History Film / Hairspray

-->'''Penny Pingleton:''' ''(shouting)'' I LOVE YOU, SEAWEED!
-->'''Paddy Pingleton:''' Shut up! Get her in the car!
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "So that the whole world knows that Penny Pingleton is ''permanently, positively, punished!''"

* BadassBoast: Lil' Inez quoting Martin Luther King Jr. saying "I have a dream!" when she is denied the chance to dance with everybody else on The Corny Collins Show. Followed by Penny shouting to the police man, "Segregation never. Integration now!".

-->'''Tracy Turnblad:''' Pass the macaroni and cheese. Please.
-->'''Edna Turnblad:''' Tracy, did you take those appetite suppressors my doctor prescribed you?
-->'''Tracy Turnbald:''' Mother, I'm a growing teenager, I need food!

* TheCameo: Creator/PiaZadora and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]] as {{Beatnik}}s - the former even starts reading ''Literature/{{Howl}}'' to the naive kids.

It's [[TheSixties 1962]] Baltimore and Tracy Turnblad is a ''[[JustForPun huge]]'' fan of ''The Corny Collins Show'', which is similar to ''Series/AmericanBandstand''. She also is a fan of big hairstyles which require hairspray to stay in place - a trend the adults disapprove of. When one of the old dancers has to leave because of pregnancy, an audition is held for a new female dancer, and Tracy gets the spot because of her talent and her exuberant personality. This leads to a chain of events that will change Baltimore forever...

** Penny's mother and father, who are both racists and punish Penny every time either for not calling them about her whereabouts or for hanging out with Tracy or for watching the Corny Collins show. Then they find Penny is in love with Seaweed and try to forcefully imprison her up in a straitjacket and brainwash her into loving white boys (without consent).
** Amber's parents are shown to be very competitive and force Amber to do dances faster, chastise her for dancing to a "colored" record, and vow to send her away to Catholic school if she fails to win.

* AdoptionDiss: One of Amber's lies about Tracy in class, claiming that she is adopted and her classmates react in horror.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "So that the whole world knows that you, Penny Pingleton, is ''permanently, positively, punished!''"

* BadassBoast: Lil'' Inez quoting Martin Luthor King Jr. saying "I have a dream!" when she is denied the chance to dance with everybody else on The Corny Collins Show. Followed by Penny shouting to the police man, "Segregation never. Integration now!".

** During the "Ladies's Choice" dance, though smitten with the makeout kid from earlier, she really likes Link and Tracy to choose between one of the two suitors closest to her.
* BerserkButton: Being racist is one way to set off Edna Turnblad's wrath. That and insulting her daughter Tracy.
* BigEater: It's implied that Edna is one as she takes appetite suppressors for it to deal with her appetite and her weight. Tracy is one at dinner as she asks her mother to pass one of the servings (macaroni and cheese) over to fill her plate. Although this is Justified since she is a teenager.

* BuxomIsBetter: One female contestant for the Corny Collins's show is shown stuffing her bra for this.

* DanceOfRomance: When the teens slow dance and makeout at the Corny Collins' show (set to "A Town Without Pity"), and again at Motormouth Maybelle's place.
* DancePartyEnding: The film ends with everyone dancing as Tracy is crowned Miss Baltimore and she cheers, "Let's dance!".

** As Tracy points out to Principal Mr. Davidson, he had several of her black classmates disproportionately put in Special Ed to hold them back academically.
** Tracy gets sent to detention because of her big hair, which she complains about to Penny during a game of dodgeball with Special Ed.

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: In the film's opening sequence, Amber is shown rigging the show's votes by taking some of the votes for the other girls and placing them on hers when no one is looking.

* DrugsAreBad: When Tracy, Link, Penny, and Seaweed take refuge in a beatnik's shelter, they are shocked at the beatnik chick's request of smoking weed and leave (the request alone is shocking enough to make a beatnik next to her non-fatally put his head through his painting).

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Tracy dyes her hair blonde after becoming a hit on the Corny Collins Show (a DeletedScene would explain her hair dye change) and Edna goes from an unkempt hairdo to a new styled beehive hairdo while shopping with Tracy as a means to boost her self confidence.
* ForcefulKiss: Penny dances with a white boy at the Corny Collins show and he ''smothers'' her with kisses, much to Penny's discomfort.
* FreakOut: The scene where Prudy tries to follow Tracy, Link and Penny is one laugh riot because she freaks out once she gets to ''the Black community part of the city''. HilarityEnsues. She thinks they're all out to get her and freaks out after finding an officer, only to find out he's Black too!

* GymClassHell: Tracy and the rest of the Special Ed classmates are laughed at by Amber, her classmates, and a sadist teacher simply for being Special Ed. Followed by a game of dodgeball.
* HappyDance: Tracy does a victory dance to "The Bug" as she is freed from jail with a pardon and goes to celebrate her win.

* HypocriticalHumor: Most of the dancers and townspeople are racist, yet they have no problem dancing to "Shake a Tail Feather" by The Five Du-Tones. Amber's parents call her out on this.[[note]]This is historically accurate for decades by this point. In many racially segregated places, blacks were still invited as entertainers (and servants).[[/note]]
* IHaveNoSon: Paddy screaming this as Penny escapes her parent's captivity with Seaweed.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: After the commotion at the Corny Collins Show because of a little black girl being rejected to dance on the Corny Collins Show, Tracy being pursued by the cops and Corny and Tammy being threatened to get fired for protesting against segregation, Corny and Tammy take a swig from a bottle of whiskey to deal with the stress.

** In the opening scene, two dancers interrupt a makeout session to add a little more hairspray to each other/
** Amber makes out with Link in her car but stops it because she notices a pimple on her chin and throws a fit.

* {{Irony}}: Despite the whites-only establishments, the dancers on the Corny Collins Show enjoy a "colored" record, namely "Shake a Tail Feather" by The Five Du-Tones..
* KickTheDog: Amber calling Tracy a "whore" during the couples dances, hurting Tracy's feelings.

* LoveAtFirstSight: After Tracy got hit hard with a dodgeball, Link checks on her if she's alright and asks her if she wants to go steady with him.

