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Hairspray (2007 film)

2007 film by Adam Shankman

Hairspray is a 2007 musical film based on a Broadway musical, set in 1960s Baltimore, Maryland. It follows the "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation. Both the film and the musical are based on the 1988 film of the same name by John Waters.

Directed by Adam Shankman.

Tracy Turnblad

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  • Being invited places by colored people - it feels so hip!
  • Ma, it's changing out there! You'll like it. People who are different, their time is coming!

from “Good Morning Baltimore”

The rats on the street
All dance ’round my feet,
They seem to say
“Tracy, it’s up to you!”
So, oh, oh,
Don’t hold me back,
’Cause today, all my dreams will come true!
Good morning Baltimore!
There’s the flasher who lives next door,
There’s the bum on his barroom stool,
They wish me luck on my way to school.
Good morning Baltimore,
And some day when I take to the floor,
The world’s gonna wake up and see
Baltimore and me.

from “You Can’t Stop the Beat”

You can’t stop an avalanche
As it races down the hill;
You can try to stop the seasons, girl
But ya know you never will.
And you can try to stop my dancin' feet,
But I just cannot stand still.

Penny Pingleton

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  • My mom says I’m not allowed to perspire!

from “Without Love”

In my ivory tower
Life was just a Hostess snack
But now I’ve tasted chocolate
And I'm never going back
  • I am now a checkerboard chick!
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  • Sorry, little darlin'. Hope I didn’t dent your 'do.

From "Ladies Choice"

Hey little girl lookin' for a sale,
Test drive this American male
It's gonna take cash to fill my tank,
So let's crack open your piggy bank!

From "Without Love"

Once I was a selfish fool who never understood
I never looked inside myself,
But on the outside, I looked good!

Amber Von Tussle

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

from “The New Girl in Town”

Hey look out for that moving van
Driving down our street!
You better lock up your man
Before he meets

Seaweed J. Stubbs

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from “Run Tell That”

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.
I could say it ain’t so, but darling, what’s the use?
The darker the chocolate, the richer the taste,
And that’s where it’s at
Now run tell that!

from “Without Love”

Girl, if I can’t touch you
Then I’m gonna lose control

Little Inez

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from “Run Tell That”

I’m tired of coverin’ up all my pride!
(So give me five on the black-hand side)
I’ve got a new way of movin’
And I've got my own voice!
(So how can I help,
But to shout and rejoice?)
The people ’round here
Can barely pay their rent
They're try'n to make dollar
Outta fifteen cent!
But we got a spirit
Money just can’t buy!
It’s deep as a river
And soars to the sky!!!

Velma Von Tussle

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  • I risked communicable diseases, she’ll certainly risk jail.
  • Let me guess, brand-new dress? Well, you’ll stop traffic!
  • I could do a fan dance with a lettuce leaf and you would remain completely obtuse!
  • You know what your demographic is? Cleaning ladies and lawn jockeys.
  • My husband, he accidentally suffocated.

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

I bet you’re tired of heavy lifting
Get your hands on something small

The Dynamites

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from “Welcome to the Sixties”

Don’tcha let nobody try to steal your fun,
’Cause a little touch of lipstick never hurt no one
The future’s got a million roads for you to choose,
But you’ll walk a little taller in some high heel shoes
And once you find a style that makes you feel like you,
Something fresh, something new

