During the opening musical number, Tracy passes a man on the sidewalk wearing a trench coat who then flashes the crowd; this is John Waters, the writer and director of the original 1988 version.

Jerry Stiller, who plays Mr. Pinky, played Wilbur Turnblad in the 1988 version of Hairspray.

Adam Shankman, director of the movie, has a cameo appearance as the agent with the sunglasses in the Miss Hairspray pageant.

When Edna (John Travolta) tells Tracey that when she learns to get blood out of car upholstery it's a skill she can take to the bank, while the line was in the original broadway show before Travolta's involvement, it's now also a coincidental reference to Pulp Fiction where Travolta's character cleans brains and blood from the inside of a car. Submitted by John Cyr

As for John Travolta playing Edna Turnblad, that goes back to John Waters having often cast 'Divine' in his movies. 'Harris Glenn Milstead' was an actor best known for performing in drag as 'Divine', John Waters cast him as Edna in the 1988 version. When the Broadway musical was being cast, they cast Harvey Fierstein as Edna Turnblad, and started a tradition of casting a man in the role of the mother, so the movie is just keeping that tradition going.

During one of the last musical numbers, when the William Morris talent agents arrival, the female agent is played by Ricki Lake, she was the original Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 version.