-->'''Velma Von Tussle:''' Can I ask you a personal question? Is your daughter a mullatto?\\
'''Edna Turnblad:''' Why you! ''(starts hitting her)''
* TheMisophonic: Edna hates the loud music blasting from The Corny Collins Show that Tracy and Penny are dancing to.

* RescueRomance: Seaweed breaking Penny out of her parent's house.
* RunningGag: The kids run into a beatnik couple, and the woman says she uses a straightening iron to get her hair so silky. This leads to a couple scenes where the girls Penny and Tracy are using a ''[[LiteralMinded clothing]]'' iron to straighten their hair complete with laying their heads on an ironing board[[note]]the electric flat iron wasn't available commercially to buy until the 1990s, so women in the [[ShownTheirWork sixties did use their clothing iron to straighten their hair]][[/note]]. This is given a subtle shout-out in the second movie at the end, where Tracy and Penny have straightened their hair for the big show as if out of protest.

** Many people's reactions in the commotion going on at Tilted Acres and someone throws a firecracker into the crowd.

* StarmakingRole: Not that Creator/JohnWaters and Divine were unknowns in 1988, but this was their first truly mainstream film. Divine was even tapped to play Peg Bundy's parents on ''Married...With Children'', but sadly died before they could shoot his scenes. Which is why later episodes have Peg's mother heard and not seen, other than the fact that she's inhumanly obese.

!!Tropes
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Multiple Versions]]
* {{Acrofatic}}: Tracy, who overweight, but dances like a champ. Edna, too--she does a fair amount of fleet-footed dancing in the 2007 version. While John Travolta isn't overweight, he's wearing a lot of foam rubber padding, so his dancing is doubly impressive.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal:
** "That's pretty pricey for a pair of petty pants!"
** "Penny Pingleton, you are ''permanently, positively, punished!''"
* AnAesop: Depends on the movie, but here are a few:
** Follow your dreams.
** Always stand up for what you believe is right.
** No matter how much of a nice person you are, not everybody is going to like you and that's okay.
** Embrace your differences.
* AlliterativeName: Tracy Turnblad, Penny and Prudy Pingleton, Velma Von Tussle, Corny Collins, Link Larkin, Motormouth Maybelle, Seaweed J. Stubbs.
* BlackComedy: Loads and loads of jokes about racism, sexual misconduct, and the [[ValuesDissonance clashing social mores]] of the 60s. %%invoked
* CrosscastRole: Edna is always played by a man.
* DeadpanSnarker: Penny has her moments:
-->'''Maybelle'''(after seeing that Penny and Seaweed were in love): So this is love. Well, love is a gift, but a lot of people don't remember that. So, you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin' at you from a neverending parade of stupid. \\
'''Penny''': So, you met my mom?
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The vastly different social mores of the 60s is the third most important character, after big hair and the upbeat music, especially in the original movie. Aside from the obvious racism, there's the open weight-shaming the [[HollywoodPudgy mildly chunky]] Tracy experiences on a daily basis, one of Corny Collins' dancers getting fired for getting pregnant, and the fact that Tracy's unorthodox hairstyle is considered enough of a symbol of defiance to get her sent to detention, just to name a few examples.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: An InUniverse example happens with Tracy herself. Despite Amber being the lead dancer, Tracy becomes a new member of the show and she becomes just as popular as Amber.
skinny guy.
* GenkiGirl: Tracy is very cheerful and energetic.
* GirlishPigtails: Penny's hair is in pigtails.
* GoodParents: Edna and Wilbur Turnblad to Tracy. They're consistently supportive of their daughter and the only time Edna is reluctant is that she's afraid Tracy will be shot down at auditions for the Corny Collins Show and have her feelings hurt.
* HeelFaceTurn: Amber and Velma in the musical; just Amber seems to get one in the film (walking out on her mother and getting along with a black dancer), even after the HumiliationConga. Also, the rest of the Corny Collins Show council in all versions.
* HappilyMarried: Edna and Wilbur. Evoked in "Timeless to Me."
* HenpeckedHusband: Boyfriend but close enough. Link is henpecked by his girlfriend Amber, who sees him as more of a career accessory than a romantic partner.
* {{Irony}}: The irony of white teenagers dancing to music by black people in whites-only establishments is noted.
* {{Jerkass}}: Velma Von Tussle in the musical and even more so in its film adaptation (where she's less LaughablyEvil), and Amber Von Tussle for a good while due to emulating her mother. The whole Von Tussle family takes this to ridiculously extreme levels in the original 1988 film. Tracy and (especially) Edna have their moments there too, in stark contrast to the kind people they are in the musical and 2007 film.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Corny Collins is very smarmy and egotistical ("The only thing better than Hairspray...that's ''me!''), but his [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure heart is shown to be in the right place]].
* LoveAtFirstSight: Penny and Seaweed are smitten from the moment they meet each other.
* MoodWhiplash: Tracy's line in the opening number (''Good morning Baltimore/There's the flasher who lives next door!'') It's even better in the 2007 film, where the flasher is played by [[CreatorCameo John Waters himself]] (who, [[SelfDeprecation by his own admission]], has the perfect look for the role.)
* RoseTintedNarrative: Played with. In any incarnation, it's definitely a loving look at the dance crazes and ''American Bandstand''-style shows of the sixties. And then the fun times get spoiled when the racism of that period is highlighted.
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Link in the original 1988 film, and to a lesser extent in the 2007 film. Deliberately subverted in the stage musical, where his CharacterDevelopment is about stopping being a shallow tool and doing things for himself.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: In especially the musical, ''Hairspray'' is as optimistic as it gets. Note that the horribly racist politics of the 60s are in no way downplayed, but they're almost entirely PlayedForLaughs.
* SpontaneousChoreography: The film's grand finale has perfectly synced yet improvised groups dances.
* TheThemeParkVersion: Of TheSixties, particularly the anti-segregation movement. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Doesn't mean the movie's bad, though]].
* UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain: The Turnblads and the Von Tussles, except that Tracey's not exactly ugly.
* WorldOfHam: Even in the non-musical versions, it's this. Christopher Walken and John Travolta are actually some of the ''subtlest'' performers in the 2007 movie.
* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt:
** Seaweed and Penny, who end up getting together despite it being taboo. Prudy, Penny's mother, even flips out when she sees them together on TV.
** At the end of the play, [[spoiler:Amber]] winds up with an attraction to one of the black dancers, even jumping in his arms!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Exclusive to the 1988 movie]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hairspray_1988.jpg]]

%% * TheSixties: A [[AffectionateParody ruthless but loving parody]] thereof.

