Hairspray Dolls

Tracy Turnblad’s dream is to dance on the Corny Collins Show. Her other dream is racial integration. She hopes to conquer both dreams at the same time. The continued success of the Broadway musical Hairspray has spurred Hollywood to make another major motion picture so Tracy is going to get her chance to do it all over again.
If you’ve been around long enough you probably know Hairspray is a “cult classic” film written and directed by John Waters. It first appeared in the late 80’s and starred the likes of Ricki Lake and Sonny Bono.
In 2002, Broadway forever immortalized the image of Tracy Turnblad with the image of Broadway Tony Award winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur. It’s not surprising that Hollywood would jump on the tails of this Broadway success with another updated film version. Here is the trailer:

The current movie incarnation will be released in July and carries some big names. John Travolta dons some fake pudge to play Tracy Turnblad’s mother Edna. While I think he looks adorable it really would have been nice if they would have found a real rounded woman to play her. At least Tracy is a real plus size woman played by newcomer Nicole Blonsky. Other actors include Christopher Walken, Allison Janney, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, James Marsden, and Jerry Stiller (who played Wilbur Turnblad in the first movie).
Here’s a Movie Cast Comparison, Then (1988) and Now (2007):

• Tracy Turnblad … Ricki Lake … Nicole Blonsky
• Edna Turnblad/Arvin Hodgepile … Divine … John Travolta (Edna)
• Wilbur Turnblad … Jerry Stiller … Christopher Walken
• Motormouth Maybelle … Ruth Brown … Queen Latifah
• Velma Von Tussle … Deborah Harry … Michelle Pfeiffer
• Amber von Tussle … Colleen Fitzpatrick … Brittany Snow
• Franklin von Tussle … Sonny Bono … not listed in cast
• Seaweed J. Stubbs … Clayton Prince … Elijah Kelley
• Penny Pingleton … Leslie Ann Powers … Amanda Bynes
• Prudence “Prudy” Pingleton … Joann Havrilla … Allison Janney
• Link Larkin … Michael St. Gerard … Zac Efron
• Mr. Pinky … Alan J. Wendl … Jerry Stiller
• Corny Collins … Shawn Thompson … James Marsden
• Lil’ Inez … Cyrkle Milbourne … Taylor Parks

You’ll notice there are a few miner changes in characters. While the star-struck teenagers from Baltimore haven’t changed, the musical comedy does have a new screenplay written by Leslie Dixon (Freaky Friday) that is still sure to maintain its comic appeal. As far as I know Tracy’s goal is still to dance on the Corny Collins Show while striving to implement racial integration.
If you’re a big fan of the musical Hairspray you may want to invest a few dollars in the dolls based on the new movie characters. Yes I said dolls! Move over Barbie! They will be available in July 2007 when the new Hairspray film releases. Each doll will carry the likeness of the current actors and have on clothing imitations from the film. You probably won’t find the whole cast but you will find: Amber von Tussel (Brittany Snow), Link Larkin (Zac Efron), Tracy Turnblad (Nicole Blonsky), Mom Edna (John Travolta), Seaweed J. Stubbs (Elijah Kelley), and Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes). They range in size from 10 to 12 inches and range in price from $14 to $25. Some of these cuties even sing!

They may be available from such stores as: Costco, Family Dollar, Kmart, Target, Walgreens, Kohl’s, KB Toys, Meijer, ShopKo, Toys R Us and Walmart. So keep an eye out for them. I may have to get myself a little Johnny doll.
***
Topic Links
* Hairspray (2007) is available from Amazon.com
* Hairspray (1988) is available from Amazon.com

* Hairspray (2007) is available from Amazon.ca
* Hairspray (1988) is available from Amazon.ca

Originally published 4/7/2007 at Large & Lovely, BellaOnline.