The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, itself adapted from John Waters's original 1988 film.
The soundtrack received positive reviews from critics. The story was further softened in its conversion to a Broadway musical hit in 2002 with a raft of songs. It features performances from the film's cast, which includes John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, and Nikki Blonsky as the lead character of Tracy Turnblad. Hairspray began life in 1988 as the first John Waters film to earn a PG rating, despite such subversive elements as the casting of cross-dressing Waters favorite Divine as Edna, the mother of the main character, tubby teenager Tracy Turnblad.
The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, itself adapted from John Waters' original 1988 film. Hairspray: Soundtrack to the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album for the 2007 New Line Cinema musical film Hairspray.