King Features Syndicate launched the strip on January 10, 1927, not long after it was apparent that the Chicago Tribune Syndicate had scored a huge hit with "Little Orphan Annie". The name comes from the 1889 popular song of the same name, still familiar to many at the time. Although the King Features strip was an obvious knock-off with several similar parallels, the approach was quite different, and "Little Annie Rooney" had a successful run from January 10, 1927, to April 16, 1966.