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Hairspray (2007 film)
Encyclopedia
Hairspray is a 2007 musical film
produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema
. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name
, which in turn was based on John Waters
's 1988 comedy film of the same name. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland
, the film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation
.
Adapted from both Waters' 1988 script and Thomas Meehan
and Mark O'Donnell's book for the stage musical by screenwriter Leslie Dixon
, the 2007 film version of Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman
. Hairspray features songs from the Broadway musical written by Marc Shaiman
and Scott Wittman
, as well as four new Shaiman/Wittman compositions not present in the original Broadway version.
Opening to positive reviews, Hairspray met with financial success, breaking the record for biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical, which the film held until July 2008 when it was surpassed by Mamma Mia!
and later High School Musical 3: Senior Year
in October. Hairspray went on to become the fourth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease
, Chicago
, and Mamma Mia!. Available in a variety of formats, Hairsprays Region 1
home video release took place on November 20, 2007. USA Network
purchased the broadcast rights to Hairspray and was scheduled to debut the film on cable television in February 2010, but in the end it did not broadcast that month, instead the film was pushed back and premiered on USA on July 24, 2010, with sister channel Bravo also showing it multiple times, and in February 2011 aired on ABC
for over-the-air broadcasts.
steps out of her apartment
("Good Morning Baltimore") and endures a day’s worth of school before she and her best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes
), can watch their favorite TV show
, The Corny Collins Show, a teen dance show broadcast from Baltimore’s station WYZT ("The Nicest Kids in Town").
The teenagers featured on the show attend Tracy and Penny's school, among them the arrogant and wealthy Amber von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her boyfriend, Link Larkin (Zac Efron
), the lead male dancer on the show. Amber’s mother, Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer
) manages WYZT and goes out of her way to make sure Amber is featured and that The Corny Collins Show remains a racially segregated
program. Corny Collins (James Marsden
) and his Council Members are white; black kids are only allowed on the show on "Negro Day", held the last Thursday of each month and hosted by R&B
DJ
Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah
), who owns the local record shop.
Tracy's reclusive mother, Edna (John Travolta
in drag), and Penny's strict, religious mother, Prudy (Allison Janney
), disapprove of their daughters' fascination with the program, despite the fact that Prudy watches the show herself; Tracy's father, Wilbur (Christopher Walken
), a joke-shop proprietor, is more lenient. One day, Corny Collins announces that a Council Member is going on a leave of absence, and that auditions for a replacement will be held the next morning during school hours ("It Takes Two"). When Tracy attends, Velma rejects her at the audition for being overweight and supportive of integration
("(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs"). Tracy is sent to detention by Miss Wimsey (Jayne Eastwood
) for skipping school, where she learns that the “Negro Day” kids practice their dances in the detention hall. Tracy befriends the students' best dancer, Motormouth Maybelle's son, Seaweed (Elijah Kelley
), who teaches Tracy several dance moves. As Tracy leaves detention, she accidentally bumps into Link and dreams of a life with him when he winks at her ("I Can Hear the Bells"). At a record hop, Tracy’s moves attract the attention of Corny Collins ("Ladies' Choice") and he appoints her to the Council ("The Nicest Kids in Town (Reprise)").
Tracy becomes one of Corny's most popular Council Members. This threatens Amber's chances of winning the show's yearly "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant ("The New Girl in Town") and her relationship with Link, as he grows fonder of Tracy. Mr. Pinky (Jerry Stiller
), a slightly off-centered salesman, suggests that Tracy be the spokesgirl for his Hefty Hideaway boutique
. Tracy convinces Edna to accompany her to the Hefty Hideaway and act as her agent, and in the process helps cure her mother's agoraphobia
("Welcome to the '60s").
At school, Tracy introduces Seaweed to Penny, and the two are instantly smitten. One afternoon, Amber arranges for Tracy to be sent to detention. Link follows by saying "kiss my ass" to Mr. Flak (George King). Seaweed invites the girls and Link to follow him and his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks
) to a platter party
at Motormouth Maybelle's record shop
("Run and Tell That"). When Edna finds Tracy at the shop she tries to take her home, until Maybelle convinces her to stay and tells her to take pride in herself ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful"). Maybelle informs everyone that Velma has canceled "Negro Day". Tracy suggests that Maybelle and the others stage a protest march
(a parody of the march in Alabama
led by Malcolm X
), which they plan for the next afternoon, a day before the "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant. Realizing that he has a chance at stardom by singing at the pageant, Link does not attend the demonstration, disappointing Tracy. After the party, Edna goes to Wilbur's shop to flirt with him. Velma gets there first and unsuccessfully tries to seduce Wilbur ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)"). Edna arrives and accuses Wilbur of infidelity
. Edna, out of hatred for Velma, forbids Tracy from being on the show. Wilbur and Edna soon reconcile ("(You’re) Timeless to Me").
The next morning, Tracy sneaks out of the house to join the protest ("I Know Where I’ve Been"), which comes to a halt at a police roadblock set up by Velma. The protesters are arrested, but Tracy runs to the Pingletons, where Penny hides her in a fallout shelter
. Prudy catches Tracy and calls the police before tying Penny to her bed. Seaweed and his friends, having been bailed out by Wilbur, help Tracy and Penny escape. Meanwhile, Link visits Tracy’s house to look for her and realizes that he loves her. Seaweed and Penny also acknowledge their love during the escape from her house ("Without Love").
With the pageant underway ("(It’s) Hairspray"), Velma places police officers around WYZT to stop Tracy. She also changes the pageant tallies so Amber is guaranteed to win. Penny arrives at the pageant with Edna "incognito", while Wilbur, Seaweed, and the Negro Day kids help Tracy infiltrate the studio in time to participate in the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance contest. Link breaks away from Amber to dance with Tracy; later, he pulls Little Inez, who has just arrived at WYZT with Maybelle, to the stage to dance in the pageant.
Little Inez receives the most votes and wins the pageant, officially integrating
The Corny Collins Show. Velma loudly declares her frustration, informing her daughter of the tally-switching scheme. Unknown to Velma, Edna and Wilbur have turned a camera on her, and Velma's outburst is broadcast on the air, causing her to be fired from the program. Meanwhile, The Corny Collins Show set explodes into a celebration as Tracy and Link cement their love with a kiss ("You Can’t Stop the Beat").
Minor roles
Council members
The Dynamites
Cameos
In addition to the principal actors, the film contained several cameo appearance
s by individuals involved in the history of Hairspray:
Singing cameos
, which won eight Tony Award
s in 2003, New Line Cinema
, who owned the rights to the 1988 John Waters film upon which the stage musical is based, became interested in adapting the stage show as a musical film. Development work began in late 2004, while a similar film-to-Broadway-to-film project, Mel Brooks
' The Producers
, was in production.
Craig Zadan
and Neil Meron
, the executive producers of the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago
, were hired as the producers for Hairspray, and began discussing possibly casting John Travolta
and Billy Crystal
(or Jim Broadbent
) as Edna and Wilbur Turnblad, respectively. Thomas Meehan
and Mark O'Donnell, authors of the book for the stage musical, wrote the first draft of the film's screenplay, but were replaced by Leslie Dixon
, screenwriter for family comedies such as Mrs. Doubtfire
and Freaky Friday
. After a year's deliberation on who should direct the film, Zadan and Meron finally decided to hire Adam Shankman
to both direct and choreograph Hairspray. Upon learning he had been hired, Shankman arranged a meeting with John Waters, who advised him "don't do what I did, don't do what the play did. You've gotta do your own thing." Despite this, Shankman still noted "all roads of Hairspray lead back to John Waters."
Tony Gardner (designer)
and his company Alterian, Inc.were hired to design and create the look of Edna Turnblad on John Travolta. Costume designer Rita Ryak wanted to put Edna into several revealing outfits, so Travolta ended up being encapsulated in prosthetics. He wore silicone prosthetics on his head and neck, and foam latex arms and legs that connected to a spandex and foam body suit.
inherent in the stage musical. The 2007 film's script is based primarily on the stage musical rather than the 1988 film, so several changes already made to the plot for the stage version remain in this version. These include dropping several characters from the 1988 version (such as Arvin Hodgepile, Franklin Von Tussle, Tammy Turner, the beatnik
s, et al.), removing the Tilted Acres amusement park from the story, and placing Velma in charge of the station where The Corny Collins Show is filmed.
"Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a popular number from the stage musical, features Tracy, Penny, and Amber arguing with their respective mothers. Neither Shankman nor Dixon could come up with a solution for filming the song that did not require a three-way split screen — something they wanted to avoid — and both felt the number did not adequately advance the plot. As a result, the song was reluctantly dropped from the film during pre-production, although it is used by Shaiman as an instrumental number when the Corny Collins kids dance the "Stricken Chicken". A special version of the song was recorded for the film's end credits in May 2007, during the final score recording process, which featured vocals from each of the three women most famous for portraying Tracy Turnblad: Ricki Lake
from the 1988 film, Marissa Jaret Winokur
from the original Broadway cast, and Nikki Blonsky from the 2007 film. Harvey Fierstein
, who portrayed Edna as part of the original Broadway cast, has a brief cameo moment in the end credits version of the song as well.
"It Takes Two", a solo for Link, was moved from its place in the stage musical (on Tracy's first day on The Corny Collins Show) to an earlier Corny Collins scene, although only the coda
of the song is used in the final release print, and the song's background music can be heard immediately after the reprise of "The Nicest Kids in Town". "Cooties", a solo for Amber in the stage musical, is present in this film as an instrumental during the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance-off. Similar to "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a version of "Cooties", performed in a contemporary pop rendition by Aimee Allen
, is present during the end credits.