Dialogue

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Edna: Will you turn that racket down? I'm trying to iron here.
Tracy: Ma, its not racket, its the Corny Collins Show!
Edna: Well, it's turning your brains into mud!
Penny: Without that show I have nothing!
Mrs. Pingleton: Having nothing builds character!
Amber: [to one of the dancers] Do that again, and there'll be stumps where your feet are, you got that? You little who- [Link walks up] -Holy moly.
Link: [presents Amber with a ring] It’s time.
[Amber squeals with delight, and kisses Link]
Velma: Amber! [they break apart] Save your personal life for the camera, sweetie! Ooh, shiny! [sends Amber off to makeup for more powder]
Corny: And now it’s time to say goodbye to our very own fun-lovin’, free-wheelin’ little Brenda. Come on up here, Brenda! [Brenda does so] Brenda will be taking a little leave of absence from the show. How long are you gonna be gone, Brenda?
Brenda: [smiling nervously] Just nine months.
Velma: Detroit sound? What’s that, the cries of people being mugged?
Velma: They’re kids, Corny, that’s why we have to steer them in the white direction.
Corny: The right direction?
Velma: Didn’t I say that?
Corny: Gee, Velma, how do you fire Corny Collins from The Corny Collins Show? [walks off]
Velma: [starts to speak and then pauses, frustrated] They do it all the time on “Lassie”!
Edna: No one is auditioning for anything in this household!
Tracy: But why not? Why not?
Edna: Because dancing is not your future. One day, you’re going to own "Edna’s Occidental Laundry".
Tracy: I don’t want to be a laundress, I want to be famous!
Edna: If you want to be famous, learn how to take blood out of car upholstery; That’s a skill you can take right to the bank!
Wilbur: [to Tracy] This is America, babe, you gotta think big to be big.
Edna: Big ain’t the problem in this family, Wilbur...
Tracy: I can’t believe I’m really here auditioning [for The Corny Collins Show]!
Penny: I can’t believe I’m really here watching you audition.
Tracy: Negro Day’s the best! I wish every day were “Negro Day”!
Seaweed: At our house, it is.
[Everyone laughs]
Amber: You have to vote for a person, Corny, not one of the Himalayas.
Corny: [tightly] Always the charmer, Amber!
Velma: [after The Dynamites perform “The New Girl in Town”] How dare you pick the same song!
Maybelle: They wrote it.
Mr. Flak: Oh, and Mr. Larkin, perhaps you’d like to share with the rest of the class Patrick Henry’s immortal last words?
Link: [pause] Kiss my ass?
[Amber gasps in shock]
Penny: I’m very pleased and scared to be here.
Maybelle: Now, honey, we got more reason to be scared on your street.
Amber: I’m calling because I have some information about your daughter’s whereabouts.
Edna: What?
Amber: Right now, as we speak, your daughter has entered a hotbed of moral... !urpentine.
Maybelle: [watching Edna walk in] Boy, if we get any more white people in here, this is gonna be a suburb.
Maybelle: Miz Edna, is it? Hi, I mean, you don’t have to rush off, you know.
Edna: Well, I do. I left my iron on.
Maybelle: Oh, your iron? Well, before you go, are you sure you wouldn't like to have a little something to eat? [shows Edna the soul food spread on the table]
Edna: [after a long moment] Is that braised?
Velma Von Tussle: Incredible! I could do a fan dance with a lettuce leaf and you would remain completely obtuse!
Wilbur: Obtuse?
Velma: Yes, obtuse!
Wilbur: I flunked geometry-
Velma: Yeah, well, and biology too, no doubt!
Wilbur: [to a sobbing Edna, who thinks that he has been cheating on her with Velma] Honey, it took me five years to figure out you were flirting! How could I ever?
Link: I was just at home, practising my new twist on “The Twist”, when I overheard it on the news. I can’t believe Tracy savagely bludgeoned an Eagle Scout! That’s just not like her!
Edna: But it’s not true! I was there! He didn't even bleed!
[Seaweed attempts to untie the rope binding Penny]
Penny: Oh, Seaweed, you do care! I was afraid the colors of our skin would keep us apart!
Seaweed: No, but these knots might. [still trying to untie her] Was your mom in the Navy?
Inez: [singing] Seaweed’s got a girlfriend!
Seaweed: Shut up!
Inez: You.
Maybelle: [to Seaweed and Penny] Oh, so this is love? [pauses, then smiles] Well, love is a gift; a lot of people don’t remember that. So you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin’ at you from a never-ending parade of stupid.
Penny: [deadpan] Oh, you've met my mother?
Police Chief: [while on the lookout for Tracy] Velma, I seriously doubt she’ll risk incarceration to win a pageant.
Velma: [to herself] I risked communicable diseases. She’ll certainly risk jail.
Penny: I am now a checkerboard chick! [kisses Seaweed]
Mrs. Pingleton: [sees this on TV, and screams in horror] Penny, no! [tumbles over the coffee table]
Amber: I lost, Mom, Let’s just deal with it!
Velma: No, you did not lose! [as she pulls the tallies out of her brassiere] You cannot have lost because I switched the damn tallies!
Edna: Smile, Ms. Crab Meat! [camera pans to reveal her and Wilbur standing behind a live television camera] You’re on Candid Camera!
Wilbur: That was a good shot, don’t you think?
Cameraman: Not bad!
Velma: Corny, do something! This show is turning to gumbo!
Corny: Not a chance, Velma - this is the future.

