Bill Plympton is an iconic director of not just animation, but of film. He has created his own style and perspective for his cinematic landscape. You look at a single frame of any of his work and immediately know that Plympton is behind it. View a few second of action and you’ll absorb his wild ways people interact in his animation techniques. Like Tex Avery, anything on the screen can be twisted for comedy by Plympton’s colored pencils. No part of a character doesn’t go beyond its normal state. You can’t take your eyes off the screen for the visual weirdness never stops. We’ve previously reviewed his movies I Married A Strange Person! and Mutant Aliens. For Hair High, Plympton reminds us that the strangest of mutants can be found in the bodies of high schoolers for the ’50s. He has created the craziest episode of Happy Days.
A teenage couple ends up at a diner on their way to the prom. But they’re not in a happy mood. The owner of Jojo’s diner (Nashville‘s Keith Carradine) tells them a spooky story about another couple of teenagers from a few years ago that wanted to go to the prom. Spud (Short Bus‘ Eric Gilliland) is the new boy at school and he gets in trouble with the major jock Rod (Young Guns‘ Dermot Mulroney). As punishment, Rod tells his girlfriend Cherri (Wreck-It-Ralph‘s Sarah Silverman) to treat Spud as her slave. She’s a cold-hearted teenage girl who puts Spud through Hell. There’s a reason why she’s the head cheerleader dating the football stud. Things change for the two when something bad happens to Rod’s friend in the chicken mascot during the big football game. Spud has to replace him beneath the feathers and Cherri’s heart changes. Instead of denying their feelings, Spud and Cherri secretly date. Eventually Rod discovers this secret love affair. This is when things get nasty. Ultimately the film becomes one of those sad and haunting tragic boyfriend songs of the ’50s taking place on screen. But since it’s a Plympton film, the tragic becomes joyfully weird.
Hair High is a demented version of Grease. Except you don’t feel completely caught up in the wonders of the time. Bill Plympton captures the dark side of the ’50s that people forget about when they wax nostalgic. This includes when teachers would light up a cigarette in the classroom. His animation brilliantly brings out the love and anger in the characters. There’s a great moment when Rod and Spud measure how high up their own hair can go as if that will truly impress Cherri.
Hair High is noted for being one of the last hand drawn cell animation movies released in America. By 2004, animation had swapped over to the domain of CGI either 2D or 3D. It’s extremely important that this honor belongs to Plympton because his animation style always looked like what you expected from a high school classmate drawing flip animation in the margins of your science textbook.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The 1080p image brings out the beauty of this last cell drawn production from Plympton. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo. You can hear all the aerosol cans being used by the high school girls to keep their hair so high. The movie is subtitled in English.
Shuteye Hotel (7:24) is a short from 2007. A series of murders take place inside an old and twisted hotel. An overly alert woman checks in to find out why this place is so lethal.
Horn Dog (4:46) is a short from 2009. His beloved dog is back and eager to drink from a fountain at the park. He falls for another dog being walked.
New video interview (58:10) with Bill Plympton and composer Maureen McElheron (The Tune and I Married A Strange Person!) moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile. We learn how Maureen met with Bill and began musically collaborating on shorts and features. Plympton talks about what made him want to make a movie about the “Happy Days.”
Horny High: Sex, Identity and Animated Anarchy in Hair High (10:45) is by film critic Celeste de la Cabra. Gets into the work of Bill Plympton and his status as an outsider in animation. He is not making animation for the whole family. Celeste gets into how Plympton approaches the ’50s teenage flick that goes beyond any film from that era.
New commentary track by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock, and filmmaker and podcaster Martin Kessler. They give a bit of detail on the impact of the film.
Scene Breakdown (1:58) shows how the frog discretion scene came together from David Carradine in the sound booth, storyboards and early animation.
Anicam (6:49) is a montage of webcam that shot Plympton’s work bench ever four seconds during production. You see what goes into his animation style.
Film Premiere in Portland (13:11) has vintage cars parked outside. It was projected in a ballroom. He has graphic novels of the movie at the concession stand. Martha Plimpton appears on stage. She was also co-producer on the film. Her role was to recruit actor pals to join her in the vocal booth. Eric Gilliland jokes about he got paid $1,000 to voice Spud which took him 2 hours to perform, but he had to pay $1,500 to join SAG. Eric passed away in 2024.
Voiceover Session with Ed Begley Jr (6:34) has the legendary thespian reading his lines in the studio. We see how Bill directs him between line readings.
Voiceover Session with Sarah Silverman (3:04) gets her delivering, “You’re ruining my nails.” Sarah can currently be heard on Bob’s Burgers.
2004 Commentary Track is Bill Plympton swearing Hair High is his favorite film. He was hoping it would be a huge hit. His older sister went to school in the ’50s. This film was from his education. He gets into why this was his most expensive production. He wanted to create an urban myth from the era.
Deaf Crocodile presents Hair High. Directed by Bill Plympton. Screenplay by Bill Plympton. Starring Ed Begley, Jr., Craig Bierko, David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Beverly D’Angelo, Eric Gilliland, Matt Groening, Dermot Mulroney, Tom Noonan, Martha Plimpton & Sarah Silverman. Running Time: 77 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: April 21, 2026.