%% * AffectionateParody: Of 60s dance culture and the Civil Rights movement.

%% * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: "Timeless to Me" for Wilbur and Edna.
%% * AlphaBitch: Amber Von Tussle.
%% * BetaCouple: Penny and Seaweed.
%% * BigBeautifulWoman: Tracy is this in spades. Also her mother Edna and Motormouth Maybelle.
%% * BigFun: Tracy's a rare female example.
%% * BigEater: Tracy, Maybelle, and Edna all fit this trope to a degree, although it's only portrayed in an unrealistically over-the-top manner in Edna's case.

%% * BrainlessBeauty: Link Larkin is a light, male version. Subverted in the musical, where he [[HiddenDepths ultimately realizes]] that everyone thinks of himself this way and Amber is using this perception of him to advance her own image. Amber herself is a slighter one, mixed with elements of ManipulativeBitch.
%% * {{Camp}}: Duh. It's John Waters!
%% * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Penny, somewhat. Tracy can come off as this too.

%% ** Corny, big time.

%% * {{Expy}}: Corny Collins was based on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Deane_Show Buddy Deane]].
%% * FatAndSkinny: Tracy and Penny, respectively.
%% * FourTemperamentEnsemble: Tracy is Sanguine, Penny is Leukine, Link is Choleric, Amber is Melancholic, and Seaweed is Phlegmatic.
* GenerationXerox: It's implied, by the ending, that Tracy and Link will be the future version of Tracy's parents; Tracy as the big woman and Link as the skinny guy.

%% * KickTheDog: Almost every scene Velma appears in, though racism lends itself easily to this trope.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Exclusive to the 2007 movie]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91omqbuyc6l.jpg]]

