Hairspray (2007 film)

In 1962, Tracy Turnblad is a 16 year old heavyset high school student living in Baltimore. Along with her best friend Penny Pingleton, Tracy frequently watches The Corny Collins Show, a local teen dance television show.

The teenagers who dance on the show attend Tracy and Penny's high school, among them Amber von Tussle and her boyfriend Link Larkin, the lead dancers. Amber's mother, Velma, manages the station WYZT, ensuring that Amber is prominently featured. Corny Collins and the dancers on the show are White, and Velma only allows African-American dancers on the show once a month on "Negro Day", hosted by local R&B disc jockey Motormouth Maybelle.

One day, one of the dancers on the show takes a leave of absence, and auditions for a replacement are held the next day. Tracy attends, but Velma rejects for her overweight physique and for supporting integration. Tracy is given detention for missing class in order to attend the audition, and discovers the "Negro Day" kids practicing in the detention room. Tracy befriends Seaweed, Motormouth Maybelle's son, who teaches Tracy several dance moves. As Tracy leaves detention, she inadvertently meets Link, and dreams of a life with him. At a record hop, Tracy's new moves garner Corny's attention, and he chooses her to join the show.

Tracy quickly becomes one of Corny's most popular performers, affecting Amber's chances of winning the show's annual "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant and her relationship with Link, as he grows fonder of Tracy. Mr. Pinky suggests that Tracy should be the spokesgirl for his Hefty Hideaway boutique. Tracy persuades her agoraphobic mother, Edna, to accompany her to the boutique as her agent.

Tracy introduces Seaweed to Penny, and the two become smitten. Later, Seaweed and his younger sister Little Inez take Tracy, Penny, and Link to a party at Maybelle's store. Edna finds Tracy there and tries taking her home, but Maybelle convinces her to stay, and tells her to take pride in herself. At the party, Maybelle informs everyone that Velma has cancelled "Negro Day", and Tracy suggests that they march for integration. Link is unwilling to jeopardize his career by marching, straining his relationship with Tracy. Edna returns to her husband Wilbur's shop, but Velma gets there first, and tries to seduce him. After accusing Wilbur of infidelity, Edna forbids Tracy to be on the show, which was Velma’s intention. She changes her mind after she and Wilbur reconcile.

The next morning, Tracy sneaks out of the house to join the protest, which is halted by a police roadblock. The protesters engage in a brawl, while Tracy runs to the Pingletons' home, where Penny allows her to hide in a fallout shelter. However, Penny's mother Prudy reports Tracy to the police and ties her daughter to her bed for "harboring a fugitive". Having been bailed out by Wilbur, Seaweed and his friends help Tracy and Penny escape. Link visits Tracy's house to find her, and realizes that he loves her. Seaweed and Penny also acknowledge their love during the escape.

With the pageant underway, Velma assigns police officers to guard the WYZT studio to prevent Tracy from entering. She also rigs the pageant tallies to guarantee that Amber will win. Penny arrives at the pageant with Edna, while Wilbur, Seaweed, and the Negro Day kids help Tracy infiltrate the studio. Link breaks away from Amber to dance with Tracy; later, he pulls Little Inez to the stage to dance in the pageant.

Amber's attempt to re-claim her championship crown fails. Little Inez wins the pageant after a late surge of support, successfully integrating The Corny Collins Show. Velma tells Amber about her rigging scheme in front of a camera manned by Edna, resulting in her firing. The Corny Collins Show set turns into a celebration as Tracy and Link kiss.

