Hairspray is a 2007 musical romantic comedy film based on the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John Waters' 1988 comedy film of the same name. 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 was directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman and has an ensemble cast including John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney and Nikki Blonsky in her feature film debut. 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.
The film began development in 2004, and Dixon reworked Meehan and O'Donnell's first draft of the screenplay to tone down the musical's campiness. In 2005, Shankman agreed to direct the film. Composer/lyricist Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman reworked their songs from the Broadway musical for the film's soundtrack, and also wrote four new songs for the film. Principal photography commenced in September 2006 and ended in December of that year; filming took place on locations in Toronto, Ontario and Hamilton, Ontario in Canada and on soundstages at Toronto's Showline Studios. Recording sessions for the film's songs and soundtrack took place in Los Angeles, California in the United States.
Hairspray premiered on July 13, 2007 at the Mann Village Theater and was released on July 20, 2007 in the United States. The film was a critical and 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 sixth highest grossing musical film in US cinema history, behind the film adaptations of Grease, Chicago, and Mamma Mia!, and stands as one of the most critically and commercially successful musical films of the last decade. Available in a variety of formats, Hairspray's 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.
Plot[]
Tracy Turnblad is an overweight high school student living in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962. Along with her classmate Penny Pingleton, Tracy frequently watches The Corny Collins Show, a local teen dance television show.
The teenagers featured on the show attend Tracy and Penny's school, among them Amber von Tussle and her boyfriend Link Larkin, the lead male dancer. Amber’s mother, Velma, manages WYZT and makes sure Amber is prominently featured. Collins and the dancers on the show are white, and Velma only allows African-American kids on the show once a month on "Negro Day", hosted by 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. Tracy attends, but Velma turns her down for her overweight physique and for supporting integration. Tracy is sent to detention for skipping school and discovers the "Negro Day" kids practicing in the detention room. Tracy befriends Seaweed, the students' best dancer and Motormouth Maybelle's son, who teaches Tracy several dance moves. As Tracy leaves detention, she inadvertently bumps into Link and dreams of a life with him. At a record hop, Tracy’s moves attract the attention of Collins and he chooses her to join the show.
Tracy becomes one of Corny's most popular dancers, threatening Amber's chances of winning the show's yearly "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant and her relationship with Link, as he grows fonder of Tracy. Mr. Pinky suggests that Tracy 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 are smitten. Later, when Tracy and Link are in detention, Seaweed invites the girls and Link to follow him and his sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks) 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 canceled "Negro Day" and Tracy suggests that they march for integration. 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. 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 and hides in a fallout shelter. Penny's mother, Prudence, catches Tracy and calls the police before tying her daughter to her bed. Having been bailed out by Wilbur, Seaweed and his friends help Tracy and Penny escape. Link visits Tracy’s house to look for her and realizes he loves her. Seaweed and Penny also acknowledge their love during the escape.
With the pageant underway, 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, 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 Seaweed's sister, 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 planted by Edna, resulting in her firing. The Corny Collins Show set turns into a celebration as Tracy and Link kiss.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Edna Turnblad
- John Travolta as Edna Turnblad
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle
- Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad
- Amanda Bynes as Penny Lou Pingleton
- Queen Latifah as Maybelle "Motormouth" Stubbs
- James Marsden as Corny Collins
- Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle
- Zac Efron as Link Larkin
- Elijah Kelley as Seaweed J. Stubbs
- Allison Janney as Prudence "Prudy" Pingleton
Minor roles[]
- Paul Dooley as Harriman F. Spritzer
- Jayne Eastwood as Miss Wimsey
- Jerry Stiller as Mr. Pinky
- Taylor Parks as Little Inez Stubbs
- George King as Mr. Flak
Council members[]
- Curtis Holbrook 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 Lupien 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[]
- Nadine Ellis
- Arike Rice
- Tanee McCall
Cameos[]
- Ricki Lake (Tracy Turnblad in the original film) as William Morris Talent Agent #1,
- Adam Shankman (choreographer/director of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #2
- Marc Shaiman (co-lyricist/writer of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #3
- Scott Wittman (co-lyricist and music writer of the film) as William Morris Talent Agent #4.
- John Waters (writer and director of 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"
Soundtrack[]
- Main article: Hairspray (2007 soundtrack)
Production[]
Early development[]
Following the success of the Broadway musical of the same name, which won eight Tony Awards 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 similarly 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 Ryack 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.
Adaptation changes[]
Dixon was primarily hired to tone down much of the campiness 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 (the role Mr. Spritzer fills), Velma's husband Franklin, Corny's assistant Tammy, the beatniks, 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.
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 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 Hairspray's 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 to the kids after being let out of jail, now underscores Maybelle's march on WYZT (which takes place in the stage musical at the end of "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 Atlanta, 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 siblings Seaweed and Little Inez Stubbs, 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 Von Tussle. Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original film, appears as plus-sized women's clothes retailer Mr. Pinky in this version.
Since Hairspray's 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.
Principal photography[]
Principal photography 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 stages 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. A PCC streetcar with Toronto Transit Commission livery is seen in the opening sequence. 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 ballerinas 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.
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 view of Baltimore that eventually descends from the clouds to ground level — is a combination of the opening shots of West Side Story and The Sound of Music.
- 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 Thompson (Joan Crawford) in the 1932 film Rain.
- 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 Streisand musical film version of Funny Girl.
- 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 Garland swoons over a photo of actor Clark Gable 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 Maria uses old curtains to make play clothes for the von Trapp children.
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 Larry and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This made Hairspray the record-holder for the biggest opening weekend for a movie based on a Broadway musical. This record was later broken by the release of Mamma Mia!, which grossed $27,751,240 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 ($145 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.[3] 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 City and Los Angeles for one week because John Travolta was present for Q&A and autographs.
Home media[]
Hairspray was released in standard DVD and HD Blu-ray Disc 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 scenes including Tracy's deleted song "I Can Wait", a 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 was canceled due to New Line Cinema's announcement that it would go Blu-ray exclusive with immediate effect, thus dropping HD DVD support.
Cancelled sequel[]
Due to Hairspray's financial success, New Line Cinema 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 1960s era of music and the British Invasion, and used the Hippie movement and Vietnam War as backdrops. 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, Shankman told British press that Hairspray 2: White Lipstick was no longer in development. Shankman has also said that there will be no sequel.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Differences from the 1988 film[]
See also[]
External Links[]
Hairspray at the Internet Movie Database
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