* ActorAllusion:
** Creator/MichellePfeiffer and Creator/ChristopherWalken have a scene where she advances on him sexily, and he tries to stop her by using practical jokes as weapons. It's a deliberate homage to the end of ''Film/BatmanReturns'', where they did the same thing as Catwoman and Max Shreck (although Walken used an actual gun in the latter).
** This isn't the first time Zac Efron played a character in a musical film [[Film/HighSchoolMusical that had two girls fighting over him]].
** Creator/JohnTravolta knows the value of being able to get [[Film/PulpFiction blood out of car upholstery]].
* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Velma Von Tussle goes from being merely annoying and overbearing in the stage musical to being a horrible boss and rigging the pageant in Amber's favor.
** Penny's mother is a minor example. Her harshness towards Penny is much more pronounced, and she doesn't have her moment of redemption in the end.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:Inez winning Miss Teenage Hairspray, despite not being a candidate]].
* BigotWithACrush: After losing the Miss Hairspray contest, the racist Amber is seen crushing on a black boy looking at her from the stage. Her equally but more racist mother Velma notices this and tells her to stop it. Though it's also implied Amber is only bigoted because of her mother's terrible influence.
* BreakingTheGlassCeiling: Inez Stubbs becomes the first black female to win Miss Teenage Hairspray.
* ButNotTooBlack: A lot of people objected to Music/QueenLatifah's casting, claiming that she's too light for the role, especially given certain lines in her song refer to how dark her skintone is.
* CastingGag:
** Creator/JerryStiller plays fashion store owner Mr Pinky. Stiller played Wilbur Turnblad in the original 1988 film. Several other actors from the original and the director appear as well, see "The Cameo".
** Creator/BrittanySnow essentially fulfilled the same role as Tracy in her show ''Series/AmericanDreams'' except she actually danced on ''Series/AmericanBandstand''.
* ChekhovsGun: The large, hollow hairspray canister in the foreground while Corny and Velma are arguing about putting Tracy on the show.
* ChekhovsGunman:
** When Velma switches the Miss Teenage Hairspray votes at the end of the movie, Edna, in disguise, is the only one to see her do it; later, it's Edna who orchestrates the EngineeredPublicConfession described below.
** Early in the movie, Velma harasses a cameraman for not giving Amber enough screen time during the Corny Collins Show. Guess who helps Edna and Wilbur expose Velma's cheating by letting them use his camera?
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: This exchange with Motormouth Maybelle and Tracy Turnblad when the former tries to get Tracy to be aware of the blatant racism in the 60s:
-->'''Motormouth Maybelle:''' You've been dozing off in history class??
-->'''Tracy:''' Yes, always.
* ContinuityNod: The 2007 film makes several references to scenes from the 1988 movie that don't happen in the new version. During one song montage, Tracy is knocked in the head during dodge ball, and one of the nasty rumors Amber tries to start is about Tracy getting put into Special Ed, though it doesn't actually happen in this version.
* CreatorCameo: John Waters, director of the 1988 film, appears as a flasher during "Good Morning Baltimore", and director Adam Shankman, composer/lyricist Mark Shaiman and co-composer/lyricist Scott Wittman play talent agents. The associate choreographers also make appearances.
* CurtainClothing: An extremely subtle one: The dress Penny wears during "You Can't Stop The Beat" is made from the curtains in her room.
* CurseCutShort: Amber sounds like she's about to call another female dancer a whore before Link intervenes.
* DarkHorseVictory: [[spoiler:Little Inez's victory in the Miss Teenage Hairspray contest. Despite not even being a candidate in the competition, she got a tidal wave of phone calls from viewers who liked her dancing and she won.]]
* DeliberateValuesDissonance : Many tongue in cheek examples, particularly during "Welcome to the Sixties." Two pregnant women smoking and drinking martinis, a [[CarloadOfCoolKids carful of children standing up on the seats,]] and so on. Also, the circular pins worn by a couple of the girls, which indicated a girl was a virgin. Brenda was wearing one in the "Just nine months" scene, made even more ironic by the possibility that Corny is the father (look closely, you'll see them arguing in a FunnyBackgroundEvent).
* DirtyCop: The lead police officer who's working for Velma. He finds an excuse to throw Tracy, Edna, Motormouth Maybelle and the rest of her protest group in jail, simply by accusing Tracy of assaulting a police officer (she only "barely" hit him with her protest sign). It's played for laughs but he also helps engineer ridiculous propaganda against Tracy that leads to her being accused on the news of savagely beating a cop and an Eagle Scout.
* TheDogBitesBack: The cameraman who lets the Turnblads use his camera for Velma's EngineeredPublicConfession is the same one that she had belittled and threatened in the beginning of the movie.
* EngineeredPublicConfession: Velma admits to cheating to ensure her daughter the crown, only to find out a camera has been on her the whole time.
* EyeAwaken: Done by Tracy in the opening scene just before “Good Morning Baltimore”. As first opening shot the audience sees of Tracy is her eyes fluttering open to the music as she gets ready for school.
* FreudianSlip: Velma von Tussle: "We've got to lead kids in the white direction...I mean...you know what I mean."
* TheHeroDies: Definitely doesn't happen in the musical or the movie, but the final lines of the song "New Girl in Town" imply that the new girl mentioned in the lyrics (Tracy?) was run over by a moving van and died:
-->Hey, look out for that moving van\\
Look out, look out, look out, look out!\\
[{{Beat}}]\\
[[MoodWhiplash She was the new girl in]]... [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing to-oo-own]]!
* HumiliationConga: [[spoiler:Amber has Tracy steal her thunder and her boyfriend, gets hoisted above the set, tears her dress and sprains her ankle getting down, and loses her crown to a child on live TV]]. And then she's surprisingly good natured about it in the end, possibly making this a subversion. Played straight with Velma, though, whose humiliation is more thorough and ''not'' taken well.
* IndyPloy: Corny Collins isn't responsible for any of the events of the movie, but damned if he isn't ready to use them to his advantage. In the movie, he knows Inez Stubb's name and the very specific clause to let her win, implying that he's been waiting and preparing for any kind of situation for him to push his agenda.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Unlike the previous film, Velma doesn't go through a HeelFaceTurn at the end. This just goes to show that racists don't change their ways instantly.
* RemakeCameo: Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original movie, played Mr. Pinky, who ran a plus-sized boutique and wanted Tracy to do commercials for him when she became a hit on the Corny Collins show. Ricki Lake (Tracy from the 1988 film) also appears, as a talent agent. Even John Waters has a cameo as (who else?) "the flasher who lives next door."
* LaserGuidedKarma: Velma Von Tussle gets struck by this. After going to great lengths to win the Miss Hairspray contest through throwing people in prison through false arrest and cheating and seduction, she is caught on the television admitting to her daughter she helped her win the competition through cheating, gets fired by her boss, and publicly humiliated.
* LifeIsntFair: Invoked with Tracy in the scene with her father, after the latter is thrown out of their house for [[MistakenForCheating supposedly cheating on Edna]]. While having a conversation with Wilbur about the cancellation of Negro Day on the Corny Collins show, Tracy says that despite her optimistic views, she later accepts how unfair life can be. She also speaks about how fairness won't happen because people want it to.
* LovableAlphaBitch: Amber. Although she only seems to be like that because her mother holds very high standards to her. In the end, she [[GracefulLoser accepts defeat]] and (in the musical at least) Tracy and the others are happy to invite her to [[HeelFaceTurn join in the final number]].
* MamaBear: Edna barricades a [[DirtyCop police officer]] from chasing her daughter, despite the fact that she was dragged into a protest she didn't really want to be in and it just gets her arrested. In a deleted scene she also unflinchingly demands that the same police officer apologize to the van full of ''peaceful'' protesters. You almost forget this is the same woman who hadn't ''left her house in eleven years''.
* MightyWhitey: The fact that Tracy, a white high school girl obsessed with dancing who has no real understanding of the sociopolitical scene or the importance of integration - she spends all day at school sleeping and has no knowledge of American history either - comes up with the idea to do a "march" to save the 'Negro Day' TV show while all the black people who have been fighting and striving to make a difference just stand around accepting being forced out from TV.
* MistakenForCheating: Velma attempts to make Wilbur look like she was cheating on Edna as a plan to make sure Tracy doesn't participate in the pageant.
* MomLooksLikeASister: Invoked. In one scene (Welcome to the 60s), a store owner asks Tracy if Edna is her older sister.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When Tracy participates at the march and hits a cop on the head with her sign and runs away, it gives Velma a good opportunity to stop Tracy from participating in the pageant by having the same police guard the entrance, [[spoiler: making Tracy and the others devise a plan to sneak into the pageant. If Tracy had been bailed out along with Maybelle, she wouldn't have had to hide from the cops and sneak into the pageant!]]
* NiceJobFixingItVillain:
** Playing right into Tracy and friends' plans, Velma forces all the security guards outside despite ample security outside in response to the bait (Wilbur dressed as Tracy), getting them locked out. The guards then beat down the door with a hairspray battering ram with Tracy inside. Once Velma realizes what they've done, they all rush to it, only for all of them to get locked out once again.
** After Amber [[spoiler: loses the Miss Teenage Hairspray Competition, Velma then admits to Amber that she rigged the votes. Edna then informs Velma that her confession was broadcasted on camera, which causes Velma to lose her job.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The Dynamites are stand-ins for Music/TheSupremes.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Tracy, possibly, since in "I Can Hear the Bells", she has no problem pushing people and pinning a guy against a locker.
* NotHisSled: Although it sticks pretty close to the musical, the film does change up a few key moments in the story.
** In the musical, Tracy gets arrested after the protest, but eventually breaks out of prison with Link's help. Here, she actually ''escapes'' the police before they can apprehend her, and flees to Penny's house to hide out.
** Tracy manages to sneak into the Miss Hairspray pageant by hiding in a giant hairspray can, TrojanHorse-style. The same thing happens in the musical, but as a BaitAndSwitch: [[spoiler:Velma ''thinks'' that Tracy's hiding in the can, when it's actually Edna. Tracy merely enters the pageant from the front door]].
** Tracy [[spoiler:isn't crowned Miss Hairspray this time around. Instead, it's Little Inez]].
* OneHeadTaller: Inverted with Penny and Seaweed. She is noticeably taller than him. In the 1988 movie, Penny is of average height while Seaweed is very tall indeed.
* ParentalHypocrisy: Penny's mother, Prudy, forbids Penny from watching the Corny Collins Show, yet Prudy watches the show herself.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Velma Von Tussle is quite blatantly racist in the second movie, where she seems to revel in her own misdeeds. In the first film, she's more of a Lawful Selfish StageMom who's willing to court segregationist attitudes to look respectable.
* PoorCommunicationKills: When Link doesn't want to join in the march for fear of ruining his career.
-->'''Link:''' I'm sorry, Trace. I just think that this adventure's...a little too big for me.\\
'''Tracy:''' (''gasps and backs away with a hurt look'')\\
'''Link:''' [[ThatCameOutWrong ...oh God]], nonono, that's not what I-\\
'''Tracy:''' I get it, Link. It's your shot.\\
'''Link:''' No, Trace! That's not what I-\\
'''Tracy:''' (''trying to hold back her tears'') It's fine... (''leaves Link behind'')
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Corny Collins, the dance show host, who is very open to bending the rules and doing away with segregation.
* RecursiveAdaptation: ''Hairspray: TheMusical: TheMovie''.
* SeductionProofMarriage: AlphaBitch Velma tries to seduce Wilbur simply so she can cause strife between Wilbur and his wife. Wilbur is so faithful to his wife that he seems completely oblivious to her advances, but Velma's plan works anyway because she just throws herself at Wilbur as his wife comes in the door to "catch" them in the "act".
* SexyCoatFlashing: PlayedForLaughs; "The Flasher Who Lives Next Door" is apparently a well-known figure in the neighborhood, and we see him from behind opening his trench coat for three women. Judging from their horrified reaction, though, it's not sexy to anyone but him. (Even better, the flasher is a cameo for Creator/JohnWaters.)
* ShoutOut: Director Adam Shankman included several homages to and winks at the films that were his inspiration. The opening shot is a mix of the opening shots for ''Film/{{West Side Story|1961}}'' and ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic''. Penny's dress at the end of the film is made from her curtains, just like the Von Trapp childrens' play clothes that Maria makes out of old curtains in ''The Sound of Music''. Several of Tracy's scenes - such as her ride atop the garbage truck, and her post-makeover hairstyle in "Welcome to the Sixties" - are taken from the Barbra Streissand film version of ''Film/FunnyGirl''. Link singing to Tracy's photograph, which sings back, is directly inspired from ''The Broadway Melody of 1938'', in which Creator/JudyGarland sings to a photo of Clark Gable.
* ThemeTwinNaming: Noreen and Doreen.
* TruthInTelevision: Edna forbids Tracy from auditioning for a spot on the Corny Collins Show. This is because she believes that since Tracy is overweight, she will get rejected and her feelings will get hurt. Anyone growing up in the 60s will know how difficult it was for people who didn't meet Hollywood's standards of beauty to break into the entertainment industry.
%% * VictoriasSecretCompartment: Where Velma hides the official votes when rigging the pageant. Edna sees the villainess Velma quietly tucking the voting tallys inside between her breasts.
* VillainousBreakdown: Velma has a great one after [[spoiler:Inez wins Miss Teenage Hairspray]], leading to an Engineered Public Confession which [[LaserGuidedKarma costs her her job]].
%% * WoundedGazelleGambit: Velma pulls this when she's trying to hit on Wilbur and Edna walks in. As she seduces the clueless Wilbur, Edna walks in and Velma pulls him onto her and making it look as if he was the one seducing her, to her success.
* WritersCannotDoMath: According to the script, the show begins in "early June" on a Monday and ends on June 6th, 1962. Schools did not run into June in 1962, especially in Baltimore, because there was no air conditioning and it was oppressively hot and humid.
[[/folder]]