Taglines

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

Cast

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Main characters

Minor roles

Trivia

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  • The irony of casting John Travolta (Danny Zuko from Grease) as Edna Turnblad and Michelle Pfeiffer (Stephanie Zinone from Grease 2) as Velma Von Tussle was not lost on anyone, not to mention casting Zac Efron (Troy Bolton from the High School Musical movies).
  • Nikki Blonsky's film début. She was chosen out of a nationwide talent search and was actually surprised by director/choreographer Adam Shankman via a live video feed at Cold Stone Creamery where she worked.
  • On an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show Nikki Blonsky revealed that the first thing that John Travolta told her on the set was "Come to Momma!"
  • Zac Efron (Link Larkin) commuted back and forth from Toronto to Los Angeles to do the soundtrack for High School Musical 2. However, some of the Hairspray soundtrack was recorded in the same studio.
  • Link's signature "wink-and-click" gesture was something that Zac came up with on his own. Shankman liked it so much that he asked him to do it often on the film. Zac even did it on at least one occasion in High School Musical 2.
  • It took four hours of makeup daily to put John Travolta into the thirty-pound body suit to play Edna Turnblad.
  • The hairstyles and bunches for the cast members took an average of three hours to do.
  • Amanda Bynes (Penny Pingleton) constantly sucked on lollipops. Her father, a dentist, expressed concern about it. She assured him that she was not really eating them when in reality she ate them all.
  • Several deleted scenes included: Edna being arrested at the protest, Tracy singing "I Can Wait" in the bomb shelter of Penny's basement, and Velma being arrested near the end of "You Can't Stop the Beat". They can all be seen on the DVD.
  • The song "The New Girl in Town" was originally written for the Broadway show and it was cut during its pre-Broadway run but it was included in the film version. This was done to give Brittany Snow (Amber Von Tussle) a chance to sing and to show Negro Day, something that the other adaptations never did.
  • The song "You Can't Stop the Beat" was nicknamed "You Can't Stop to Breathe" by the cast due to the song's length, the near-nonstop dancing, and the large amount of words sung.
  • The songs "It Takes Two" and "Ladies' Choice", both sung by Link, were written for the stage and film respectively, even though the coda for the first song was only heard on film. It can be heard on the CD soundtrack.
  • Because Zac's voice was blended with Drew Seeley's in High School Musical, he got the chance to show his talents on his own with Hairspray. In High School Musical 2 he was the singing voice of Troy Bolton.
  • During a break in the filming, John Travolta led the cast in "Summer Loving" and "Greased Lightning" from Grease. Amanda and Zac were so excited that they texted all of their friends. Zac sent pages and pictures to his High School Musical cast mates who were on tour at that time.
  • The added reprise of "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" was done at Michelle Pfeiffer's suggestion to replace a scripted scene so that she could have another chance to sing.
  • Unlike the Broadway show, neither Amber nor Velma take active parts in "You Can't Stop the Beat.”
  • For "Run Tell That”, a 1959 GMC school bus was cut into nine pieces to facilitate the dance number. Ironically, the white kids sat at the back of the bus.
  • The Broadway song "Mama I'm a Big Girl Now" was reluctantly cut from the movie. It was set to be a three-way song involving Tracy, Penny, and Amber with their mothers. The producers felt that it could not be done without a three-way split screen and it would deviate from the movie. The song, however, was recorded featuring Nikki Blonsky, Ricki Lake (the original Tracy in the 1988 film), and Marissa Jaret Winokur from the Broadway show.
  • The dress that Penny wears in "You Can't Stop the Beat" was made from the curtains in her room. It was homage to Disney films where dresses were made from curtains and blankets.
  • Pulp Fiction Reference:
    • Just before going out onto the floor in "You Can't Stop the Beat" Edna gives Velma the Batusi. She also does that to a cop in the deleted scenes portion of the DVD.
    • When Edna says, "If you want to be famous, learn how to take blood out of car upholstery", it is a reference to the Harvey Keitel character. (Although - as this line was used in the Broadway musical - it is most unlikely to be an actual reference - merely coincidental as the Broadway musical was written way before any John Travolta involvement in the 2007 film musical)

Cameo Appearances

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