One notable difference between the stage musical, the original film, and the 2007 film version of Hairspray is that Tracy does not go to jail in the 2007 version (thus eliminating the musical's song "The Big Dollhouse"). In both previous incarnations of Hairspray, Tracy is arrested and taken to jail along with the other protesters. Edna is presented in this version as an insecure introvert, in contrast to the relatively bolder incarnations present in the 1988 film and the stage musical. Among many other elements changed or added to this version are the removal of Motormouth Maybelle's habit of constantly speaking in rhyming jive talk
, and doubling the number of teens in Corny Collins' Council (from ten on Broadway to twenty in the 2007 film).
Dixon restructured portions of Hairsprays book to allow several of the songs to blend more naturally into the plot, in particular "(You're) Timeless to Me" and "I Know Where I've Been". "(You're) Timeless to Me" becomes the anchor of a newly invented subplot involving Velma's attempt to break up Edna and Wilbur’s marriage and keep Tracy off The Corny Collins Show as a result. The song now serves as Wilbur's apology to Edna, in addition to its original purpose in the stage musical as a tongue-in-cheek
declaration of Wilbur and Edna's love for each other. Meanwhile, "I Know Where I've Been", instead of being sung by Maybelle alone after being let out of jail, now underscores Maybelle's march on WYZT (which takes place in the stage musical only briefly during "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful").
The song "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" was inspired by a line that Tracy delivered in the original film ("Now all of Baltimore will know: I'm big, blonde and beautiful!"), but in the stage version and in this film, Motormouth Maybelle performs the song. A reprise of the song was added to the 2007 film, which is sung by Edna and Velma.
, New York City
, and Chicago. After auditioning over eleven hundred candidates, Nikki Blonsky, an eighteen-year-old high school senior from Great Neck, New York
who had no previous professional acting experience, was chosen for the lead role of Tracy. Relative unknowns Elijah Kelley
and Taylor Parks
were chosen through similar audition contests to portray Seaweed and Little Inez, respectively. John Travolta
was finally cast as Edna, with Christopher Walken
ultimately assuming the role of Wilbur. Several other stars, including Queen Latifah
, James Marsden
, Michelle Pfeiffer
, and Allison Janney
were chosen for the other supporting adult roles of Motormouth Maybelle, Corny Collins, Velma Von Tussle, and Prudy Pingleton, respectively. Teen stars Amanda Bynes
, and Zac Efron
were cast as Tracy's friends Penny and Link, and Brittany Snow was cast as her rival Amber. Jerry Stiller
, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film version of Hairspray, appears as Mr. Pinky in this version.
Since Hairsprays plot focuses heavily on dance, choreography
became a heavy focus for Shankman, who hired four assistant choreographers, Jamal Sims, Anne Fletcher
, and Zach Woodlee
, and put both his acting cast and over a hundred and fifty dancers through two months of rehearsals. The cast recorded the vocal tracks for their songs as coached by Elaine Overholt in the weeks just before principal photography began in September.
took place in Toronto
, and Hamilton
, Ontario
, Canada from September 5-December 8, 2006. Hairspray is explicitly set in Baltimore, Maryland and the original 1988 film had been shot on location there, but the 2007 film was shot primarily in Toronto because the city was better equipped with the sound stage
s necessary to film a musical. The opening shots of the descent from the clouds and the newspaper being dropped onto the stoop
are the only times that the actual city of Baltimore is shown in the film.
The majority of the film was shot at Toronto's Showline Studios. Most of the street scenes were shot at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue. Some of the signs for the 1960s-era stores remain up along the street. Toronto's Lord Lansdowne Public School was used for all of the high school exteriors and some of the interiors, while the old Queen Victoria School in Hamilton was also used for interiors. Scenes at Queen Victoria were shot from November 22 to December 2, and the school was scheduled to be demolished after film production was completed.
Thinner than most of the other men who have portrayed Edna, Travolta appeared onscreen in a large fat suit
, and required four hours of makeup in order to appear before the cameras. His character's nimble dancing style belies her girth; Shankman based Edna's dancing style on the hippo
ballerina
s in the Dance of the Hours
sequence in Walt Disney
's 1940 animated feature, Fantasia
. Although early versions of the suit created "a dumpy, Alfred Hitchcock
version of Edna," Travolta fought for the ability to give his character curves and a thick Baltimore accent
. Designed by Tony Gardner
, the fat suit was created using lightweight synthetic materials, consisting of layered pads and silicone
, which was used from the chest upwards. The suit provided the additional benefit of covering Travolta's beard, eliminating the problem of his facial hair growing through his makeup midday.
's presidency
. As shown in the film, the houses in Baltimore's early residential neighborhoods are directly attached structurally, and are usually set up in the form of loft houses, mostly due to the construction of a store below. In the opening, a trolley
runs down the road's center. Since then, these have been removed in favor of rapid transit
systems. In addition, many people can be seen with various styles of Beehives
.
Many 1960s cultural references are shown in the film. For example, an Esso
station can be seen in the opening song, "Good Morning Baltimore". Esso changed its name to Exxon
since then, but still operates in Canada as a division of ExxonMobil
.
and co-lyricist Scott Wittman
were required to alter their Broadway Hairspray song score in various ways in order to work on film, from changing portions of the lyrics in some songs (e.g., "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful", and "You Can't Stop the Beat") to more or less completely removing other songs from the film altogether.
"Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a popular number from the stage musical, features Tracy, Penny, and Amber arguing with their respective mothers. Neither Shankman nor Dixon could come up with a solution for filming "Mama" that did not require a three-way split screen — something they wanted to avoid — and both felt the number did not adequately advance the plot. As a result, "Mama" was reluctantly dropped from the film during pre-production, although it is used by Shaiman as an instrumental number when the Corny Collins kids dance the "Stricken Chicken". A special version of "Mama" was recorded for the film's end credits in May 2007, during the final score recording process, which featured vocals from each of the three women most famous for portraying Tracy Turnblad: Ricki Lake
from the 1988 film, Marissa Jaret Winokur
from the original Broadway cast, and Nikki Blonsky from the 2007 film. Harvey Fierstein
, who portrayed Edna as part of the original Broadway cast, has a brief cameo moment in the end credits version of "Mama" as well.
"It Takes Two", a solo for Link, was moved from its place in the stage musical (on Tracy's first day on The Corny Collins Show) to an earlier Corny Collins scene, although only the coda
of the song is used in the final release print, and the song's background music can be heard immediately after the reprise of "The Nicest Kids in Town". "Cooties", a solo for Amber in the stage musical, is present in this film as an instrumental during the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance-off. As with "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a version of "Cooties", performed in a contemporary pop rendition by Aimee Allen
, is present during the end credits.
The performance of a vintage dance called The Madison
, present in both the 1988 film and the stage musical, was replaced for this version by a newly composed song, "Ladies' Choice". Portions of the Madison dance steps were integrated into the choreography for the musical number "You Can't Stop the Beat", and the song to which the dance is performed on Broadway can be heard during Motormouth Maybelle's platter party in the film, re-titled "Boink-Boink". "The Big Dollhouse" was the only song from the musical not used in the film in any way.
Shaiman and Wittman composed two new songs for the 2007 film: "Ladies' Choice", a solo for Link, and "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)", a song performed during the end credits by Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, and Elijah Kelley. Another "new" song in the 2007 film, "The New Girl in Town", had originally been composed for the Broadway musical, but was deemed unnecessary and discarded from the musical. Director Adam Shankman decided to use the song to both underscore a rise-to-fame montage for Tracy and to showcase Maybelle's "Negro Day", which is never actually seen in either of the earlier incarnations of Hairspray.
One additional Shaiman/Wittman song, a ballad entitled "I Can Wait", was composed for the film as a solo for Tracy, meant to replace the stage musical's reprise of "Good Morning Baltimore". "I Can Wait" was shot for the film (Tracy performs the number while locked in Prudy's basement), but was eventually deleted from the final release print. The audio recording of "I Can Wait" was made available as a special bonus track for customers who pre-ordered the Hairspray soundtrack on iTunes
, and the scene itself was included as a special feature on the film's DVD release.
Post-production took place in Los Angeles
. Composer/co-lyricist Shaiman continued work on the film's music, employing the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra
to record instrumentation for both the songs and the incidental score.
and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
. This made Hairspray the record-holder for the biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical. This record was later broken by the release of Mamma Mia!
, which grossed $27,605,000 on its opening weekend. Hairspray has since gone on to become the fourth highest grossing musical in U.S. cinema history, surpassing The Rocky Horror Picture Show
($112.8 million) and Dreamgirls
($103 million), released seven months prior. Ending its domestic run on October 25, 2007, Hairspray has a total domestic gross of $118,871,849 and $202,548,575 worldwide. Its biggest overseas markets include the United Kingdom ($25.8 million), Australia ($14.4 million), Japan ($8 million), Italy ($4.6 million), France ($3.9 million) and Spain ($3.8 million). This made Hairspray the third musical film in history to cross $200 million internationally, behind 1978's hit Grease
($395 million) and 2002's Chicago
($307 million). It is the seventh highest-grossing PG-rated film of 2007, and has grossed more than other higher-budgeted summer releases like Ocean's Thirteen
($117 million) and Evan Almighty
($100 million).
Two weeks after its original release, new "sing-along" prints of Hairspray were shipped to theaters. These prints featured the lyrics to each song printed onscreen as subtitles, encouraging audiences to interact with the film. On January 4, 2008, Hairspray was re-released in New York
and Los Angeles
for one week because John Travolta
was present for Q&A and autographs.
, The New York Times
, and The Boston Globe
, as well as a smaller number of reviews comparing it unfavorably to the Waters original. The film is one of the top picks on Metacritic
, with an average of 81. It scored a 91% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
, also indicating excellent reviews, making it one of 2007's best-reviewed films. Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor
named it the 4th best film of 2007. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post
named it the ninth best film of 2007.
Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying that there was "a lot of craft and slyness lurking beneath the circa-1960s goofiness," also stating that "The point, however, is not the plot but the energy. Without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat, but everybody works at her level of happiness..." Ebert also noted that this film is "a little more innocent than Waters would have made it..." Krishna Shenoi, of the Shenoi Chronicle, called the movie "Shankman's masterpiece," saying that it moved away from his previous works into a different direction, making a light comedy that deals with serious issues maturely. Shenoi also said that the film was everything he wanted Grease
to be. Lou Lumenick of The New York Post hailed Hairspray as "The best and most entertaining movie adaptation of a stage musical so far this century — and yes, I’m including the Oscar-winning Chicago," calling it "one of the best-cast movies in recent memory..." New York Daily News
critic Jack Matthews called the film "A great big sloppy kiss of entertainment for audiences weary of explosions, CGI effects and sequels, sequels, sequels." The Baltimore Sun
review offered Michael Sragow's opinion that "in its entirety, Hairspray has the funny tilt that only a director-choreographer like Shankman can give to a movie," pointing out that Shankman skillfully "puts a new-millennial zing behind exact re-creations of delirious period dances like the Mashed Potato." Dana Stevens from Slate
called Hairspray "intermittently tasty, if a little too frantically eager to please." Stevens noted that "Despite its wholesomeness, this version stays remarkably true to the spirit of the original, with one size-60 exception: John Travolta as Edna Turnblad," saying "How you feel about Hairspray will depend entirely on your reaction to this performance..."
The New Yorker
s David Denby
felt the new version of Hairspray was "perfectly pleasant," but compared unfavorably to the Broadway musical, since "[director Adam Shankman and screenwriter Leslie Dixon] have removed the traces of camp humor and Broadway blue that gave the stage show its happily knowing flavor." Denby criticized the dance numbers, calling them "unimaginatively shot," and he considered "the idea of substituting John Travolta for Harvey Fierstein as Tracy’s hefty mother... a blandly earnest betrayal." Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com
found Hairspray "reasonably entertaining. But do we really need to be entertained reasonably? Waters' original was a crazy sprawl that made perfect sense; this Hairspray toils needlessly to make sense of that craziness, and something gets lost in the translation." Zacharek was also displeased with the way Latifah's performance of "I Know Where I've Been" was incorporated into the movie, saying "The filmmakers may believe they're adding an extra layer of seriousness to the material... [but] the inclusion of this big production number only suggests that the filmmakers fear the audience won't get the movie's message unless it's spelled out for them."
. Kevin Naff, a managing editor for Washington, DC/Baltimore area online gay news site The Washington Blade
called for a boycott of the new Hairspray film, alleging that Scientology
, in which Travolta believes, was patently homophobic, and allegedly supported workshops designed to "cure" homosexuals
. Adam Shankman protested Naff's proposed boycott, stating that Travolta was not homophobic, as he (Shankman), Waters, Shaiman, Wittman, and several other members of the creative staff were homosexual, and Travolta got along well with the entire crew. "John's personal beliefs did not walk onto my set," said Shankman. "I never heard the word 'Scientology.'"
formats in Region 1
on November 20, 2007. The Blu-ray disc is encoded with 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio
. The standard DVD was released in two versions: a one-disc release and a two-disc "Shake and Shimmy" edition.
Bonus features on the two-disc release include two audio commentaries
, a feature-length production documentary, featurettes on the earlier versions of Hairspray, dance instruction featurettes, deleted scene
s including Tracy's deleted song "I Can Wait", an slightly extended ending, and an alternate version of the "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" reprise, and behind-the-scenes looks at the production of each of the film's dance numbers. The Blu-ray release, a two-disc release, includes all of the features from the two-disc DVD, and includes a picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes feature, which runs concurrently with the film. An HD DVD
version of the film was originally slated for release in 2008, but has since been canceled due to New Line Cinema
's announcement that it would go Blu-ray exclusive with immediate effect, thus dropping HD DVD support.
Wins
Nominations
had asked John Waters
to write a sequel to the film. Waters reunited with director/choreographer Adam Shankman
for the project, and songwriters Marc Shaiman
and Scott Wittman
were set to compose the film's musical numbers.
The story would have looked at Tracy's entering the late '60s era of music and the British Invasion
, and used the Vietnam War
as a backdrop. While no official casting was announced, New Line said that they hoped to "snag much of the original Hairspray cast." John Travolta
, however, publicly announced that he would not return because he is "not a big sequel guy".
The sequel was set for a mid-July 2010 release by Warner Bros, which owns New Line Cinema. However in June 2010, director Shankman told British press that Hairspray 2 is no longer in development. Marc Shaiman has also said that there will be no sequel.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, which in turn was based on John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
's 1988 comedy film of the same name. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, the film follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
.
Adapted from both Waters' 1988 script and Thomas Meehan
Thomas Meehan (writer)
Thomas Meehan is an American writer, best known for Annie, The Producers and Hairspray.-Life and career:Meehan grew up in Suffern, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College...
and Mark O'Donnell's book for the stage musical by screenwriter Leslie Dixon
Leslie Dixon
Leslie Dixon is an American screenwriter and producer. Some of the screenplays she has written include: Outrageous Fortune, Overboard, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Thomas Crown Affair, Pay It Forward, and Hairspray. She was nominated for a Saturn Award for her Freaky Friday screenplay...
, the 2007 film version of Hairspray is directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman
Adam Shankman
Adam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He has been a judge on the television program So You Think You Can Dance since Season 3. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet...
. Hairspray features songs from the Broadway musical written by Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
and Scott Wittman
Scott Wittman
Scott Wittman is an American director, lyricist, and writer for Broadway, concerts, and television.Wittman was raised in Nanuet, New York graduated high Nanuet Senior High School in 1972 and attended Emerson College in Boston for two years before leaving to pursue a career in musical theatre in...
, as well as four new Shaiman/Wittman compositions not present in the original Broadway version.
Opening to positive reviews, Hairspray met with financial success, breaking the record for biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical, which the film held until July 2008 when it was surpassed by Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! (film)
Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical/romantic comedy film adapted from the 1999 West End/2001 Broadway musical of the same name, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson...
and later High School Musical 3: Senior Year
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a 2008 American romantic musical film and the third and final installment in the High School Musical trilogy. Its theatrical release in the United States began on October 24, 2008...
in October. Hairspray went on to become the fourth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
, Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
, and Mamma Mia!. Available in a variety of formats, Hairsprays Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
home video release took place on November 20, 2007. USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
purchased the broadcast rights to Hairspray and was scheduled to debut the film on cable television in February 2010, but in the end it did not broadcast that month, instead the film was pushed back and premiered on USA on July 24, 2010, with sister channel Bravo also showing it multiple times, and in February 2011 aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
for over-the-air broadcasts.
Plot
May 3, 1962: Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky), a cheerful, overweight high school student living in Baltimore, MarylandBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
steps out of her apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
("Good Morning Baltimore") and endures a day’s worth of school before she and her best friend, Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes is an American actress, comedian, singer, and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You...
), can watch their favorite TV show
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, The Corny Collins Show, a teen dance show broadcast from Baltimore’s station WYZT ("The Nicest Kids in Town").
The teenagers featured on the show attend Tracy and Penny's school, among them the arrogant and wealthy Amber von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and her boyfriend, Link Larkin (Zac Efron
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
), the lead male dancer on the show. Amber’s mother, Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
) manages WYZT and goes out of her way to make sure Amber is featured and that The Corny Collins Show remains a racially segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
program. Corny Collins (James Marsden
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
) and his Council Members are white; black kids are only allowed on the show on "Negro Day", held the last Thursday of each month and hosted by R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
), who owns the local record shop.
Tracy's reclusive mother, Edna (John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
in drag), and Penny's strict, religious mother, Prudy (Allison Janney
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
), disapprove of their daughters' fascination with the program, despite the fact that Prudy watches the show herself; Tracy's father, Wilbur (Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
), a joke-shop proprietor, is more lenient. One day, Corny Collins announces that a Council Member is going on a leave of absence, and that auditions for a replacement will be held the next morning during school hours ("It Takes Two"). When Tracy attends, Velma rejects her at the audition for being overweight and supportive of integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
("(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs"). Tracy is sent to detention by Miss Wimsey (Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...
) for skipping school, where she learns that the “Negro Day” kids practice their dances in the detention hall. Tracy befriends the students' best dancer, Motormouth Maybelle's son, Seaweed (Elijah Kelley
Elijah Kelley
Elijah Kelley is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Kelley has appeared in the films Take the Lead and 28 Days , and co-starred in the musical film re-adaptation of Hairspray , in which he portrayed the character Seaweed J...
), who teaches Tracy several dance moves. As Tracy leaves detention, she accidentally bumps into Link and dreams of a life with him when he winks at her ("I Can Hear the Bells"). At a record hop, Tracy’s moves attract the attention of Corny Collins ("Ladies' Choice") and he appoints her to the Council ("The Nicest Kids in Town (Reprise)").
Tracy becomes one of Corny's most popular Council Members. This threatens Amber's chances of winning the show's yearly "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant ("The New Girl in Town") and her relationship with Link, as he grows fonder of Tracy. Mr. Pinky (Jerry Stiller
Jerry Stiller
Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
), a slightly off-centered salesman, suggests that Tracy be the spokesgirl for his Hefty Hideaway boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
. Tracy convinces Edna to accompany her to the Hefty Hideaway and act as her agent, and in the process helps cure her mother's agoraphobia
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder defined as a morbid fear of having a panic attack or panic-like symptoms in a situation from which it is perceived to be difficult to escape. These situations can include, but are not limited to, wide-open spaces, crowds, or uncontrolled social conditions...
("Welcome to the '60s").
At school, Tracy introduces Seaweed to Penny, and the two are instantly smitten. One afternoon, Amber arranges for Tracy to be sent to detention. Link follows by saying "kiss my ass" to Mr. Flak (George King). Seaweed invites the girls and Link to follow him and his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks
Taylor Parks
Taylor Parks is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Little Inez in the 2007 film Hairspray....