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Hairspray_340.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:340:''"I was lost 'til I heard the drums, then I found my way\\
'Cause you can't stop the beat!"'']]

->''"Mama, welcome to the '60s!"''
-->-- '''Tracy Turnblad'''

The film eventually inspired a 2002 Broadway musical. The music was changed for this production. The original film was for the most part not a musical ''per se'', just full of music, and its songs were all DanceSensation songs of one sort or another. The musical had songs tell the story more directly. The storyline is similar to the original, but some details and some emphases were adjusted (for example, most references to Velma Von Tussle in the tropes below are from the Broadway musical or second film, as her role was greatly expanded from the original). It won eight Tony Awards, and introduced the world to Marissa Jaret Winokur (who previously was more known as the fast-food girl with Kevin Spacey in ''Film/AmericanBeauty''). Creator/BruceVilanch took on the role of Edna, shaving his famous beard (which he never re-grew.)

The musical was successful enough that it itself was [[RecursiveAdaptation made into a film]] in 2007. It starred Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad and Creator/JohnTravolta as Edna, among an all-star ensemble cast.

NBC aired a live performance in December 2016, in its fourth annual live musical event. It contained some "firsts" for NBC musicals, such as their first to air on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday, their first performed with a live studio audience, and their first recorded partially outdoors. (Except for the timeslot, all of this follows the lead of Fox's ''Film/{{Grease}}'' production, which this special shares a live television director with). Per John Waters' preference for a newcomer, Maddie Baillio plays Tracy, while Broadway's original Edna, Harvey Fierstein, reprised his role, and wrote the teleplay (a responsibility he previously assumed for NBC's ''Theatre/TheWiz'' telecast).

Not to be confused with ''Theatre/{{Hair}}''.