Main characters

• Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, an optimistic, overweight teenage girl who loves dancing. Tracy's racial acceptance leads her to become an active supporter for the integration of The Corny Collins Show. Hairspray was Blonsky's debut as a professional actress.[10]
• John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mother and a laundry business owner, who is agoraphobic and ashamed of her obesity. Travolta's casting as Edna continued the tradition of having a man in drag portray the character, going back to the original 1988 film, which featured drag queen Divine as Edna and at Hairspray's Broadway version, which featured Harvey Fierstein as Edna.[11] Executives at New Line Cinema originally expected the part to be filled by an actor accustomed to playing comic roles, tossing around names such as Robin Williams, Steve Martin, and Tom Hanks.[11] However, Travolta was aggressively sought after by producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for this role because he had starred as Danny Zuko in Grease, the second most successful movie musical to date, beaten only by Mamma Mia!.[12]
• Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, the racist and sizeist manager of station WYZT. Velma is invested in keeping her daughter Amber in the spotlight and The Corny Collins Show segregated. Hairspray was the first film featuring Pfeiffer to be released in five years. Stardust, also featuring Pfeiffer, was shot before Hairspray, but released three weeks afterwards.[13] The peculiarity of Pfeiffer and Travolta appearing onscreen together (Travolta starred in Grease, Pfeiffer in Grease 2) was not lost on the production staff;[13] Travolta requested that Pfeiffer play the part of the villainess.[11]
• Amanda Bynes as Penny Lou Pingleton, Tracy's best friend, a sheltered girl who falls in love with Seaweed despite the disapproval of her stern, devoutly religious and racist mother Prudy. A young actress famous for appearances on Nickelodeon TV shows and in feature films, Bynes was one of the few movie stars cast among the teen roles.[14]
• Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad, Tracy's father, the easygoing proprietor of the "Hardy-Har Hut" joke shop below the Turnblad family's apartment. John Travolta had asked that Walken be considered for the part,[11] and he eventually beat out Billy Crystal[15] and Jim Broadbent[16] for the role of Wilbur.
• Queen Latifah as "Motormouth" Maybelle Stubbs, a Baltimore rhythm and blues radio DJ 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 film musical Chicago, and worked under Adam Shankman's direction in Bringing Down the House.[17] Aretha Franklin had been previously considered for the role.[15]
• James Marsden as Corny Collins, the host of The Corny Collins Show; his 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.[18] James Marsden beat out both Joey McIntyre and X-Men co-star Hugh Jackman for the part.[19]
• 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 she threatens both Amber's chances of winning the "Miss Teenage Hairspray" crown and her relationship with her boyfriend, Link. Snow previously worked with Shankman in The Pacifier.[19] Hayden Panettiere was also considered for the part of Amber, but was decided against in part because of her then-upcoming work with the NBC television series Heroes.[19]
• Zac Efron as Link Larkin, Amber's boyfriend and the lead male dancer on The Corny Collins Show. Link is a talented (and mildly narcissistic) singer who becomes more attracted to Tracy. The character is based in part upon Elvis Presley.[19] Efron, a popular teen actor who played Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel TV film High School Musical, was initially thought by Shankman to be "too Disney" for the role;[19] however Shankman's sister, executive producer Jennifer Gibgot, convinced him to cast Efron, believing that the teen star would draw a substantial teen crowd.[19]
• Elijah Kelley as Seaweed J. Stubbs, Maybelle's son, a skilled dancer who teaches Tracy some dance moves and falls in love with Penny. Kelley, a relative newcomer to film, overcame other auditioners and several popular R&B stars for the part of Seaweed.[14]
• Allison Janney as Prudence "Prudy" Pingleton, Penny's mother, a racist Christian fundamentalist whose strict parenting keeps Penny from experiencing social life. Her husband is serving a prison sentence for an unspecified crime. Having tied her daughter to her bed, Prudy is horrified to see that she has broken out and is kissing Seaweed on live TV.

Minor roles

• Paul Dooley as Harriman F. Spritzer, the owner of the "Ultra Clutch" company and the main sponsor of The Corny Collins Show. Although he prefers to keep The Corny Collins Show segregated, he will follow public opinion if it increases sales.
• Jayne Eastwood as Miss Wimsey, Tracy's geography teacher, who gives Tracy the detention note that first leads her to Seaweed.
• Jerry Stiller as Mr. Pinky, the owner of a dress shop called Mr. Pinky's Hefty Hideaway, who hires Tracy as his spokesgirl. In the original film, Stiller played Wilbur Turnblad.
• Taylor Parks as Little Inez Stubbs, Maybelle's teenage daughter and Seaweed's younger sister, and a skilled dancer. Inez is based in part upon Ruby Bridges, the first black child to attend a formerly all-White school in the state of Louisiana.[18]
• George King as Mr. Flak, Amber, Link, and Tracy's history teacher. He gives Tracy detention when Amber frames Tracy of drawing a picture of him with breasts. He gives Link detention as well for coming to Tracy's defense.

