Filmmaker John Waters says his 1988 movie “Hairspray” is “‘the gift that keeps on giving” because there have been so many versions of it, including a Tony Award-winning Broadway show; a 2007 film starring John Travolta; a live TV version in 2016; national touring and school productions, and a screenplay book.
Soon there will be more ways to experience it:
The Criterion Collection announced this month that it is releasing a 4K digital restoration of the 1988 movie, complete with deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary and commentary featuring Waters and actress Ricki Lake.
“Hairspray” is one of two John Waters films that Criterion is giving 4K + Blue-ray releases this year, along with his 1977 black comedy, “Desperate Living.”
June 23 is the date both films become available. Criterion, a prestigious home-video distribution company known for high-quality releases with bonus features and distinctive packaging, is taking pre-orders at Criterion.com.
Hairspray
The first John Waters film to get a PG rating, “Hairspray” tells the story of a plus-sized Baltimore teenager, Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), who rises to stardom on a local TV dance show in 1962 and ends up leading an integration movement that changes the city.
The late Harris Glenn Milstead, also known as Divine, played the roles of Tracy’s mother Edna and racist TV station manager Arvin Hodgepile in the movie, which the U.S. Library of Congress added to its National Film Registry in 2022.
Other cast members included Debbie Harry; Sonny Bono; Josh Charles; Ric Ocasek; Pia Zadora; Michel St. Gerard, Ruth Brown and Waters himself. Released by New Line Cinema, the film grossed about $8.3 million on a budget of $2.7 million plus prints and advertising.
“After decades of pushing the boundaries of bad taste with his underground provocations, John Waters found surprising mainstream success with this infectiously irreverent rock and soul comedy,” Criterion states on its website. “’Hairspray’ finds Waters marrying his wildly subversive sensibility with newfound bubblegum sweetness for what may be his most irresistible film.”
The Library of Congress noted that the 1988 movie wasn’t a huge success at first but went on to have “a life of its own.” It said Lake’s performance as a “pleasantly plump teen misfit…gave the nation a cultural marker about acceptance for plus-sized women that reverberates to this day: The heavyset girl could win the dance contest and land the good-looking guy.”
“It is a great un-ironic honor to have ‘Hairspray’ selected for the National Film Registry,” Waters said in 2022. “The original campaign for the film read, ‘Their hair was perfect but the world was a mess.’ Now MY world is perfect and I thank the Library of Congress for their exquisite taste and sense of humor.”
“Hairspray” was based on Waters’ memories of “The Buddy Deane Show,” a TV dance party broadcast only in Baltimore.
“All you need is one really good idea,” Waters, 79, wrote in his 2019 book of essays, “Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder.” “And, boy, a fat white girl fighting for racial integration was it…Making ‘Hairspray’ was one of the happiest times of my life.”
Purchase options include a 4K + Blu-ray version with two discs for $39.96 and a Blu-ray version with one disc for $31.96.
The 4K + Blu-ray option includes one 4K UHD (Ultra High Definition) disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) and one Blu-ray with the film and special features.
The special features include: audio commentary featuring Waters and Lake; new conversations between Waters and WFMU DJs Dave “the Spazz” Abramson and Gaylord Fields; a new interview with Lake and actress Colleen Fitzptrick; an interview with production designer Vincent Peranio; reflections from actors Debbie Harry, Jo Ann Havrilla, Leslie Ann Powers, Clayton Prince, Shawn Thompson and Pia Zadora; and more.
Desperate Living
“Desperate Living,” part of Waters’ Trash Trilogy along with “Pink Flamingos” and “Female Trouble,” follows housewife Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) and her housekeeper (Jean Hill) as they escape to Mortville, a shantytown ruled by a despotic queen (Edith Massey.)
Criterion calls it an antifascist fairy tale: “Deviant cops, death by dog food, DIY surgery — Waters unleashes all this and more in an at once relentlessly warped and oddly moral vision of queer rebellion.“
The 4K + Blu-ray version, with two discs, is $39.96, and the Blu-ray option is $31.96. The 4K + Blu-ray option includes one 4K Ultra High Definition disc of the film presented in the High Dynamic Range format and one Blu-ray with the film and special features.
The special features include commentary featuring Waters and actress Liz Renay; a new conversation between Waters and film programmer Cristina Cacioppo; Back to Mortville, a tour of the film’s main Baltimore location led by Waters; a new interview with actors Susan Lowe, Mary Vivian Pearce and Mink Stole; an optional Italian dub track; and more.
Other John Waters films available from The Criterion Collection include “Multiple Maniacs” (1970); “Pink Flamingos” (1972); “Female Trouble” (1974); and “Polyester” (1981).