[[folder:Exclusive to the 2002 Broadway musical and its screen versions]]
* AdaptationalDyeJob: Originally a blonde in the 1988 film, Penny becomes a redhead for the stage musical. In the second film, her hair is dirty blonde bordering on light brown, and the 2016 telecast, she's a brunette.
%% * AerosolFlamethrower: Link breaks Tracy out of prison with this method.
* BaitAndSwitch: Wilbur interrupts the program to suspiciously wheel in a giant can of hairspray, which Velma suspects is a TrojanHorse to sneak Tracy into the show, and she has it kept shut. [[spoiler:Turns out, Tracy shows up by walking into the studio, and ''Edna'' was in the can for her television debut.]] This doesn't occur in the 2007 movie.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Edna warns Tracy this after discussing her failed dreams to design fashion, and become "the biggest thing in brassieres".
%% * BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Mentioned in the song "(It's) Hairspray."
* BrokenSmile: [[spoiler:Velma Von Tussle displays a perfect example when the show is finally integrated in the play. In the second movie, she stays pissy throughout, probably due to losing her job.]]
* CavalierCompetitor: Amber after losing; quickly in the 2007 film, gradually as "You Can't Stop The Beat" goes on in the musical. Also counts as GracefulLoser.
* ClimacticMusic: "You Can't Stop the Beat", the climactic number that coincides with the climactic dance showdown.
* CurtainCall: The play and the telecast both have one. This marks NBC's first time ending a live musical with a curtain call.
* DarkReprise: In the Broadway musical, Tracy sings a reprise of "Good Morning Baltimore" after she finds out she won't be granted any bail. And while "[[VillainSong Miss Baltimore Crabs]]" was already dark, "Velma's Revenge" is much darker.
%% * FoodPorn: "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" is this trope in song form. Then we see Maybelle's soul food spread in the movie...
* GagBoobs: Wilbur grabs and shakes Edna's breasts during "You're Timeless to Me" for no other apparent reason than comedy.
* GracefulLoser: In the second movie, Amber was surprisingly mature about her defeat, indicating CharacterDevelopment. She and her mother ''both'' become graceful losers in the stage show as well, after much sulking, they give in and realize that they "can't stop the beat". See HeelFaceTurn in the first folder.
* HamToHamCombat: "(You're) Timeless to Me", especially on Broadway where the actors playing Edna and Wilbur seemed to be in a contest over who will corpse first.
* HiddenTrack: The Original Broadway Cast Recording follows up "You Can't Stop the Beat" with a few seconds of silence, then another song titled, "Blood on the Pavement", in which Link, Amber, and Velma use LyricalDissonance to warn against {{drunk driv|er}}ing.
* HistoricalInJoke: When Penny rushes to show the Turnblads Tracy's TV debut, Edna misunderstands and thinks she's trying to show them the footage of John Glenn's space trip. She chastises her, saying "Oh, I've seen it! It's all some studio out in Hollywood. Do they really expect me to believe he's up there?" In the stage version, it's "Oh no, don't tell me Khrushchev has his shoes off again!"
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne:
-->'''Link Larkin:''' I shoulda been there, beside her. I can't sleep. I can't eat...\\
'''Edna Turnblad:''' You can't eat? Well, come on in and worry with us. I'll make you some pork.
** Or, in the stage version,
-->'''Link:''' I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I couldn't even concentrate!\\
'''Tracy:''' You couldn't eat?
%% * IWantSong: "Good Morning Baltimore" and "I Can Hear The Bells".
* ImplausibleDeniability: Edna refuses to believe that First Lady Jackie Kennedy's hairstyle has anything to do with hairspray.
-->"I believe it is just naturally stiff."
* LeanAndMean:
** "[[VillainSong I never drank one chocolate malt / No desserts for Miss Baltimore Crabs]]..."
** "[[HoneyTrap I bet you're tired of heavy lifting / Get your hands on something small]]."
* TheMakeover: Tracy and Edna get one in "Welcome to the Sixties"; Tracy gets another [[spoiler:when she crashes the beauty contest.]] Penny gets one in the finale as well, and Edna [[spoiler:comes out of the Hairspray Can in the musical with clothing she made herself.]]
%% * MorningRoutine: The 2007 movie starts with one. The musical too, but in less detail.
%% * ThePlan: How the main characters get Tracy into the Miss Teenage Hairspray pageant.
* PopularIsDumb: The openly embraced creed of the Nicest Kids in Town:
-->''Who cares about sleep, when you can snooze in school?''\\
''they'll never get to college but they sure look cool!''\\
''Don't need a cap or a gown''\\
''When you're the Nicest Kids in Town!''
* SextraCredit: PlayedForLaughs in some performances, where, after the dodgeball scene, the gym coach (usually a DirtyOldMan if not a ButchLesbian) asks the girls to follow the coach into the showers for some "extra credit". Velma also makes reference to the [[SleepingTheirWayToTheTop competitive variation]] in "Miss Baltimore Crabs".
-->'''Velma:''' ''Those poor runners up might still hold some grudges/they padded their cups, but I screwed the judges!''
* ShoutOut: The stage musical contains a few references to ''Theatre/{{Gypsy}}''. In the beginning, these references were quite timely, as ''Hairspray'' premiered on Broadway in the same season as a revival of ''Gypsy'' starring Bernadette Peters. By the time ''Hairspray'' closed, these references would again become timely, as a new revival starring Patti [=LuPone=] had just started its run.
%% * SidekickSong: "Run and Tell That" and "Big, Blonde, and Beautiful" Depending on whether or not you think of Wilbur and Edna as leads, "Timeless To Me", as well.
* StigmaticPregnancyEuphemism: Dancer Brenda must take time off from Corny's show, thus prompting the audition. How long will she be gone? "[[TeenPregnancy Just nine months...]]"
* SmallStartBigFinish: "I Know Where I've Been" stands out from the rest of the upbeat soundtrack by being a slow-building power ballad about racism. Maybelle begins singing to Tracy, but as the march she's in progresses it morphs into a loud and powerful CrowdSong as she's backed up by the other protesters.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: In the stage show, when Tracy makes her grand entrance to the "Miss Hairspray" competition, Corny has a lovely throwaway line: "I had nothing to do with this complex conspiracy!" What complex conspiracy is ''that'', Corny?
* TeenPregnancy: The reason The Corny Collins Show needs a new dancer in the first place.
-->'''Corny:''' And speaking of the unexpected, our own fun-loving, freewheeling Brenda will be taking a leave of absence from the show. How long will you be gone, Brenda?
-->'''Brenda:''' ''(giant smile unwavering)'' Just nine months.
-->'''Corny:''' ...So, it seems we have an opening for a girl who's just as fun-loving, [[DeadpanSnarker but maybe not quite as freewheeling.]]
* TheyveComeSoFarSong:
** "I Know Where I've Been," which is about the continuing fight against prejudice as much as it is about the progress of the characters and plot.
** And another song called "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" was written for the 2007 film adaptation. However, unlike "I Know Where I've Been," it lacks the narrative significance typically associated with this trope, as it is played over the credits rather than as part of the film. (Some productions of the play, including NBC's telecast, have the cast sing it during the curtain call.)
* TookALevelInKindness: Tracy and Edna could be pretty surly and offputting on several occasions in the original film (Edna in particular due to being played by Divine, the inspiration for [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]], and it shows), but are very nice people in the musical.
* VillainSong: In addition to Velma's "Miss Baltimore Crabs" above, Amber gets "Cooties" or "New Girl in Town". The other members of the Corny Collins Show council contribute to all of these, as well.
%% * WeightWoe: Edna has to work through this.
* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Velma Von Tussle, who never lets anyone forget that she was once [[VillainSong Miss Baltimore Crabs]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Exclusive to the 2016 TV Version]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/83e63aea_3e9e_4e1f_8699_34351ba8461a_8.jpeg]]
* ActorAllusion: Penny being carried out in the finale might be a reference to the rumor that Music/ArianaGrande demands she be carried everywhere.
* AudienceParticipation: Members of the live studio audience became extras in crowd scenes.
* CardboardPrison: Due to recent budget cuts, [[spoiler:the jail has no guards, and the bars can be removed by vigorous shaking.]]
* CastingGag: [[Film/{{Descendants}} This isn't the first time Kristen Chenowith and Dove Cameron have played a villainous mother-daughter duo.]] Nor is this the first time that [[Series/{{Victorious}} Ariana Grande played the role of a friendly but ditzy teenage girl.]]
* CharacterCelebrityEndorsement: Corny Collins delivers one for Oreo cookies after "Ladies' Choice", to segue into an actual commercial break.
* TheHost: Creator/DarrenCriss appeared during commercial breaks of the premiere broadcast, interacting with the audience.
* LogoJoke: During the opening credits, the camera pans past an "NBC Studios" sign with a vintage-looking Peacock, while the NBC Chimes play.
* ProductPlacement: Tracy passes a Reddi-Wip truck during "Good Morning Baltimore", Wilbur drinks Coca-Cola in a different part, and the Turnblads' refrigerator has a jar of Oreo cookies on top of it.
* RemakeCameo: Two of Mr. Pinky's girls are played by Ricki Lake and Marissa Jaret Winokur, who played Tracy in the original 1988 film and the original Broadway production respectively.
* ShoutOut:
** In the opening scene alone, the storefronts include [[Creator/JohnWaters Waters]] Plumbing, Greenblatt's Baltimore Crabs (Bob Greenblatt is the NBC executive who spearheaded these musicals), and Divine Pet Food -- whose sign has a Film/{{pink flamingo|s}} on it. One wonders whether they [[{{Squick}} sell the bowel movements of dogs]].
** The grocery store Edie's advertises eggs and dairy, a reference to Dreamlander Edith Massey's character from ''Pink Flamingos'' and her infatuation with eggs.
* VanillaEdition: Unlike the [=DVDs=] of NBC's three previous musicals, ''Hairspray'' doesn't come with any bonus features.
* WardrobeMalfunction: A strap on Creator/KristinChenoweth (Velma)'s dress apparently came off during the curtain call. She managed to cover herself up, but the telecast still didn't show her taking her bow--with the camera instead focusing on Music/ArianaGrande (Penny). For the West Coast feed, NBC managed to put the focus back on Chenoweth.
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:350:You can't stop the beat!]]