) to a platter party
Sock Hop
The sock hop was an informal sponsored dance at American high schools, typically held in the high school's own gym or cafeteria. The term sock hop came about because dancers were required to remove their shoes to protect the varnished floor of the gymnasium. These hops were a cultural feature of...
at Motormouth Maybelle's record shop
Record shop
A record shop or record store is an outlet that sells recorded music. Although vinyl records and audio cassettes are no longer sold in the majority of music stores, in favour of compact discs and home video recordings products, people in some countries, like the UK, still use the term "record...
("Run and Tell That"). When Edna finds Tracy at the shop she tries to take her home, until Maybelle convinces her to stay and tells her to take pride in herself ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful"). Maybelle informs everyone that Velma has canceled "Negro Day". Tracy suggests that Maybelle and the others stage a protest march
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
(a parody of the march in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
led by Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
), which they plan for the next afternoon, a day before the "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant. Realizing that he has a chance at stardom by singing at the pageant, Link does not attend the demonstration, disappointing Tracy. After the party, Edna goes to Wilbur's shop to flirt with him. Velma gets there first and unsuccessfully tries to seduce Wilbur ("Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)"). Edna arrives and accuses Wilbur of infidelity
Infidelity
In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...
. Edna, out of hatred for Velma, forbids Tracy from being on the show. Wilbur and Edna soon reconcile ("(You’re) Timeless to Me").
The next morning, Tracy sneaks out of the house to join the protest ("I Know Where I’ve Been"), which comes to a halt at a police roadblock set up by Velma. The protesters are arrested, but Tracy runs to the Pingletons, where Penny hides her in a fallout shelter
Fallout shelter
A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
. Prudy catches Tracy and calls the police before tying Penny to her bed. Seaweed and his friends, having been bailed out by Wilbur, help Tracy and Penny escape. Meanwhile, Link visits Tracy’s house to look for her and realizes that he loves her. Seaweed and Penny also acknowledge their love during the escape from her house ("Without Love").
With the pageant underway ("(It’s) Hairspray"), Velma places police officers around WYZT to stop Tracy. She also changes the pageant tallies so Amber is guaranteed to win. Penny arrives at the pageant with Edna "incognito", while Wilbur, Seaweed, and the Negro Day kids help Tracy infiltrate the studio in time to participate in the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance contest. Link breaks away from Amber to dance with Tracy; later, he pulls Little Inez, who has just arrived at WYZT with Maybelle, to the stage to dance in the pageant.
Little Inez receives the most votes and wins the pageant, officially integrating
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
The Corny Collins Show. Velma loudly declares her frustration, informing her daughter of the tally-switching scheme. Unknown to Velma, Edna and Wilbur have turned a camera on her, and Velma's outburst is broadcast on the air, causing her to be fired from the program. Meanwhile, The Corny Collins Show set explodes into a celebration as Tracy and Link cement their love with a kiss ("You Can’t Stop the Beat").
Cast
Main characters- Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Edna Turnblad, the film's protagonistProtagonistA protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
. An optimistic, overweight teenage girl who loves to dance, Tracy's racial color-blindness unwittingly leads her to becoming an active supporter for the integration of The Corny Collins Show. Hairspray is newcomer Nikki Blonsky's debut as a professional actress. - John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mother and agent, an agoraphobe ashamed of her obesityObesityObesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
. John Travolta's casting as Edna continues the tradition of having a man in dragCross-dressingCross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
portray the character, going back to the original 1988 film, which featured drag queenDrag queenA drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
Divine as Edna and at Hairspray's Broadway version, which featured Harvey FiersteinHarvey FiersteinHarvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
as Edna. Executives at New Line CinemaNew Line CinemaNew Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
originally expected the part to be filled by an actor accustomed to playing comic roles, tossing around names such as Robin WilliamsRobin WilliamsRobin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Steve MartinSteve MartinStephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, and Tom HanksTom HanksThomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
. However, Travolta was aggressively sought after by producers Craig ZadanCraig ZadanCraig Zadan is an American executive producer, director, and writer. Zadan is openly gay and is one half of the successful production team Storyline Entertainment with partner Neil Meron since their meeting many years ago in the New York theatrical community.-Early life:Zadan was born in Miami,...
and Neil MeronNeil MeronNeil Meron is an American film producer known for producing the 2002 film Chicago and the 2007 film Hairspray. With partner Craig Zadan he runs the production company "Storyline Entertainment".-Life and career:...
for this role because he had starred in GreaseGrease (film)Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
, the second most successful movie musical to date, beaten only by Mamma Mia!Mamma Mia! (film)Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical/romantic comedy film adapted from the 1999 West End/2001 Broadway musical of the same name, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson...
. - Michelle PfeifferMichelle PfeifferMichelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
as Velma Von Tussle, the film's antagonistAntagonistAn antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
. As manager of station WYZT, the racistRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, former beauty queen, Velma is primarily interested in keeping her daughter Amber in the spotlight and The Corny Collins Show segregated. Hairspray is the first film featuring Michelle Pfeiffer to be released in five years (Stardust, also featuring Pfeiffer, was filmed before Hairspray, but released three weeks afterwards). The peculiarity of Pfeiffer and Travolta appearing onscreen together (Travolta starred in Grease, Pfeiffer in Grease 2Grease 2Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical film and sequel to Grease, which is based upon the musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Grease 2 was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who also choreographed the first film...
) was not lost on the production staff; Travolta requested that Pfeiffer play the part of the villainess. - Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
as Wilbur Turnblad, Tracy's father, the easygoing proprietor of the "Hardy-Har Hut" joke shop below the Turnblad family's loft apartmentLoftA loft can be an upper story or attic in a building, directly under the roof. Alternatively, a loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use from some other use, often light industrial...
. John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
had asked that Walken be considered for the part, and he eventually beat out Billy CrystalBilly CrystalWilliam Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
and Jim BroadbentJim BroadbentJames "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
for the role of Wilbur. - Amanda BynesAmanda BynesAmanda Laura Bynes is an American actress, comedian, singer, and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You...
as Penny Pingleton, Tracy's best friend, a sheltered girl who falls in love with Seaweed, despite the efforts of her racistRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and stern mother, Prudy. A young actress famous for appearances on NickelodeonNickelodeon (TV channel)Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
TV shows and in feature films, Bynes was one of the few movie starMovie starA movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
s cast among the teen roles. - James MarsdenJames MarsdenJames Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
as Corny Collins. As host of The Corny Collins Show, Corny's politically progressive attitudes lead him to fight his show's imposed segregation. Corny Collins is based upon Baltimore TV personality, Buddy Deane, who hosted an eponymous local teen dance show in the late 1950s and early 1960s. James Marsden beat out both Joey McIntyre and X-MenX-Men (film)X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
costar Hugh JackmanHugh JackmanHugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
for the part. - Queen LatifahQueen LatifahDana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
as "Motormouth" Maybelle, a Baltimore Rhythm and Blues radio disc jockey who hosts "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show. Maybelle also runs a record shop on North Avenue. Queen Latifah appeared in the successful Zadan/Meron movie musical ChicagoChicago (2002 film)Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
, and worked under Adam ShankmanAdam ShankmanAdam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He has been a judge on the television program So You Think You Can Dance since Season 3. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet...
's direction in Bringing Down the HouseBringing Down the House (film)Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film, written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman. The film stars Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.-Plot:...
. She beat out soul legend Aretha FranklinAretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
for the role of Maybelle. - Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle, Velma's bratty daughter and the lead female dancer on The Corny Collins Show. Amber becomes Tracy's enemy when Tracy threatens both Amber's chance to win the "Miss Teenage Hairspray" crown and Amber's relationship with her boyfriend, Link. Snow had previously worked with Shankman in The PacifierThe PacifierThe Pacifier is a 2005 comedy film directed by Adam Shankman and written by Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant. It stars Vin Diesel, Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Max Thieriot, Morgan York, Carol Kane, and Brad Garrett. The film was released in March 2005 by Walt Disney Pictures, and earned...
. Hayden PanettiereHayden PanettiereHayden Leslie Panettiere is an American actress and singer, best known as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live , and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light , before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in...
was also considered for the part of Amber, but was decided against in part because of her then upcoming work with the NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series HeroesHeroes (TV series)Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
. - Zac EfronZac EfronZachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
as Link Larkin, Amber's boyfriend and the lead male dancer on The Corny Collins Show. Link is a singer who gradually becomes more attracted to Tracy. The character is based in part upon Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. Efron, a popular teen actor from the Disney ChannelDisney ChannelDisney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
TV film High School MusicalHigh School MusicalHigh School Musical is a 2006 American television film, first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful film that Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and...
, was initially thought by Adam Shankman to be "too Disney." Shankman's sister, executive producer Jennifer Gibgot, convinced her brother to cast Efron, believing that the teen star would draw a substantial teen crowd. - Elijah KelleyElijah KelleyElijah Kelley is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Kelley has appeared in the films Take the Lead and 28 Days , and co-starred in the musical film re-adaptation of Hairspray , in which he portrayed the character Seaweed J...
as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Maybelle's son, a skilled dancer who teaches Tracy some dance moves and falls in love with her friend, Penny. Kelley, a relative newcomer to film, overcame other open call auditioners and several popular R&B stars for the part of Seaweed. - Allison JanneyAllison JanneyAllison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
as Prudy Pingleton, Penny's mother, a zealous CatholicCatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
whose strict parenting keeps Penny from experiencing social life.
