-shaped locket with a key hole, and a note from her parents saying that they would come back for her.The orphanage is run by the tyrannical Miss Hannigan, who starves the orphans, forces them to do slave labor, and she even makes them suffer.