* ShoutOut: Director Adam Shankman included several homages to and winks at the films that were his inspiration. The opening shot is a mix of the opening shots for ''Film/WestSideStory'' and ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic''. Penny's dress at the end of the film is made from her curtains, just like the Von Trapp childrens' play clothes that Maria makes out of old curtains in ''The Sound of Music''. Several of Tracy's scenes - such as her ride atop the garbage truck, and her post-makeover hairstyle in "Welcome to the Sixties" - are taken from the Barbra Streissand film version of ''Film/FunnyGirl''. Link singing to Tracy's photograph, which sings back, is directly inspired from ''The Broadway Melody of 1938'', in which Creator/JudyGarland sings to a photo of Clark Gable.

* RealityEnsues:
** Invoked with Edna. She forbids Tracy from auditioning for a spot on the Corny Collins Show. This is because she believes that since Tracy is overweight, she will get rejected and her feelings will get hurt. Anyone growing up in the 60s will know how difficult it was for people who didn't meet Hollywood's standards of beauty to break into the entertainment industry.
** Invoked again with Tracy in the scene with her father, after the latter is thrown out of their house for [[MistakenForCheating supposedly cheating on Edna]]. While having a conversation with Wilbur about the cancellation of Negro Day on the Corny Collins show, Tracy says that despite her optimistic views, she later accepts how unfair life can be. She also speaks about how fairness won't happen because people want it to.
** Unlike the previous film, Velma doesn't go through a HeelFaceTurn at the end. This just goes to show that racists don't change their ways instantly.

%% * GoodParents: Edna and Wilbur Turnblad to Tracy.

%% * HappilyMarried: Edna and Wilbur.
* HenpeckedHusband: Or rather, Henpecked Boyfriend. Link is henpecked by his girlfriend Amber.

%% * UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain: The Turnblads and the Von Tussles, except that Tracey's not exactly ugly.

%% * AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:Inez winning Miss Teenage Hairspray, despite not being a candidate]].
* BigotWithACrush: After losing the Miss Hairspray contest, the racist Amber is seen crushing on a black boy looking at her from the stage. Her equally but more racist mother Velma notices this and tells her to stop it.

* DirtyCop: The lead police officer who's working for Velma. He finds an excuse to throw Tracy, Edna, Motormouth Maybelle and the rest of her protest group in jail, simply by accusing Tracy of assaulting a police officer (she only "barely" hit him with her protest sign).

%% * EyeAwaken: Done by Tracy in the opening scene just before “Good Morning Baltimore”. As first opening shot the audience sees of Tracy is her eyes fluttering open to the music as she gets ready for school.

%% * LaserGuidedKarma: Velma Von Tussle gets struck by this. After going to great lengths to win the Miss Hairspray contest through throwing people in prison through false arrest and cheating and seduction, she is caught on the television admitting to her daughter she helped her win the competition through cheating, gets fired by her boss, and publicly humiliated.

* MomLooksLikeASister: In one scene (Welcome to the 60s), a store owner asks Tracy if Edna is her older sister.

* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: Really, Accent on the Wrong Word, but it's just as annoying.
-->"You can try to stop the paradise ''we're'' dreaming ''of''"

* {{Irony}}: The irony of white teenagers dancing to music by black people in whites only establishments is noted.