Minor roles
- Paul DooleyPaul Dooley-Personal life:Dooley was born Paul Dooley Brown in Parkersburg, West Virginia, the son of Ruth Irene , a homemaker, and Peter James Brown, a factory worker. Dooley was a cartoonist as a youth and drew a strip for a local paper in Parkersburg. He joined the Navy before discovering acting while at...
as Mr. Harriman F. Spritzer, the owner of the "Ultra Clutch" company and the main sponsor of The Corny Collins Show. Although Mr. Spritzer also prefers to keep The Corny Collins Show segregated, he will follow public opinion if it increases sales. - Jayne EastwoodJayne EastwoodJayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...
as Miss Wimsey, Tracy’s geographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
teacher; gives Tracy the detention note that first led her to Seaweed. - Jerry StillerJerry StillerGerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
as Mr. Pinky, who owns a dress shop called Mr. Pinky's Hefty Hideaway. He hires Tracy as his spokesgirl. Stiller played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film. - Taylor ParksTaylor ParksTaylor Parks is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Little Inez in the 2007 film Hairspray....
as Little Inez Stubbs, Maybelle's teenage daughter, Inez is a skilled dancer. She is also Seaweed's sister. Inez is based in part upon Ruby BridgesRuby BridgesRuby Nell Bridges Hall moved with her parents to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 4. In 1960, when she was 6 years old, her parents responded to a call from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and volunteered her to participate in the integration of the New Orleans...
, the first black child to attend a formerly all-white school in the state of LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. - George King as Mr. Flak, Amber, Link, and Tracy's historyHistoryHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
teacher. He gives Tracy detention when Amber frames Tracy of drawing a picture of him with breasts. He gives Link detention as well for saying, “Kiss my ass” in Tracy's defense.
Council members
- Curtis HolbrookCurtis Holbrook-Biography:Holbrook was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1982. He married Xanadu castmate Patti Murin on October 4, 2009.-Film and television:Curtis Holbrook played a minor role in the 2007 movie Hairspray as the dancer Brad on the Corny Collins Show. He appeared in the film Across the Universe, also...
as Brad - Hayley Podschun as Tammy
- Phillip Spaeth as Fender
- Cassie Silva as Brenda
- Nick Baga as Sketch
- Sarah Jayne Jensen as Shelley
- Jesse Weafer as I.Q.
- Kelly Fletcher as Lou Ann
- J.P. Ferreri as Joey
- Spencer Liff as Mikey
- Laura Edwards as Vicky
- Tabitha LupienTabitha LupienTabitha Lupien is a Canadian actress and competitive dancer trained in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, hip hop, and acrobatics. She trains with her sisters Lindsay and Samantha and her brother Isaac at the Canadian Dance Company, owned by her parents Allain and Dawn, located in Oakville, Ontario...
as Becky - Corey Gorewicz as Bix
- Joshua Feldman as Jesse
- Becca Sweitzer as Darla
- Everett Smith as Paulie
- Tiffany Engen as Noreen
- Brooke Engen as Doreen
The Dynamites
- Shayna SteeleShayna SteeleShayna Steele is an American singer and songwriter and a Broadway stage actress. Her Broadway credits include Rent at the Nederlander Theatre, the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Foxwoods Theatre , and the original Broadway cast of Hairspray, in which she played a member of the girl group...
- Kamilah Marshall
- Terita Redd
Cameos
In addition to the principal actors, the film contained several cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s by individuals involved in the history of Hairspray:
- Ricki LakeRicki LakeRicki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
(Tracy Turnblad in the original film) as William Morris Talent AgentTalent agentA talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
#1, (Audio) performs "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now". - Adam ShankmanAdam ShankmanAdam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He has been a judge on the television program So You Think You Can Dance since Season 3. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet...
(choreographer/director of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #2 (Audio) sings "Tied Up in the Knots of Sin" with Marc Shaiman which is heard when Prudy turns the record player on while she ties up Penny. - Marc ShaimanMarc ShaimanMarc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
(co-lyricist and music writer of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #3 (Audio) sings "Tied Up in the Knots of Sin" with Adam Shankman which is heard when Prudy turns the record player on while she ties up Penny. - Scott WittmanScott WittmanScott Wittman is an American director, lyricist, and writer for Broadway, concerts, and television.Wittman was raised in Nanuet, New York graduated high Nanuet Senior High School in 1972 and attended Emerson College in Boston for two years before leaving to pursue a career in musical theatre in...
(co-lyricist and music writer of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #4 - John WatersJohn Waters (filmmaker)John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
(writer and director of the original film) as the "flasherIndecent exposureIndecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...
who lives next door" - Mink StoleMink StoleNancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...
(Tammy in the original film) as the smokingSmokingSmoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
woman on the street whom Waters flashes. She is also seen during "Welcome to the '60s" - Jamal Sims (Associate choreographer) as one of the Detention Kids
- Anne FletcherAnne FletcherAnne Fletcher is an American film director and choreographer.Fletcher took dance lessons as a child. At the age of 15, she appeared on the show Salute to the Superstars; later she moved to California, where she was trained by Joe Tremaine. She worked as a choreographer and worked in this capacity...
(Associate choreographer) as the school nurseSchool nurseA school nurse is a nurse assigned to work in a school.Schools have nurses to promote good health in students, and in preparation for illnesses and emergencies in students.Some places have laws requiring schools to have nurses.-Duties:... - Zach WoodleeZach WoodleeZach Woodlee is an American choreographer and dancer. He is currently choreographer and co-producer of the TV series Glee.-Early life and education:Zachary Vinson Woodlee was born April 27, 1977 in Mesquite, Texas...
(Associate choreographer) as SmokingSmokingSmoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
teacher
Singing cameos
- Marissa Jaret WinokurMarissa Jaret WinokurMarissa Jaret Winokur , sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' film Hairspray, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked...
(Original Broadway cast'sHairspray (musical)Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
Tracy) performs "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" - Harvey FiersteinHarvey FiersteinHarvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
(Original Broadway cast's Edna) as brief singing cameo in the end credits "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" - Corey ReynoldsCorey ReynoldsCorey Reynolds is an American musical theatre, television, and film actor known for originating the role of Seaweed in the Broadway adaptation of Hairspray, and for the TNT crime show The Closer.-Early life and career:...
(Original Broadway cast's Seaweed) as singer of "Trouble on the Line". The song is heard shortly after "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" until Maybelle announces the cancellation of Negro Day. - Arthur AdamsArthur Adams (singer)Arthur Adams is an American blues musician from Medon, Tennessee. Inspired by B.B. King and other 1950s artists, he played gospel music before attending college. He moved to Los Angeles, and during the 1960s and 1970s he released solo albums and worked as a session musician...
(One of the Broadway cast's Seaweed) performs "Boink-Boink" which is heard during "Big, Blonde and Beautiful". - Chester GregoryChester GregoryChester Gregory is an award-winning Broadway actor and musician.-Broadway roles:*Sister Act as Eddie*Dreamgirls as James "Thunder" Early *Hairspray as Seaweed*Tarzan as Terk*The Jackie Wilson Story as Jackie Wilson...
(One of the Broadway cast's Seaweed) performs "Breakout", which is heard during Tracy's introduction to Seaweed in detention. - Aimee AllenAimee AllenAimee Allen is an American pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her work on the dance song "Cooties" made for the soundtrack of the 2007 version of the movie Hairspray...
(American pop starPop Star"Pop Star" is a 2005 single from Japanese singer Ken Hirai. The single went on to top the 2005 Oricon Charts and is known for its remarkable music video, featuring Ken in seven different personas, including a raccoon and his own manager. The Video also helped Ken break into the US and Canadian...
) performs "Cooties"
Early development
Following the success of the Broadway musical HairsprayHairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, which won eight Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s in 2003, New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
, who owned the rights to the 1988 John Waters film upon which the stage musical is based, became interested in adapting the stage show as a musical film. Development work began in late 2004, while a similar film-to-Broadway-to-film project, Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
' The Producers
The Producers (2005 film)
# "Overture" - Orchestra# "Opening Night" - Opening Nighters# "We Can Do It" - Max and Leo# "I Wanna Be a Producer" - Leo, Accountants, Mr. Marks and Dancing Chorus Girls# "Der Guten Tag Hop-Clop" - Franz, Max, and Leo...
, was in production.
Craig Zadan
Craig Zadan
Craig Zadan is an American executive producer, director, and writer. Zadan is openly gay and is one half of the successful production team Storyline Entertainment with partner Neil Meron since their meeting many years ago in the New York theatrical community.-Early life:Zadan was born in Miami,...
and Neil Meron
Neil Meron
Neil Meron is an American film producer known for producing the 2002 film Chicago and the 2007 film Hairspray. With partner Craig Zadan he runs the production company "Storyline Entertainment".-Life and career:...
, the executive producers of the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
, were hired as the producers for Hairspray, and began discussing possibly casting John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
and Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
(or Jim Broadbent
Jim Broadbent
James "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
) as Edna and Wilbur Turnblad, respectively. Thomas Meehan
Thomas Meehan (writer)
Thomas Meehan is an American writer, best known for Annie, The Producers and Hairspray.-Life and career:Meehan grew up in Suffern, New York, and graduated from Hamilton College...
and Mark O'Donnell, authors of the book for the stage musical, wrote the first draft of the film's screenplay, but were replaced by Leslie Dixon
Leslie Dixon
Leslie Dixon is an American screenwriter and producer. Some of the screenplays she has written include: Outrageous Fortune, Overboard, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Thomas Crown Affair, Pay It Forward, and Hairspray. She was nominated for a Saturn Award for her Freaky Friday screenplay...
, screenwriter for family comedies such as Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field and based on the novel Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup...
and Freaky Friday
Freaky Friday (2003 film)
Freaky Friday is a 2003 film based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers. It stars Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman and Jamie Lee Curtis as her mother. In the film their bodies are switched due to an enchanted Chinese fortune cookie...
. After a year's deliberation on who should direct the film, Zadan and Meron finally decided to hire Adam Shankman
Adam Shankman
Adam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He has been a judge on the television program So You Think You Can Dance since Season 3. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet...
to both direct and choreograph Hairspray. Upon learning he had been hired, Shankman arranged a meeting with John Waters, who advised him "don't do what I did, don't do what the play did. You've gotta do your own thing." Despite this, Shankman still noted "all roads of Hairspray lead back to John Waters."