Council members

The Dynamites

• Nadine Ellis
• Arike Rice
• Tanee McCall

Cameos

In addition to the principal actors, the film contained several cameo appearances by individuals involved in the history of Hairspray:

• Ricki Lake (Tracy Turnblad in the original film) as William Morris Talent Agent #1,[20] (Audio) performs "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now".
• Adam Shankman (choreographer/director of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #2 (Audio) sings "Tied Up in the Knots of Sin" with Shaiman which is heard when Prudy turns the record player on while she ties Penny up.[20]
• Marc Shaiman (co-lyricist/writer of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #3 (Audio) sings "Tied Up in the Knots of Sin" with Shankman which is heard when Prudy turns the record player on while she ties up Penny.[20]
• Scott Wittman (co-lyricist and music writer of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #4.[20]
• John Waters (writer and director of the original film, who also cameoed as Dr. Frederickson in the original film) as the "flasher who lives next door" during "Good Morning Baltimore"
• Jamal Sims (Associate choreographer) as one of the Detention Kids
• Anne Fletcher (Associate choreographer) as the school nurse
• Zach Woodlee (Associate choreographer) as Smoking teacher

Singing cameos

• Marissa Jaret Winokur (Original Broadway cast's Tracy) performs "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now"
• Harvey Fierstein (Original Broadway cast's Edna) as brief singing cameo in the end credits "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now"
• Corey Reynolds (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 Adams (One of the Broadway cast's Seaweed) performs "Boink-Boink" which is heard during "Big, Blonde and Beautiful".
• Chester Gregory (One of the Broadway cast's Seaweed) performs "Breakout", which is heard during Tracy's introduction to Seaweed in detention.
• Aimee Allen performs "Cooties"

1. "Good Morning Baltimore" – Tracy (Nikki Blonsky)
2. "The Nicest Kids in Town" – Corny and Council Members (James Marsden)
3. "It Takes Two" – Link (Zac Efron)
4. "(The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs" – Velma and Council Members (Michelle Pfeiffer)
5. "I Can Hear the Bells" – Tracy (Nikki Blonsky)
6. "Ladies' Choice" – Link (Zac Efron)
7. "The Nicest Kids in Town (Reprise)" – Corny, Council Members, Penny, Edna, Wilbur (James Marsden)
8. "The New Girl in Town" – Amber, Tammy, Shelley, and The Dynamites (Brittany Snow)
9. "Welcome to the 60's" – Tracy, Edna, The Dynamites, and Hefty Hideaway Employees (Nikki Blonsky & John Travolta)
10. "Run and Tell That" – Seaweed, Little Inez, and Detention Kids (Elijah Kelley ft. Taylor Parks)
11. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" – Motormouth (Queen Latifah)
12. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful (Reprise)" – Velma and Edna (Michelle Pfeiffer & John Travolta)
13. "(You're) Timeless to Me" – Wilbur and Edna (Christopher Walken & John Travolta)
14. "I Know Where I've Been" – Motormouth (Queen Latifah)
15. "Without Love" – Link, Tracy, Seaweed, Penny, and Detention Kids (Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky, Elijah Kelley, Amanda Bynes)
16. "(It's) Hairspray" – Corny and Council Members (James Marsden)
17. "You Can't Stop the Beat" – Company (Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Kelley, John Travolta and Queen Latifah)
18. "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" (end credits) – (Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky, and Elijah Kelley)
19. "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" (end credits) – Ricki Lake, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and Nikki Blonsky with Harvey Fierstein
20. "Cooties" (end credits) – Aimee Allen

Music producer/composer/co-lyricist Marc Shaiman 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[21] — and both felt the number did not adequately advance the plot.[21][22] 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.[23] 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.[23]

"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", "Velma's Revenge" (a reprise of "Miss Baltimore Crabs"), and the reprise of "Good Morning Baltimore" were the only numbers 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, Blonsky, Efron, and 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 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.[24]

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.[25]

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.[23]

Due to Hairspray's financial success, New Line Cinema had asked John Waters to write a sequel to the film.[89] 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.[89][90]

The story would have looked at Tracy's entering the late 1960s era of music and the British Invasion,[91] and used the Hippie movement and Vietnam War as backdrops.[92] While no official casting was announced, New Line said that they hoped to "snag much of the original Hairspray cast."[89] John Travolta, however, publicly announced that he would not return because he is "not a big sequel guy".[93]

The sequel was set for a mid-July 2010 release by Warner Bros., which owns New Line Cinema.[89] However, in June 2010, Shankman told British press that Hairspray 2: White Lipstick was no longer in development.[94] Shankman has also said that there will be no sequel.[95] In February 2019, John Waters announced he had written a sequel for HBO, but did not produce it.[96]

• Cross-dressing in film and television
• Hairspray (musical)
• Hairspray (1988 film)
• Civil rights movement in popular culture
• Civil Rights Movement

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