* RoseTintedNarrative: Played with. In any incarnation it's definitely a loving look at the dance crazes and ''American Bandstand''-style shows of the sixties. And then the fun times get spoiled when the racism of that period is highlighted.

** Penny's mother and father who are both racists and punish Penny every time either for not calling them about her whereabouts or for hanging out with Tracy or for watching the Corny Collins show. Then they find Penny is in love with Seaweed and try to forcefully imprison her up in a straitjacket and brainwash her into loving white boys (without consent).
** Amber's parents are show to be very competitive and force Amber to do dances faster, chastise her for dancing to a "colored" record and vow to send her away to Catholic school if she fails to win.

* AutoErotica: Amber lies about Tracy doing this to her classmates, claiming she was caught inside car in the nude and that she is a whore.

-->'''Tracy Turnblad:''' Pass the pacaroni and cheese. Please.

* DrugsAreBad: When Tracy, Link, Penny and Seaweed take refuge in a beatnik's shelter, they are shocked at the beatnik chick's request of smoking weed and leave (the request alone is shocking enough to make a beatnik next to her non-fatally put his head through his painting).

* GymClassHell: Tracy and the rest of the Special Ed classmates are laughed at by Amber, her classmates and a sadist teacher simply for being Special Ed. Followed by a game of dodgeball.

* HenpeckedHusband: Henpecked boyfriend in this case. Link gets pushed around and mistreated a lot his girlfriend Amber.

** Amber makes out with Link in her car but stop it because she notices a pimple on her chin and throws a fit.
** Tracy, Link, Penny and Seaweed are making out at a party of Motormouth Maybelle's when Tracy's worried parents and Penny's parents show up looking for them.

* MusicalisInterruptus: When Tracy, Link, Penny and Seaweed are dancing "the dirty boogie" at Motormouth Maybelle's, Penny's mother bursts in, [[RecordNeedleScratch causing the music to stop with a record needle scratch heard]].

** Tracy, Link, Penny and Seaweed run away when the cops show up to arrest them for protesting against segregation.
** When Tracy and Penny's parents show up looking for them, Tracy, Link, Penny and Seaweed go looking for a place to hide.

* ChekhovsGun : The large, hollow hairspray canister in the foreground while Corny and Velma are arguing about putting Tracy on the show.

%% * LaserGuidedKarma: Velma Von Tussle gets struck by this. After going to great lengths to win the Miss Hairspray contest through throwing people in prison through false arrest and cheating and seduction, she is caught on the television admitting to her daughter she helped her win the competition through cheating, gets fired by her boss and publicly humiliated.

* NotSoDifferent: Tracy, Penny, and Amber all have radically different personalities, but are the same when it comes to their mother issues, as shown in the play's "Mama, I'm a big girl now" number.

* InformedAbility: Inez's dancing. [[spoiler:She's not appreciably better than the rest of the talented cast, yet we're supposed to believe that she alone was impressive enough to win Miss Teen Hairspray after just one (short) dance. It's implied she won because she was the only black contestant (ever) and the whole black community (and any white viewers in favor of integration) voted for her, and that this was enough to overcome the disadvantage of other viewers' racism.]]

** When Tracy and Penny's parents show up looking fir them, Tracy, Link, Penny and Seaweed go looking for a place to hide.

* HappyDance: Tracy does a victory dance to "The Roach" as she is freed from jail with a pardon and goes to celebrate her win.

* HypocriticalHumor: Most of the dancers and townspeople are racist, yet they have no problem dancing to "Shake a Tail Feather" by The Five Du-Tones. Amber's parents call her out on this.

* SexyCoatFlashing: PlayedForLaughs; "The Flasher Who Lives Next Door" is apparently a well-known figure in the neighborhood, and we see him from behind opening his trench coat for three women. Judging from their horrified reaction, though, it's not sexy to anyone but him. (Even better, the flasher is a cameo for Creator/JohnWaters.)

* CastingGag: [[Film/{{Descendants}} This isn't the first time Kristen Chenowith and Dove Cameron have played a villainous mother-daughter duo.]] Nor is this the first time that [[Series//{{Victorious}} Ariana Grande played the role of a friendly but ditzy teenage girl.]]

* CastingGag: [[Film/{{Descendants}} This isn't the first time Kristen Chenowith and Dove Cameron have played a villainous mother-daughter duo.]]

* InformedAbility: Inez's dancing. [[spoiler:She's not appreciably better than the rest of the talented cast, yet we're supposed to believe that she alone was impressive enough to win Miss Teen Hairspray after just one (short) dance. It's implied she won because she was the only black contestant (ever) and the whole community voted for her, even though there'd still be a lot of racism in the community, making this very improbable.]]

* ContinuityNod: The 2007 film makes several references to scenes from the 1988 movie that don't happen in the new version. During one song montage, Tracy is knocked in the head during dodge ball. One of the nasty rumors Amber tries to start is about Tracy getting put into Special Ed.

* RemakeCameo: Jerry Stiller, who played Wilbur Turnblad in the original movie, played Mr. Pinky, who ran a plus-sized boutique and wanted Tracy to do commercials for him when she became a hit on the Corny Collins show. Ricki Lake (Tracy from the 1988 film) also appears, as a talent agent.

* ShoutOut: The stage musical contains a few references to Theatre/{{Gypsy}}. In the beginning, these references were quite timely, as Hairspray premiered on Broadway in the same season as a revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters. By the time Hairspray closed, these references would again become timely, as a new revival starring Patti [=LuPone=] had just started its run.

-->'''Tracy:''' ''(in unison, angrily)'' Amber, we're going home right now!
-->'''Tracy:''' ''No, Mommy!'' '''NO!!!'''

-->'''Tracy:''' Where do you go after special ed?\\

* RunningGag: The kids run into a beatnik couple, and the woman says she uses a straightening iron to get her hair so silky. This leads to a couple scenes where the girls are using a ''[[LiteralMinded clothing]]'' iron to straighten their hair complete with laying their heads on an ironing board[[note]]the electric flat iron wasn't available commercially to buy until the 1990s, so women in the [[ShownTheirWork sixties did use their clothing iron to straighten their hair]][[/note]]. This is given a subtle shout-out in the second movie at the end, where Tracy and Penny have straightened their hair for the big show as if out of protest.