Hairspray is a 2007 musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Adam Shankman, and written by Leslie Dixon. It is based on the 2002 stage musical by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, which itself was based on John Waters's 1988 film. Produced by Ingenious Media and Zadan/Meron Productions, the film features 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 "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad (Blonsky) as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local television dance show and rallies against racial segregation.
Development began in 2004, with Dixon reworking Meehan and O'Donnell's first screenplay draft to tone down the musical's campiness; by the following year, Shankman agreed to direct. The musical's composer and lyricist team, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, reworked their songs for the film's soundtrack, and also wrote four new original songs. Principal photography lasted from September to December 2006 with a budget of $75 million; filming took place on locations in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, and on sound-stages at Toronto's Showline Studios. Recording sessions took place in San Diego, California.
Hairspray premiered at the Mann Village Theater on July 10, 2007, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States by New Line Cinema on July 20. It achieved critical and commercial success, breaking the record for the largest opening weekend for a musical film, and ranking as the seventh-highest-grossing musical film adaptation with a worldwide gross of $203.6 million. Among its accolades, Hairspray was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy), five Critics' Choice Awards (winning two), and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Plot
In 1962, overweight 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad lives in Baltimore. She and her shy best friend Penny Pingleton frequently watch The Corny Collins Show, a local teen dance television show broadcast live on the WYZT station. Several of the dancers on the show, including lead dancers Amber von Tussle and her boyfriend Link Larkin, attend Tracy and Penny's high school. Amber's mother Velma, the station's manager, ensures that her daughter is prominently featured and only allows African-American dancers to appear on the show's monthly "Negro Day", hosted by local R&B disc jockey "Motormouth" Maybelle Stubbs.
Corny reveals that one of the dancers on the show will be taking a nine-month leave of absence, so Link announces auditions for a replacement to be held at the WYZT studio the next day. Ecstatic, Tracy skips class to attend the audition, but Velma rejects Tracy for both her size and support of integration. While in detention for cutting class, Tracy discovers the "Negro Day" youths practicing in the detention room and befriends Maybelle's son, Seaweed.
While leaving detention, Tracy inadvertently meets Link and dreams of a life with him. At a record hop, Tracy's dance moves, taught to her by Seaweed, garner Corny's attention, so he chooses her to join the cast.
Tracy quickly becomes one of Corny's most popular performers, threatening Amber's chances of winning the show's annual "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant the following month and her relationship with Link, who grows fonder of Tracy. When Tracy is enlisted as the spokesgirl for a plus-size fashion boutique, she persuades her agoraphobic mother Edna to accompany her there as her agent, where both receive makeovers, sharply boosting Edna's confidence.
Tracy introduces Seaweed to Penny, and they become smitten. Later, Seaweed and his younger sister Little Inez bring Tracy, Penny, and Link to a party at Maybelle's store. Amber anonymously calls Edna and divulges Tracy's whereabouts. Edna rushes to the store and attempts to take Tracy home immediately, but Maybelle convinces her to stay and take pride in herself. After Maybelle sadly informs everyone that Velma has canceled Negro Day, Tracy suggests they march for integration. Link, unwilling to endanger his career, apologizes to Tracy and explains that he is scheduled to sing in front of talent scouts at the pageant.
Edna returns to her husband Wilbur's shop, but Velma gets there first and tries to seduce him. Though he remains impervious to Velma's advances, Edna arrives to see Velma forcing him into a compromising position and furiously storms out. After accusing Wilbur of infidelity and changing the locks, Edna forbids Tracy to be on the show, but changes her mind after reconciling with Wilbur.
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 hides her in a fallout shelter. However, Penny's staunchly religious mother Prudy reports Tracy to the police and ties Penny 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, realizing 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 and rigs the pageant tallies to guarantee Amber's victory. Penny arrives at the pageant with Edna, while Wilbur, Seaweed, and the Negro Day youths help Tracy infiltrate the studio. Link breaks away from Amber to dance with Tracy; later, he pulls Inez to the stage to dance in the pageant.
Amber's attempt to reclaim her championship crown fails. Inez wins the pageant after a late surge of support, successfully integrating the program. Edna mans a camera to film Velma revealing her rigging scheme to Amber, resulting in Velma's dismissal. The set turns into a celebration as Tracy and Link cement their love by kissing.
Cast John Travolta as Edna Turnblad, Tracy's mother who owns a laundry business, 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 1988 film, which featured drag queen Divine as Edna, as well as to the Broadway adaptation, which featured Harvey Fierstein as Edna. 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. 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!. 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. The peculiarity of Pfeiffer and Travolta appearing onscreen together (Travolta starred in Grease, Pfeiffer in Grease 2) was not lost on the production staff; Travolta requested that Pfeiffer play the part of the villainess. 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. Aretha Franklin had been previously considered for the role. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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, and he eventually beat out Billy Crystal and Jim Broadbent for the role of Wilbur. 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. Marsden beat out both Joey McIntyre and X-Men co-star Hugh Jackman for the part. 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. 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; however Shankman's sister, executive producer Jennifer Gibgot, convinced him to cast Efron, believing that the teen star would draw a substantial teen crowd. 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. Allison Janney as Prudence "Prudy" Pingleton, Penny's mother, a racist Christian fundamentalist whose strict parenting keeps Penny from experiencing life. Her husband is serving a prison sentence for an unspecified crime.
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. 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. Jayne Eastwood as Miss Wimsey, Tracy's geography teacher, who gives Tracy the detention note that first leads her to Seaweed. George King as Mr. Flak, Amber, Link, and Tracy's history teacher. He gives Tracy detention when Amber frames Tracy for drawing a picture of him with breasts. He gives Link detention as well for coming to Tracy's defense.
Council members
Laura Edwards as Vicky Becca Sweitzer as Darla Cassie Silva as Brenda Tiffany Engen as Noreen Brooke Leigh Engen as Doreen Sarah Jayne Jensen as Shelley Hayley Podschun as Tammy Nick Baga as Sketch Curtis Holbrook as Brad J.P. Ferreri as Joey