Hairspray

Corrected entry: In the first classroom scene, the teacher asks (but does not answer), "What is the highest geographical feature on earth?" stating that Mt. Everest is not the answer. In fact, Mt. Everest is generally universally considered the answer to this question, with the usual interpretation being highest above sea level. (Not including trick answers like underwater volcanoes, which are not higher above sea level than Mt. Everest.) (00:05:50)

Correction: The teacher is trying to make the point that there are other interpretations of "highest" and there are certainly entirely valid definitions under which Everest is not the highest - taken as height from the base to the summit, for example, Mauna Kea takes the prize, or taken as actual distance from the centre of the Earth, where Chimborazo in the Andes is the winner. You may dismiss these things as "trick questions" but the use of such things is an entirely valid educational technique.

Tailkinker

Corrected entry: During "Weclome to the 60's" when Tracy sings, Edna puts her washing basket down on the ironing board with a green sheet hanging out of it. In the next shot, the green sheets not there.

Hamster

Correction: When Edna places the basket on the ironing board, she then takes the sheet out and folds it several times whilst the singing is going on. In the next shot, when Edna and Tracy go back to the sofa, the green sheet can been seen on the ironing board in the background.

Corrected entry: When Tracy takes the apple out of the bowl during the first part of the movie, it's green, but in the following shots involving the apple it's red.

Bowercat

Correction: The apple is neither completely green nor red and as she moves, sometimes the green side faces the camera, sometimes the red one. But it's the same apple.

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: During the "You Can't Stop The Beat" number at the end, when Amber goes to sit in the Hairspray Can, on the wide shot with Link and Tracey at the front, you can see the can starts to move up slightly at the back, then the shot changes to the guys starting to pull the ropes, then the can is seen stationary for a split second before starting to move up with Amber inside it.

Dave Woollin

Correction: This is a fly system with counterweights. The rope could have a little slack in it that has to be pulled out before it's taught enough to start pulling on the can.

Corrected entry: Throughout the entire movie (especially during the dance with Tracy's parents and when getting dressed at Mr. Pinky's)you can see the line on where Edna's "Fat" suit is.

Correction: This needs to be more specific in order to qualify as a mistake. Where, specifically, is this line? Which shot? Which part of the character's body?

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: Throughout the entire movie Corny says "The First Annual Miss Hairspray Pageant" when evidence is given that this has not been the first one ex: Tracy saying being Miss Hairspray has always been her dream.

Correction: He never says it's the "first annual" competition. He says it's the first time it's airing live in front of a studio audience.

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: In the Scene where you see Tracy climbing up a ladder to get ready to make her appearance, you can see she is wearing her casual clothes and not her checker dress.

Correction: It's unclear precisely what she's wearing, though you can see she is wearing the white boots underneath. It most likely was a long jacket to protect the dress while hiding in the "spray can."

JC Fernandez

Corrected entry: In the first classroom scene, the height of Mt. Everest is listed at 29,035 ft. The movie, however, takes place in 1962, and the accepted height at that time would have been 29,028 ft. (The first figure was not used until a 1999 American survey.). (00:06:00)

Correction: Already sppoted already corrected. (You can give or take 10 feet of snow).

Corrected entry: Throughout "Good Morning Baltimore", we can hear background singers even though Tracy is the only one singing.

Correction: Musicals are not held to the same "reality" standards that other movies are, at least during the songs. If they were, then the fact that all these people are spontaneously breaking out in perfectly choreographed song and dance routines would be a mistake as well.

Phixius

Corrected entry: In the first classroom scene the teacher talks about Mt Everest. On the board is a list of the highest mountains. Everest is listed at 29,035 ft. This is today's height of Everest as measured with GPS. Between 1954 and the 1999 GPS measurement, the accepted height was 29,028 ft (/- 10 ft for snow). When Hillary and Norgay summited in 1953, the accepted height was 29,002 ft. Source: boxed mini article on the height of Everest. p.702 of The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2007. (00:05:25)

Correction: By your source, +\- 10 feet of snow is within the acceptable difference between 29035 ft and 29028.

Corrected entry: In "Welcome to the 60's," out in front of the beauty salon, there is a park bench with an advertisement for 'The Dynamites' (who are singing). In the background of the advertisement, there are images of compact discs (CD's) which were invented in the 1980's even though the movie is set in the 1962.

Correction: Those are images of vinyl records. They look "shiny" so they catch the eye better than a black circle. I've seen adds with multi-colored records too, like polka-dots.

Phixius

Corrected entry: In the scene before "You're Timeless to Me", after Edna sprays steam at Wilbur with the iron, she sets the iron down flat, and never props it back up, which would cause a fire.

Correction: Unless it was off, but still had enough heat left at the time to steam.

Phixius

Corrected entry: When Tracey turned on the TV, it came on immediately, in 1962 TV's took at least a minute to warm up before the picture came on.

Correction: If it had been off for a long time, yes. But Tracey's mother is home all day. She probably had the TV on before Tracey came home so it didn't need to warm up.

Phixius

Corrected entry: Sometimes when Tracy's name is shown on the board with Amber's it is sometimes spelled "Tracey".

Correction: I've watched those scenes lots of times and it is always spelled "Tracy".

Corrected entry: In the song "The New Girl in Town" Amber is seen singing the song with two other girls. But as the scene goes from the shot of the girls singing to the shot of Link, Amber is also seen standing next to Link in a different costume.

Correction: The shot of Link and Amber is simply a clip added in to fit with the montage that's going on during the song, therefore Link was not watching the girls sing and Amber couldn't have possibly walked up to him.

Continuity mistake: When Tracy is running away from the police, there is a shot of her pushing through the crowd until she is free, but the next bird's-eye shot shows her pushing through the marchers all over again. (01:19:55)

More mistakes in Hairspray

Motormouth Maybelle: [to Seaweed and Penny.] Oh, so this is love? [She pauses and 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 neverending parade of stupid.
Penny Pingleton: [Totally serious.] So, you've met my mom?

More quotes from Hairspray
More trivia for Hairspray

Question: One of the lines in "Without Love" states that "Without love, life is Doris Day at the Apollo". What does that mean?

Answer: First I need to explain that the Apollo Theater, an amazing music venue, is in upper Manhattan (NYC), in the predominantly black neighborhood of Harlem. The movie 'Hairspray' takes place in 1962, and at that point in time very few white musical artists had performed at the Apollo (between 1950s and early 60s), and those who did were famous rock-and-roll musicians, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (1957). Now as for Doris Day, by 1962 she was a lovely popular American actress/singer, who, as the saying goes, was "as white as white bread", and to imagine someone like Doris Day appearing on stage at the Apollo Theater is an amusing incongruity and just not quite right. So the words "without love, life is Doris Day at the Apollo," means life would just not be right at all without love.

Super Grover

Thank you. My director is making our cast look up stuff we don't know. So as Penny I felt like I needed to know so thank you for cleaning that up for me.

I hope you have fun playing Penny, and that your entire cast and crew enjoy putting on your stage production of Hairspray. Break a leg, sweetie.

Super Grover

More questions & answers from Hairspray

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