Whether it was a couple of buns in a galaxy far, far away or a rated-R moment that became one of the most talked-about moments in movies, hair is not something to take lightly in film. While hair and makeup are often tied together during awards season, this is about the follicle moments on the big screen that have become as memorable as the movies they came from. So let’s not waste any more time and talk about cinema's most iconic hair moments.
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Cruella de Vil’s two-tone do in 'One Hundred and One Dalmatians’
Walt Disney Pictures
Black and white are the simplest colors on the spectrum, but when it comes to hair? Cruella de Vil pretty much owns that pairing. Split right down the middle, anytime anyone anywhere sees someone with those two colors on top of their head, they immediately think of the evildoer who wanted to make a coat out of puppies.
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Architectural hair in 'B*A*P*S'
New Line Cinema
Halle Berry and Natalie Desselle represented such a pivotal moment in Black hair history when they walked into view in B*A*P*S. The sky-high hair was as structurally sound as it was gorgeous.
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Bettlejuice's green chaos in 'Beetlejuice'
Warner Bros.
Beetlejuice looks like a man who lost a fight with a light socket with a hint of green, and while that’s not the only notable thing about his look, it’s the crowning piece.
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Harley Quinn's statement ponys in 'Suıcide Squad'
Warner Bros. Pictures
The cosplay community would not be the same without the thousands of recreations fans have done of Harley Quinn’s signature, colorful pigtails.
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Ariel's red dream in 'The Little Mermaid'
Walt Disney Pictures
Had Ariel started on land, well, the movie would have made zero since. Initially being on land would have also taken away from her gaggle of red hair because it was much more mesmerizing under the sea.
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Ruby Rhod's blond moment in 'The Fifth Element'
Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures
When the inspiration is Prince, the final look has to go above and beyond. That’s just what Chris Tucker’s look — head to toe — did. Especially the skyscraper hair.
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Holly's updo in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'
Paramount Pictures
The image of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is ingrained into the fabric of pop culture and has inspired for years from everyday people to the stages of RuPaul’s Drag Race and beyond.
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Foxy Brown's statement in 'Foxy Brown'
American International Pictures
The 1970s saw a lot of liberation from women to Black Americans, and one signal of the latter was the way their hair was worn. No longer with Black people restricting their natural hair, nor were they trying to blend in with styles better suited for those with straight hair. While many started to rock afros, Foxy Brown helped push that particular style to the mainstream.
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Leglolas' locks in 'Lord of the Rings'
New Line Cinema
Orlando Bloom’s long blond hair in the Lord of the Rings trilogy set fire to the hormones of teeny boppers everywhere in the 2000s.
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Marge's signature in 'The Simpsons Movie'
The Simpsons TM/2007 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
No one does big hair like Marge Simpson does big hair.
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Vivian's loose curls in 'Pretty Woman'
Touchstone Pictures
There was nothing over-the-top about Julia Roberts’ hair in Pretty Woman, but after the blonde bob, seeing that cascade of red curls was everything and then some, and was part of the reason she became so recognizable in the ‘90s — well, the hair and the smile.
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Killmonger's locs in 'Black Panther'
Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Entertainment
Marvel has had a lot of moments since it took over cinema, but everyone can agree that Killmonger’s whole aesthetic is one of the best of the bunch. He was a villain people could kind of sympathize with. Plus, he had a killer look. No pun intended.
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Mary's incident in 'There's Something About Mary'
Twentieth Century Fox
There is an entire generation that knows where they were the moment they saw Cameron Diaz wipe her hair up with, well, if you know…you know.
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Princess Leia's galactic buns in 'Star Wars'
Twentieth Century Fox
Princess Leia helped the world coin the term "space buns," but Star Wars' got the idea for her hair from the history books when the creators pulled inspiration from the women of the Native American women of the Hopi tribe.
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Kid's hightop in 'House Party'
New Line Cinema
Flattops were cool as the ‘80s ended, but Kid from House Party definitely helped push that popularity throughout the early ‘90s.
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Rapunzel's long locks in 'Tangled'
Walt Disney Pictures
Rapunzel's hair has been a staple in literature since 1812 when the Brothers Grimm first published Grimm's Fairy Tales (originally called Children's and Household Tales). Then Disney did what they do best and remade it into a magical dream that parents would spend a lot of money on as kids could not get enough of those lengthy locks.
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Weird Barbie's realism in 'Barbie'
Warner Bros. Pictures
The movie was named after Barbie and Ken got the huge musical number (and an Oscar nom), but it was Weird Barbie who stole the show because every single person who has ever owned one of those dolls knows all too well what happened to one of their dolls when they were armed with a pair of scissors and some markers.
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Ace Ventura's wackiness in 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'
Warner Bros.
Every quirky class clown in the ‘90s found themselves with that interesting look that sat atop Jim Carrey’s head when he was out saving the animal kingdom.
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Celia's hissing mane in 'Monsters, Inc.'
Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios
What’s more iconic than slithering tresses? Nothing.
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Mugatu's poofs in 'Zoolander'
Paramount Pictures
Like someone shaved a poodle right down the middle.
Kendra Beltran is a pop culture obsessed writer who spent her youth tirelessly jotting down ‘Total Request Live’ data after school. She took that obsession and a useless college degree, and spun it into enough to pay her rent by writing for MTV Geek, Collider, Popverse, and more. Over the years her interest in pop culture has only grown, and today she finds herself baking while streaming ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ running (slowly) while listening to podcasts about the ‘90s, and hanging out with her dog while taking in emo playlists. Kendra also hosts a podcast dedicated to all the crushes people have had in life from Disney to real-life called Crushgasm.
