Hairspray Quotations

Hairspray is a 2007 musical film based on a Broadway musical, set in 1960s Baltimore. It follows the adventures of plump, cute Tracy Turnblad, an aspiring dancer, when she launches a campaign to racially integrate a local TV dance show. Both the film and the musical are based on the 1988 film of the same name by John Waters.

Directed by Adam Shankman. Written by Thomas Meehan, Leslie Dixon and Mark O'Donnell.

You Can’t Stop The Beat...July 2007 (taglines)

Tracy Turnblad

Being invited places by colored people - it feels so hip!
Ma, its changing out there! people who are different, their time is comming!

from “Good Morning Baltimore”

The rats on the street

All dance ’round my feet

They seem to say

“Tracy, it’s up to you”

Good morning Baltimore

There’s the flasher who lives next door

There’s the bum on his bar room stool

They wish me luck on my way to school

from “You Can’t Stop the Beat”

You can’t stop an avalanche

As it races down the hill

You can try to stop the seasons, girl

But ya know you never will

And you can try to stop my dancin' feet

But I just cannot stand still

Penny Pingleton

My mom says I’m not allowed to perspire!

from “Without Love”

In my ivory tower

Life was just a Hostess snack

But now I’ve tasted chocolate

And I'm never going back

I am now a checkerboard chick!

Link Larkin

Sorry, little darlin’. Hope I didn’t dent your ’do.

From "Ladie's Choice"

Hey little girl lookin' for a sale,

Test drive this American male

It's gonna take cash to fill my tank,

So let's crack open your piggy bank!

(answering teacher's question) Kiss my ass?

Amber Von Tussle

(crying after Link has gone with Tracy and the Detention Kids) He just danced on that bus with that Great White Whale and those Negroes!

from “The New Girl in Town”

Hey look out for that moving van

Driving down our street!

You better lock up your man

Before he meets...

Seaweed J. Stubbs

from “Run and Tell That”

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.

I could say it ain’t so, but darling, what’s the use?

The darker the chocolate, the richer the taste,

And that’s where it’s at

Now run and tell that!

from “Without Love”

Girl, if I can’t touch you

Then I’m gonna lose control

Little Inez

from “Run and Tell That”

I’m tired of coverin’ up all my pride,

So give me five on the black-hand side

I’ve got a new way of movin’

And I got my own voice

So how can I help

But to shout and rejoice?

The people ’round here

Can barely pay their rent

They're try'n to make dollar

Outta fifteen cent

But we got a spirit

Money just can’t buy

It’s deep as a river

And soars to the sky!

Velma Von Tussle

from “(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs”

Those poor runner-ups

Might still hold their grudges

They padded their cups

But I screwed the judges

But you can bow and exalt

'Cause I am "Miss Baltimore Crabs"

I risked clinical diseases, she’ll certainly risk jail.
Let me guess, brand-new dress? Well, you’ll stop traffic!
I could do a fan dance with a lettuce leaf and you would remain completely obtuse!
You know what your demographic is? Cleaning ladies and lawn jockeys.
You cannot have lost, because I switched the damn tallies!
My husband, he accidentally suffocated.

from “Big, Blonde, and Beautiful (Reprise)”

I bet you’re tired of heavy lifting

Get your hands on something small

Other

from “Welcome to the Sixties”

Don’tcha let nobody try to steal your fun,

’Cause a little touch of lipstick never hurt no one

The future’s got a million roads for you to choose,

But you’ll walk a little taller in some high heel shoes

Dialogue

Edna Turnblad: Will you turn that racket down? I'm trying to iron here.

Tracy Turnblad: Ma, its not racket, its the Corny Collins Show!

Edna Turnblad: Well its turning your brains into mud!

Amber Von Tussle: Never Try that Again you little Whoooo (Link Walks up) holy moly

Link Larkin: (presents Amber with a ring) It’s time.

Amber Von Tussle: Oh!

(Amber and Link kiss)

Velma Von Tussle: Amber! Save your personal life for the camera, sweetie! Oop, shiny!

(sends Amber off to makeup for more powder)

Corny Collins: And now it’s time to say goodbye to our very own fun-lovin’, free-wheelin’ little Brenda. Come on up here, Brenda. Brenda will be taking a little leave of absence from the show. How long are you gonna be gone, Brenda?

Brenda: (smiling nervously) Just nine months.

Velma Von Tussle: Detroit sound? What’s that, the cries of people being mugged?

Velma Von Tussle: They’re kids, Corny, that’s why we have to steer them in the white direction.

Corny Collins: The right direction?

Velma Von Tussle: Didn’t I say that?

Corny Collins: Gee, Velma, how do you fire Corny Collins from The Corny Collins Show?

(walks away)

Velma Von Tussle: (starts to speak and then pauses, frustrated) They do it all the time on “Lassie”!

Edna Turnblad: No one is auditioning for anything in this household!

Tracy Turnblad: But why not? Why not?

Edna Turnblad: Because dancing is not your future. One day, you’re going to own "Edna’s Occidental Laundry".