Tony Gardner (designer)
Tony Gardner (designer)
Tony Gardner is an American makeup and special effects designer. He has been involved in films Zombieland, 127 Hours, Hairspray, The Addams Family, Seed of Chucky, Shallow Hal and There's Something About Mary...
and his company Alterian, Inc.were hired to design and create the look of Edna Turnblad on John Travolta. Costume designer Rita Ryak wanted to put Edna into several revealing outfits, so Travolta ended up being encapsulated in prosthetics. He wore silicone prosthetics on his head and neck, and foam latex arms and legs that connected to a spandex and foam body suit.
(Screen to) stage to screen changes
Dixon was primarily hired to tone down much of the campinessCamp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
inherent in the stage musical. The 2007 film's script is based primarily on the stage musical rather than the 1988 film, so several changes already made to the plot for the stage version remain in this version. These include dropping several characters from the 1988 version (such as Arvin Hodgepile, Franklin Von Tussle, Tammy Turner, the beatnik
Beatnik
Beatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
s, et al.), removing the Tilted Acres amusement park from the story, and placing Velma in charge of the station where The Corny Collins Show is filmed.
"Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a popular number from the stage musical, features Tracy, Penny, and Amber arguing with their respective mothers. Neither Shankman nor Dixon could come up with a solution for filming the song that did not require a three-way split screen — something they wanted to avoid — and both felt the number did not adequately advance the plot. As a result, the song was reluctantly dropped from the film during pre-production, although it is used by Shaiman as an instrumental number when the Corny Collins kids dance the "Stricken Chicken". A special version of the song was recorded for the film's end credits in May 2007, during the final score recording process, which featured vocals from each of the three women most famous for portraying Tracy Turnblad: Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
from the 1988 film, Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur , sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' film Hairspray, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked...
from the original Broadway cast, and Nikki Blonsky from the 2007 film. Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
, who portrayed Edna as part of the original Broadway cast, has a brief cameo moment in the end credits version of the song as well.
"It Takes Two", a solo for Link, was moved from its place in the stage musical (on Tracy's first day on The Corny Collins Show) to an earlier Corny Collins scene, although only the coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
of the song is used in the final release print, and the song's background music can be heard immediately after the reprise of "The Nicest Kids in Town". "Cooties", a solo for Amber in the stage musical, is present in this film as an instrumental during the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance-off. Similar to "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a version of "Cooties", performed in a contemporary pop rendition by Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen is an American pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her work on the dance song "Cooties" made for the soundtrack of the 2007 version of the movie Hairspray...
, is present during the end credits.
One notable difference between the stage musical, the original film, and the 2007 film version of Hairspray is that Tracy does not go to jail in the 2007 version (thus eliminating the musical's song "The Big Dollhouse"). In both previous incarnations of Hairspray, Tracy is arrested and taken to jail along with the other protesters. Edna is presented in this version as an insecure introvert, in contrast to the relatively bolder incarnations present in the 1988 film and the stage musical. Among many other elements changed or added to this version are the removal of Motormouth Maybelle's habit of constantly speaking in rhyming jive talk
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
, and doubling the number of teens in Corny Collins' Council (from ten on Broadway to twenty in the 2007 film).
Dixon restructured portions of Hairsprays book to allow several of the songs to blend more naturally into the plot, in particular "(You're) Timeless to Me" and "I Know Where I've Been". "(You're) Timeless to Me" becomes the anchor of a newly invented subplot involving Velma's attempt to break up Edna and Wilbur’s marriage and keep Tracy off The Corny Collins Show as a result. The song now serves as Wilbur's apology to Edna, in addition to its original purpose in the stage musical as a tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
declaration of Wilbur and Edna's love for each other. Meanwhile, "I Know Where I've Been", instead of being sung by Maybelle alone after being let out of jail, now underscores Maybelle's march on WYZT (which takes place in the stage musical only briefly during "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful").
The song "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" was inspired by a line that Tracy delivered in the original film ("Now all of Baltimore will know: I'm big, blonde and beautiful!"), but in the stage version and in this film, Motormouth Maybelle performs the song. A reprise of the song was added to the 2007 film, which is sung by Edna and Velma.
Pre-production and casting
Hairspray was produced on a budget of $75 million. An open casting call was announced to cast unknowns in AtlantaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and Chicago. After auditioning over eleven hundred candidates, Nikki Blonsky, an eighteen-year-old high school senior from Great Neck, New York
Great Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
who had no previous professional acting experience, was chosen for the lead role of Tracy. Relative unknowns Elijah Kelley
Elijah Kelley
Elijah Kelley is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Kelley has appeared in the films Take the Lead and 28 Days , and co-starred in the musical film re-adaptation of Hairspray , in which he portrayed the character Seaweed J...
and Taylor Parks
Taylor Parks
Taylor Parks is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Little Inez in the 2007 film Hairspray....
were chosen through similar audition contests to portray Seaweed and Little Inez, respectively. John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
was finally cast as Edna, with Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
ultimately assuming the role of Wilbur. Several other stars, including Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
, James Marsden
James Marsden
James Paul Marsden is an American actor, singer and former Versace model. He is known for playing the superhero Cyclops in the first three X-Men films and for his roles in other commercially successful films such as Hop, Superman Returns, Hairspray, Enchanted, The Box, and 27 Dresses.-Early life...
, Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
, and Allison Janney
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney is an American actress, best known for her role as C.J. Cregg on the television series The West Wing.- Personal life :...
were chosen for the other supporting adult roles of Motormouth Maybelle, Corny Collins, Velma Von Tussle, and Prudy Pingleton, respectively. Teen stars Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes is an American actress, comedian, singer, and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You...
, and Zac Efron
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
were cast as Tracy's friends Penny and Link, and Brittany Snow was cast as her rival Amber. Jerry Stiller
Jerry Stiller
Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film version of Hairspray, appears as Mr. Pinky in this version.
Since Hairsprays plot focuses heavily on dance, choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
became a heavy focus for Shankman, who hired four assistant choreographers, Jamal Sims, Anne Fletcher
Anne Fletcher
Anne Fletcher is an American film director and choreographer.Fletcher took dance lessons as a child. At the age of 15, she appeared on the show Salute to the Superstars; later she moved to California, where she was trained by Joe Tremaine. She worked as a choreographer and worked in this capacity...
, and Zach Woodlee
Zach Woodlee
Zach Woodlee is an American choreographer and dancer. He is currently choreographer and co-producer of the TV series Glee.-Early life and education:Zachary Vinson Woodlee was born April 27, 1977 in Mesquite, Texas...
, and put both his acting cast and over a hundred and fifty dancers through two months of rehearsals. The cast recorded the vocal tracks for their songs as coached by Elaine Overholt in the weeks just before principal photography began in September.
Principal photography
Principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
took place in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada from September 5-December 8, 2006. Hairspray is explicitly set in Baltimore, Maryland and the original 1988 film had been shot on location there, but the 2007 film was shot primarily in Toronto because the city was better equipped with the sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
s necessary to film a musical. The opening shots of the descent from the clouds and the newspaper being dropped onto the stoop
Urban stoop
In urban architecture, a stoop is a small staircase ending in a platform and leading to the entrance of an apartment building or other building.-Etymology:...
are the only times that the actual city of Baltimore is shown in the film.
The majority of the film was shot at Toronto's Showline Studios. Most of the street scenes were shot at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Roncesvalles Avenue. Some of the signs for the 1960s-era stores remain up along the street. Toronto's Lord Lansdowne Public School was used for all of the high school exteriors and some of the interiors, while the old Queen Victoria School in Hamilton was also used for interiors. Scenes at Queen Victoria were shot from November 22 to December 2, and the school was scheduled to be demolished after film production was completed.
Thinner than most of the other men who have portrayed Edna, Travolta appeared onscreen in a large fat suit
Fatsuit
A fatsuit is a bodysuit-like undergarment used to thicken the appearance of an actress or actor of light to medium build into a heavy-set or obese character, in conjunction with prosthetic makeup. Other spellings include fat suit and fat-suit....
, and required four hours of makeup in order to appear before the cameras. His character's nimble dancing style belies her girth; Shankman based Edna's dancing style on the hippo
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
s in the Dance of the Hours
Dance of the Hours
Dance of the Hours is a short ballet from Act 3, Scene 2 of the opera La Gioconda composed by Amilcare Ponchielli. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 and was revised in 1880...
sequence in Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's 1940 animated feature, Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
. Although early versions of the suit created "a dumpy, Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
version of Edna," Travolta fought for the ability to give his character curves and a thick Baltimore accent
Baltimorese
The Baltimore dialect, most popularly known as Baltimorese , is a dialect of American English in the Mid-Atlantic United States that originated among the White blue-collar residents of South and Southeast Baltimore...
. Designed by Tony Gardner
Tony Gardner (designer)
Tony Gardner is an American makeup and special effects designer. He has been involved in films Zombieland, 127 Hours, Hairspray, The Addams Family, Seed of Chucky, Shallow Hal and There's Something About Mary...
, the fat suit was created using lightweight synthetic materials, consisting of layered pads and silicone
Silicone
Silicones are inert, synthetic compounds with a variety of forms and uses. Typically heat-resistant and rubber-like, they are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medical applications , cookware, and insulation....
, which was used from the chest upwards. The suit provided the additional benefit of covering Travolta's beard, eliminating the problem of his facial hair growing through his makeup midday.