Tracy Turnblad: I don’t want to be a laundress, I want to be famous!

Edna Turnblad: If you want to be famous, learn how to take blood out of car upholstery. That’s a skill you can take right to the bank.

Wilbur Turnblad: (to Tracy) This is America, babe, you gotta think big to be big.

Edna Turnblad: Big ain’t the problem in this family, Wilbur.

Tracy Turnblad: I can’t believe I’m really here auditioning [for The Corny Collins Show].

Penny Pingleton: I can’t believe I’m really here watching you audition.

Tracy Turnblad: Negro Day’s the best! I wish every day were “Negro Day”!

Seaweed J. Stubbs: At our house…it is.

Velma Von Tussle: (after The Dynamites perform “The New Girl in Town”) How dare you pick the same song!

Motormouth Maybelle: They wrote it.

Mr. Flak: Oh, and Mr. Larkin, perhaps you’d like to share with the rest of the class Patrick Henry’s immortal last words?

Link Larkin: Kiss my ass?

(Amber gasps in shock)

Penny Pingleton: I’m very pleased and scared to be here.

Motormouth Maybelle: Now, honey, we got more reason to be scared on your street.

Amber Von Tussle: I’m calling because I have some information about your daughter’s whereabouts.

Edna Turnblad: What?

Amber Von Tussle: Right now, as we speak, your daughter has entered a hotbed of moral…turpentine.

Motormouth Maybelle: (watching Edna walk in) Boy, if we get any more white people in here, this is gonna be a suburb.

Motormouth Maybelle: Miz Edna, is it? Hi, I mean, you don’t have to rush off, you know.

Edna Turnblad: Well, I do. I left my iron on.

Motormouth Maybelle: Oh, your iron? Well, before you go, are you sure you wouldn’t like to have a little something…to eat? (shows Edna the soul food spread on the table)

Edna Turnblad: (after a long moment) Is that braised?

Velma Von Tussle: Incredible! I could do a fan dance with a lettuce leaf and you would remain completely obtuse!

Wilbur Turnblad: Obtuse?

Velma Von Tussle: Yes, obtuse!

Wilbur Turnblad: I flunked geometry…

Velma Von Tussle: …yeah, well, and biology too, no doubt!

Wilbur Turnblad: (to a sobbing Edna, who thinks that he has been cheating on her) Honey, it took me five years to figure out you were flirting! How could I ever?

Link Larkin: I was just at home, practicing my new twist on “The Twist”, when I overheard it on the news. I can’t believe Tracy savagely bludgeoned an Eagle Scout. That’s just not like her.

Edna Turnblad: But it’s not true! I was there! He didn’t even bleed.

Penny Pingleton: Oh, Seaweed, you do care! I was afraid the colors of our skin would keep us apart.

Seaweed J. Stubbs: No…but these knots might. (still trying to untie her) Was your mom in the Navy?

Little Inez: (singing) Seaweed’s got a girlfriend!

Seaweed J. Stubbs: Shut up!

Little Inez: You.

Motormouth Maybelle: (to Seaweed and Penny) Oh, so this is love? (pauses, then smiles) Well, love is a gift — a lot of people don’t remember that. So you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin’ at you from a never-ending parade of stupid.

Penny Pingleton: (deadpans) So, you’ve met my mom?

Police Chief: (while on the lookout for Tracy) I doubt she’ll risk incarceration to win some beauty pageant.

Velma Von Tussle: (to herself) I risked communicable diseases. She’ll certainly risk jail.

Amber Von Tussle: I lost, Mom. Let’s just deal with it!

Velma Von Tussle: (as she pulls the tallies out of her brassiere) No, you did not lose! You cannot have lost because I switched the damn tallies!

Edna Turnblad: (standing behind a live television camera) Smile, Ms. Crab Meat! You’re on Candid Camera!

Wilbur Turnblad: That was a good shot, don’t you think?

Cameraman: Not bad!

Velma Von Tussle: Corny, do something. This show is turning to gumbo!

Corny Collins: Not a chance, Velma. This is the future.

Penny Pingleton: I am now a checkerboard chick! (kisses Seaweed)

Prudy Pingleton: (watching on TV) Penny, no! (tumbles over the coffee table)

Penny Pingleton: Without that show I have nothing.

Prudy Pingleton: Having nothing builds character!

Amber Von Tussle: You have to vote for a person, Corny, not one of the Himalayas.

Corny Collins: Always the charmer, Amber.