Shankman's inspirations
Shankman included "a lot of winks" to films that influenced his work on Hairspray:- The film's opening shot — a bird's eye viewBird's Eye View"Bird's Eye View" is a single by Oakland Hip Hop group Zion I, released in 2005 on Live Up Records. The single was the first released from their third album True & Livin. The song, like Common's classic "I Used to Love H.E.R.", addresses the state of Hip Hop by comparing the culture to a woman. The...
of Baltimore that eventually descends from the clouds to ground level — is a combination of the opening shots of West Side StoryWest Side Story (film)West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
and The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music (film)Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
. - Before we see a full shot of Tracy, we see individual shots of her upraised right and left arms. This is reminiscent of our first views of Sadie ThompsonSadie ThompsonSadie Thompson is an American silent film that tells the story of a "fallen woman" who comes to Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila to start a new life, but encounters a zealous missionary who wants to force her back to her former life in San Francisco. The film stars Gloria Swanson, Lionel...
(Joan CrawfordJoan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
) in the 1932 film RainRainRain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
. - Several scenes involving Tracy, such as her ride atop the garbage truck during the "Good Morning Baltimore" number and her new hairstyle during "Welcome to the '60s", are directly inspired by the Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
musical film versionFunny Girl (film)Funny Girl is a 1968 romantic musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title...
of Funny GirlFunny GirlFunny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway, film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein...
. - During "Without Love", Link sings to a photograph of Tracy, which comes to life and sings harmony with him. This is directly inspired from the MGM musical The Broadway Melody of 1938, in which a young Judy GarlandJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
swoons over a photo of actor Clark GableClark GableWilliam Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
as she sings "You Made Me Love You". - The dress that Penny wears during "You Can't Stop the Beat" is made from her bedroom curtains, which can be seen during "Without Love". This is homage to The Sound of Music, where MariaMaria von TrappMaria Augusta von Trapp , also known as Baroness Maria von Trapp, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers...
uses old curtains to make play clothes for the von Trapp children.
Setting
The film is set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962, in the time of John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's presidency
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. As shown in the film, the houses in Baltimore's early residential neighborhoods are directly attached structurally, and are usually set up in the form of loft houses, mostly due to the construction of a store below. In the opening, a trolley
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
runs down the road's center. Since then, these have been removed in favor of rapid transit
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
systems. In addition, many people can be seen with various styles of Beehives
Beehive (hairstyle)
The Beehive is a woman's hairstyle that resembles a beehive; it is elegant and it is also known as the B-52, for its similarity to the bulbous nose of the B-52 Stratofortress bomber. It originated as one of a variety of elaborately teased and lacquered versions of "big hair" that developed from...
.
Many 1960s cultural references are shown in the film. For example, an Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
station can be seen in the opening song, "Good Morning Baltimore". Esso changed its name to Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
since then, but still operates in Canada as a division of ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
.
Musical numbers
- "Good Morning Baltimore" – Tracy
- "The Nicest Kids in Town" – Corny and Council Members
- "It Takes Two" – Link (only codaCoda (music)Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
used) - "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" – Velma and Council Members
- "I Can Hear the Bells" – Tracy
- "Ladies' Choice" – Link
- "The Nicest Kids in Town (Reprise)" – Corny and Council Members
- "The New Girl in Town" – Amber, Tammy, Shelley, and The Dynamites
- "Welcome to the '60s" – Tracy, Edna, The Dynamites, and Hefty Hideaway Employees
- "Run and Tell That" – Seaweed, Little Inez, and Detention Kids
- "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" – Motormouth
- "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful (Reprise)" – Edna and Velma
- "(You're) Timeless to Me" – Edna and Wilbur
- "I Know Where I've Been" – Motormouth and Company
- "I Can Wait" – Tracy (deleted songDeleted sceneIn Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
) - "Without Love" – Link, Tracy, Seaweed, Penny, and Detention Kids
- "(It's) Hairspray" – Corny and Council Members
- "You Can't Stop the Beat" – Tracy, Link, Penny, Seaweed, Edna, Motormouth, and Company
- "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" – Queen LatifahQueen LatifahDana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
, Zac EfronZac EfronZachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
, Nikki Blonsky, and Elijah KelleyElijah KelleyElijah Kelley is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Kelley has appeared in the films Take the Lead and 28 Days , and co-starred in the musical film re-adaptation of Hairspray , in which he portrayed the character Seaweed J...
(end credits) - "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" – Ricki LakeRicki LakeRicki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
, Marissa Jaret WinokurMarissa Jaret WinokurMarissa Jaret Winokur , sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' film Hairspray, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked...
, and Nikki Blonsky with Harvey FiersteinHarvey FiersteinHarvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
(end credits) - "Cooties" – Aimee AllenAimee AllenAimee Allen is an American pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her work on the dance song "Cooties" made for the soundtrack of the 2007 version of the movie Hairspray...
(end credits)
Song score production and changes
Music producer/composer/co-lyricist Marc ShaimanMarc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
and co-lyricist Scott Wittman
Scott Wittman
Scott Wittman is an American director, lyricist, and writer for Broadway, concerts, and television.Wittman was raised in Nanuet, New York graduated high Nanuet Senior High School in 1972 and attended Emerson College in Boston for two years before leaving to pursue a career in musical theatre in...
were required to alter their Broadway Hairspray song score in various ways in order to work on film, from changing portions of the lyrics in some songs (e.g., "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs", "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful", and "You Can't Stop the Beat") to more or less completely removing other songs from the film altogether.
"Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a popular number from the stage musical, features Tracy, Penny, and Amber arguing with their respective mothers. Neither Shankman nor Dixon could come up with a solution for filming "Mama" that did not require a three-way split screen — something they wanted to avoid — and both felt the number did not adequately advance the plot. As a result, "Mama" was reluctantly dropped from the film during pre-production, although it is used by Shaiman as an instrumental number when the Corny Collins kids dance the "Stricken Chicken". A special version of "Mama" was recorded for the film's end credits in May 2007, during the final score recording process, which featured vocals from each of the three women most famous for portraying Tracy Turnblad: Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
from the 1988 film, Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur , sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' film Hairspray, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked...
from the original Broadway cast, and Nikki Blonsky from the 2007 film. Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
, who portrayed Edna as part of the original Broadway cast, has a brief cameo moment in the end credits version of "Mama" as well.
"It Takes Two", a solo for Link, was moved from its place in the stage musical (on Tracy's first day on The Corny Collins Show) to an earlier Corny Collins scene, although only the coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
of the song is used in the final release print, and the song's background music can be heard immediately after the reprise of "The Nicest Kids in Town". "Cooties", a solo for Amber in the stage musical, is present in this film as an instrumental during the Miss Teenage Hairspray dance-off. As with "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now", a version of "Cooties", performed in a contemporary pop rendition by Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen
Aimee Allen is an American pop/rock singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is known for her work on the dance song "Cooties" made for the soundtrack of the 2007 version of the movie Hairspray...
, is present during the end credits.
The performance of a vintage dance called The Madison
Madison (dance)
The Madison is a novelty dance that was popular in the late 1950s to mid 1960s. The Madison was created and first danced in Columbus, Ohio, in 1957. The local popularity of the dance and record in Baltimore, Maryland, came to the attention of the producers of The Buddy Deane Show in 1960...
, present in both the 1988 film and the stage musical, was replaced for this version by a newly composed song, "Ladies' Choice". Portions of the Madison dance steps were integrated into the choreography for the musical number "You Can't Stop the Beat", and the song to which the dance is performed on Broadway can be heard during Motormouth Maybelle's platter party in the film, re-titled "Boink-Boink". "The Big Dollhouse" was the only song from the musical not used in the film in any way.
Shaiman and Wittman composed two new songs for the 2007 film: "Ladies' Choice", a solo for Link, and "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)", a song performed during the end credits by Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, and Elijah Kelley. Another "new" song in the 2007 film, "The New Girl in Town", had originally been composed for the Broadway musical, but was deemed unnecessary and discarded from the musical. Director Adam Shankman decided to use the song to both underscore a rise-to-fame montage for Tracy and to showcase Maybelle's "Negro Day", which is never actually seen in either of the earlier incarnations of Hairspray.
One additional Shaiman/Wittman song, a ballad entitled "I Can Wait", was composed for the film as a solo for Tracy, meant to replace the stage musical's reprise of "Good Morning Baltimore". "I Can Wait" was shot for the film (Tracy performs the number while locked in Prudy's basement), but was eventually deleted from the final release print. The audio recording of "I Can Wait" was made available as a special bonus track for customers who pre-ordered the Hairspray soundtrack on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, and the scene itself was included as a special feature on the film's DVD release.
Post-production took place in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Composer/co-lyricist Shaiman continued work on the film's music, employing the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra
Hollywood Symphony Orchestra
The Hollywood Symphony Orchestra a is 75-member American symphony orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. Its artistic director and resident conductor is John Scott...
to record instrumentation for both the songs and the incidental score.
Box office
Hairspray debuted in 3,121 theaters in North America on July 20, 2007, the widest debut of any modern movie musical. The film earned $27,476,745 in its opening weekend at #3, behind I Now Pronounce You Chuck and LarryI Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is a 2007 comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Barry Fanaro, and starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James as the title characters. The film was released on July 20, 2007, in the U.S., August 16, 2007, in Australia and on September 21, 2007, in the UK and...
and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Michael Goldenberg and produced by David Heyman and David Barron...
. This made Hairspray the record-holder for the biggest sales at opening weekend for a movie musical. This record was later broken by the release of Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! (film)
Mamma Mia! is a 2008 musical/romantic comedy film adapted from the 1999 West End/2001 Broadway musical of the same name, based on the songs of successful pop group ABBA, with additional music composed by ABBA member Benny Andersson...
, which grossed $27,605,000 on its opening weekend. Hairspray has since gone on to become the fourth highest grossing musical in U.S. cinema history, surpassing The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
($112.8 million) and Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...