Taglines

For anyone who wanted something bigger, there comes a time to break all the rules.
Get ready for something big July 20th!
In July 2007, are you ready for something big?
It was a time of tradition, a time of values, and a time…to shake things up.
On July 20th, the summer blockbuster is getting a whole new look.
Remember when a movie can make you dream, make you dance, and make you feel on top of the world?
This Summer, when you follow your own beat, there is no limit to how far you can go.
When you follow your own beat, the world will follow you.
Who’s who behind the do?
You Can’t Stop The Beat…July 2007

Cast

John Travolta — Edna Turnblad
Michelle Pfeiffer — Velma Von Tussle
Christopher Walken — Wilbur Turnblad
Amanda Bynes — Penny Pingleton
James Marsden — Corny Collins
Queen Latifah — Motormouth Maybelle
Brittany Snow — Amber Von Tussle
Zac Efron — Link Larkin
Elijah Kelley — Seaweed J. Stubbs
Allison Janney — Prudy Pingleton
Nikki Blonsky — Tracy Turnblad

Trivia

The irony of casting John Travolta (Danny Zuko from Grease) as Edna Turnblad and Michelle Pfeiffer (Stephanie Zinone from Grease 2) as Velma Von Tussle was not lost on anyone.
Nikki Blonsky's film début. She was chosen out of a nationwide talent search and was actually surprised by director/choreographer Adam Shankman via a live video feed at Cold Stone Creamery where she worked.
On an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show Nikki Blonsky revealed that the first thing that John Travolta told her on the set was "Come to Momma!"
Zac Efron (Link Larkin) commuted back and forth from Toronto to Los Angeles to do the soundtrack for High School Musical 2. However, some of the Hairspray soundtrack was recorded in the same studio.
Link's signature "wink-and-click" gesture was something that Zac came up with on his own. Shankman liked it so much that he asked him to do it often on the film. Zac even did it on at least one occasion in High School Musical 2.
It took four hours of makeup daily to put John Travolta into the thirty-pound body suit to play Edna Turnblad.
The hairstyles and bunches for the cast members took an average of three hours to do.
Amanda Bynes (Penny Pingleton) constantly sucked on lollipops. Her father, a dentist, expressed concern about it. She assured him that she was not really eating them when in reality she ate them all.
Several deleted scenes included: Edna being arrested at the protest, Tracy singing "I Can Wait" in the bomb shelter of Penny's basement, and Velma being arrested near the end of "You Can't Stop the Beat". They can all be seen on the DVD.
The song "The New Girl in Town" was originally written for the Broadway show and it was cut during its pre-Broadway run but it was included in the film version. This was done to give Brittany Snow (Amber Von Tussle) a chance to sing and to show Negro Day, something that the other adaptations never did.
The song "You Can't Stop the Beat" was nicknamed "You Can't Stop to Breathe" by the cast due to the song's length, the near-nonstop dancing, and the large amount of words sung.
The songs "It Takes Two" and "Ladies' Choice", both sung by Link, were written for the stage and film respectively, even though the coda for the first song was only heard on film. It can be heard on the CD soundtrack.
Because Zac's voice was blended with Drew Seeley's in High School Musical, he got the chance to show his talents on his own with Hairspray. In High School Musical 2 he was the singing voice of Troy Bolton.
During a break in the filming, John Travolta led the cast in "Summer Loving" and "Greased Lightning" from Grease. Amanda and Zac were so excited that they texted all of their friends. Zac sent pages and pictures to his High School Musical cast mates who were on tour at that time.
The added reprise of "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" was done at Michelle Pfeiffer's suggestion to replace a scripted scene so that she could have another chance to sing.
Unlike the Broadway show, neither Amber nor Velma take active parts in "You Can't Stop the Beat.”
For "Run and Tell That”, a 1959 GMC school bus was cut into nine pieces to facilitate the dance number. Ironically, the white kids sat at the back of the bus.
The Broadway song "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" was reluctantly cut from the movie. It was set to be a three-way song involving Tracy, Penny, and Amber with their mothers. The producers felt that it could not be done without a three-way split screen and it would deviate from the movie. The song, however, was recorded featuring Nikki Blonsky, Ricki Lake (the original Tracy in the 1988 film), and Marissa Jaret Winokur from the Broadway show.
The dress that Penny wears in "You Can't Stop the Beat" was made from the curtains in her room. It was homage to Disney films where dresses were made from curtains and blankets.
Pulp Fiction Reference:
- Just before going out onto the floor in "You Can't Stop the Beat" Edna gives Velma the Batusi. She also does that to a cop in the deleted scenes portion of the DVD.
- When Edna says, "If you want to be famous, learn how to take blood out of car upholstery", it is a reference to the Harvey Keitel character.

Cameo Appearances

John Waters, director and writer of the original Hairspray and executive producer of the 2007 remake, was "the flasher who lives next door".
Mink Stole, Tammy in the 1988 film, was one of the women flashed by John Waters.
Choreographers Anne Fletcher, Zach Woodlee, and Joey Pizzi were the nurse, the teacher in the smoking lounge (whose doughnut Tracy takes), and the Driver's Ed teacher respectively in "I Can Hear the Bells".
Choreographer Jamal Sims was one of the protesters in "I Know Where I've Been". He was the one on Edna's left.
Set director Joey O'Brien was The Corny Collins Show director.
Director/Choreographer Adam Shankman, Ricki Lake (the original Tracy in the 1988 film), and composer Mark Shaiman were the William Morris talent agents. Note Shaiman's out-of-time beard and hair.
Shawn Thompson, Corny Collins in the original 1988 film, was the reporter outside of the studio.