($103 million), released seven months prior. Ending its domestic run on October 25, 2007, Hairspray has a total domestic gross of $118,871,849 and $202,548,575 worldwide. Its biggest overseas markets include the United Kingdom ($25.8 million), Australia ($14.4 million), Japan ($8 million), Italy ($4.6 million), France ($3.9 million) and Spain ($3.8 million). This made Hairspray the third musical film in history to cross $200 million internationally, behind 1978's hit Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
($395 million) and 2002's Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
($307 million). It is the seventh highest-grossing PG-rated film of 2007, and has grossed more than other higher-budgeted summer releases like Ocean's Thirteen
Ocean's Thirteen
Ocean's Thirteen is a 2007 crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring an ensemble cast. It is the third and final film in the Soderbergh series following the 2004 sequel Ocean's Twelve and the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, which itself was a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film Ocean's 11...
($117 million) and Evan Almighty
Evan Almighty
Evan Almighty is a 2007 American religious comedy film and the stand-alone sequel to Bruce Almighty . The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, and starring Steve Carell as the title character. Morgan Freeman also reprised his role as God from the original film. Production of...
($100 million).
Two weeks after its original release, new "sing-along" prints of Hairspray were shipped to theaters. These prints featured the lyrics to each song printed onscreen as subtitles, encouraging audiences to interact with the film. On January 4, 2008, Hairspray was re-released in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for one week because John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
was present for Q&A and autographs.
Critical reception
Hairspray has garnered vastly positive reviews from film critics such as Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, and The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, as well as a smaller number of reviews comparing it unfavorably to the Waters original. The film is one of the top picks on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, with an average of 81. It scored a 91% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, also indicating excellent reviews, making it one of 2007's best-reviewed films. Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
named it the 4th best film of 2007. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
named it the ninth best film of 2007.
Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying that there was "a lot of craft and slyness lurking beneath the circa-1960s goofiness," also stating that "The point, however, is not the plot but the energy. Without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat, but everybody works at her level of happiness..." Ebert also noted that this film is "a little more innocent than Waters would have made it..." Krishna Shenoi, of the Shenoi Chronicle, called the movie "Shankman's masterpiece," saying that it moved away from his previous works into a different direction, making a light comedy that deals with serious issues maturely. Shenoi also said that the film was everything he wanted Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
to be. Lou Lumenick of The New York Post hailed Hairspray as "The best and most entertaining movie adaptation of a stage musical so far this century — and yes, I’m including the Oscar-winning Chicago," calling it "one of the best-cast movies in recent memory..." New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
critic Jack Matthews called the film "A great big sloppy kiss of entertainment for audiences weary of explosions, CGI effects and sequels, sequels, sequels." The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
review offered Michael Sragow's opinion that "in its entirety, Hairspray has the funny tilt that only a director-choreographer like Shankman can give to a movie," pointing out that Shankman skillfully "puts a new-millennial zing behind exact re-creations of delirious period dances like the Mashed Potato." Dana Stevens from Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
called Hairspray "intermittently tasty, if a little too frantically eager to please." Stevens noted that "Despite its wholesomeness, this version stays remarkably true to the spirit of the original, with one size-60 exception: John Travolta as Edna Turnblad," saying "How you feel about Hairspray will depend entirely on your reaction to this performance..."
The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
s David Denby
David Denby (film critic)
David Denby is an American journalist, best known as a film critic for The New Yorker magazine.-Background and education:Denby grew up in New York City. He received a B.A...
felt the new version of Hairspray was "perfectly pleasant," but compared unfavorably to the Broadway musical, since "[director Adam Shankman and screenwriter Leslie Dixon] have removed the traces of camp humor and Broadway blue that gave the stage show its happily knowing flavor." Denby criticized the dance numbers, calling them "unimaginatively shot," and he considered "the idea of substituting John Travolta for Harvey Fierstein as Tracy’s hefty mother... a blandly earnest betrayal." Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
found Hairspray "reasonably entertaining. But do we really need to be entertained reasonably? Waters' original was a crazy sprawl that made perfect sense; this Hairspray toils needlessly to make sense of that craziness, and something gets lost in the translation." Zacharek was also displeased with the way Latifah's performance of "I Know Where I've Been" was incorporated into the movie, saying "The filmmakers may believe they're adding an extra layer of seriousness to the material... [but] the inclusion of this big production number only suggests that the filmmakers fear the audience won't get the movie's message unless it's spelled out for them."
Washington Blade boycott controversy
Although it was generally received well by both critics and the box office, Hairspray nonetheless garnered some criticism upon its release by individuals in the gay community. Much of this criticism surrounded Travolta's portrayal of Edna Turnblad, a role played in the original film by celebrated drag performer Divine, and in the stage adaptation by Harvey FiersteinHarvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein is a U.S. actor and playwright, noted for the early distinction of winning Tony Awards for both writing and originating the lead role in his long-running play Torch Song Trilogy, about a gay drag-performer and his quest for true love and family, as well as writing the...
. Kevin Naff, a managing editor for Washington, DC/Baltimore area online gay news site The Washington Blade
The Washington Blade
The Washington Blade is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender newspaper in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The Blade is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and second largest by circulation, behind Gay City News of New York City...
called for a boycott of the new Hairspray film, alleging that Scientology
Scientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
, in which Travolta believes, was patently homophobic, and allegedly supported workshops designed to "cure" homosexuals
Ex-gay
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
. Adam Shankman protested Naff's proposed boycott, stating that Travolta was not homophobic, as he (Shankman), Waters, Shaiman, Wittman, and several other members of the creative staff were homosexual, and Travolta got along well with the entire crew. "John's personal beliefs did not walk onto my set," said Shankman. "I never heard the word 'Scientology.'"
Home media
Hairspray was released in standard DVD and HD Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
formats in Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
on November 20, 2007. The Blu-ray disc is encoded with 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio is a lossless audio codec created by Digital Theater System. It was previously known as DTS++. It is an extension of DTS which, when played back on devices which do not support the Master Audio or High Resolution extension, degrades to a "core" track which is lossy. DTS-HD...
. The standard DVD was released in two versions: a one-disc release and a two-disc "Shake and Shimmy" edition.
Bonus features on the two-disc release include two audio commentaries
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
, a feature-length production documentary, featurettes on the earlier versions of Hairspray, dance instruction featurettes, deleted scene
Deleted scene
In Entertainment, especially the film and television industry, Deleted scenes are parts of a film removed or censored from or replaced by another scene in the final "cut", or version, of a film...
s including Tracy's deleted song "I Can Wait", an slightly extended ending, and an alternate version of the "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" reprise, and behind-the-scenes looks at the production of each of the film's dance numbers. The Blu-ray release, a two-disc release, includes all of the features from the two-disc DVD, and includes a picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes feature, which runs concurrently with the film. An HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
version of the film was originally slated for release in 2008, but has since been canceled due to New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
's announcement that it would go Blu-ray exclusive with immediate effect, thus dropping HD DVD support.
Awards
Following is a list of awards that Hairspray or its cast have won or for which they have been nominated.Wins
- 2008 MTV Movie Awards2008 MTV Movie AwardsThe 2008 MTV Movie Awards broadcast the 17th annual movie awards show live on Sunday, June 1, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California...
- Breakthrough Performance (Male) - Zac EfronZac EfronZachary David Alexander "Zac" Efron is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and became known with his lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical, the WB series Summerland, and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical Hairspray...
- Breakthrough Performance (Male) - Zac Efron
- 2007 Hollywood Film Festival & Hollywood Awards
- Hollywood Producers of the Year — Craig ZadanCraig ZadanCraig Zadan is an American executive producer, director, and writer. Zadan is openly gay and is one half of the successful production team Storyline Entertainment with partner Neil Meron since their meeting many years ago in the New York theatrical community.-Early life:Zadan was born in Miami,...
and Neil MeronNeil MeronNeil Meron is an American film producer known for producing the 2002 film Chicago and the 2007 film Hairspray. With partner Craig Zadan he runs the production company "Storyline Entertainment".-Life and career:... - Hollywood Supporting Actor of the Year — John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
- Hollywood Ensemble Acting of the Year Award — Musical/Comedy
- Hollywood Producers of the Year — Craig Zadan
- 13th Annual Critics' Choice Awards
- Best Acting Ensemble
- Best Young Actress – Nikki Blonsky
Nominations
- 65th Golden Globe Awards65th Golden Globe AwardsThe 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
- Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
- Best Actress, Musical or Comedy — Nikki Blonsky
- Best Supporting Actor — John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
- 13th Annual Critics' Choice Awards
- Best Comedy Movie
- Best Family Film
- Best Song "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)"
- 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild AwardsScreen Actors Guild AwardsA Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"...
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Cancelled sequel
Due to Hairsprays financial success, New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
had asked John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
to write a sequel to the film. Waters reunited with director/choreographer Adam Shankman
Adam Shankman
Adam Michael Shankman is an American film director, producer, dancer, actor, and choreographer. He has been a judge on the television program So You Think You Can Dance since Season 3. He began his professional career in musical theater, and was a dancer in music videos for Paula Abdul and Janet...
for the project, and songwriters Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
and Scott Wittman
Scott Wittman
Scott Wittman is an American director, lyricist, and writer for Broadway, concerts, and television.Wittman was raised in Nanuet, New York graduated high Nanuet Senior High School in 1972 and attended Emerson College in Boston for two years before leaving to pursue a career in musical theatre in...
were set to compose the film's musical numbers.
The story would have looked at Tracy's entering the late '60s era of music and the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
, and used the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
as a backdrop. While no official casting was announced, New Line said that they hoped to "snag much of the original Hairspray cast." John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
, however, publicly announced that he would not return because he is "not a big sequel guy".
The sequel was set for a mid-July 2010 release by Warner Bros, which owns New Line Cinema. However in June 2010, director Shankman told British press that Hairspray 2 is no longer in development. Marc Shaiman has also said that there will be no sequel.
See also
- Cross-dressing in film and televisionCross-dressing in film and televisionCross-dressing in motion pictures began in the early days of the silent films. Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel brought the tradition of female impersonation in the English music halls when they came to America with Fred Karno's comedy troupe in 1910. Both Chaplin and Laurel occasionally dressed as...
- Hairspray (musical)Hairspray (musical)Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
- Hairspray (1988 film)