History Film / ToWongFooThanksForEverythingJulieNewmar

Swayze and Leguizamo were nominated for Golden Globes, and the film has become a [[LGBTFanbase cult classic in the LGBT community]]. Fourteen years before ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'', ''To Wong Foo'' spawned an entire generation of drag queens.

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{drag queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. Close friends Vida Boheme (Creator/PatrickSwayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Creator/WesleySnipes) tie for a state-level BeautyPageant in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, winning a trip to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles to compete for Drag Queen of America. On their way backstage, they run into competitor Chi-Chi Rodriguez (Creator/JohnLeguizamo), distraught that she lost. Seeing a diamond in the rough, charitable Vida convinces Noxie to take Chi-Chi with them to Hollywood while teaching her the ways of drag. To pay Chi-Chi's way, the queens sell their plane tickets (something else that doesn't thrill Noxie) for an old but stylish 1967 Cadillac convertible and embark on their 2,000-mile journey across the US, making new friends and a few enemies along the way.

* TheCameo: Creator/RuPaul, Naomi Campbell, Creator/RobinWilliams, Joey Arias, and Creator/JulieNewmar herself.

* TheMountainsOfIllinois: Inverted. Right before the girls get pulled over by Sheriff Dollard, Noxie assumes they're in West Virginia, despite the total lack of mountains. We never do find out where Snydersville is, but Iowa or Nebraska (where the rural scenes were filmed) are most likely given the route between New York and LA.

* DoesNotDrive: Noxeema and Chi-Chi. It's implied that the reason Vida is the only one who ever drives the car is because she's the only one with a driver's license. TruthInTelevision, as many New Yorkers never learn to drive because they can spend their entire lives without needing to own a car, while Vida is originally from a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia.

* TheHecateSisters: The three drag queens fit the setup. Noxeema is the crone, a snarky and jaded person with life experience and an interest in the past. Vida is the mother, a meddling busybody who sees herself as a mother figure to Chi Chi, and almost anyone else they meet. Chi Chi is the maiden, young and sexy without much life experience and in need of mentoring and protection.

* StepfordSuburbia: Vida's hometown of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania ([[NoPronunciationGuide "It's Welsh"]]), a real-life suburb of UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}. While Noxie and Chi-Chi are impressed by the lavish mansions, Vida hated living there and couldn't wait to get out on her own. It's also made clear that Vida's parents don't approve of her doing drag, as her mother comes out of the house to look at the three of them and appears positively sickened when she recognizes her child.

* ItsAlwaysMardiGrasInNewOrleans: The girls conveniently show up only a couple of days before the town is about to have its only annual party of any sort.

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{drag queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. Close friends Vida Boheme (Creator/PatrickSwayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Creator/WesleySnipes) tie for a state-level BeautyPageant in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, winning a trip to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles to compete for Drag Queen of America. On their way backstage, they run into competitor Chi-Chi Rodriguez (Creator/JohnLeguizamo), distraught that she lost. Seeing a diamond in the rough, charitable Vida convinces Noxie to take Chi-Chi with them to Hollywood while teaching her the ways of drag. To pay Chi-Chi's way, the queens sell their plane tickets (something else that doesn't thrill Noxie) for an old but stylish convertible and embark on their 2,000-mile journey across the US, making new friends and a few enemies along the way.

Swayze and Leguizamo were nominated for Golden Globes, and the film has become a [[LGBTFanbase cult classic in the LGBT community]]. A decade before ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'', ''To Wong Foo'' spawned an entire generation of drag queens.

* {{Transgender}}: Vida's character arc involves seeking acceptance as her female persona, strongly implying that she's not just a performer but actually identifies as a woman. Some, including John Leguizamo, believe Chi-Chi is trans as well.

* TransTribulations: Vida's character arc involves seeking acceptance as her female persona, strongly implying that she's not just a performer but actually identifies as a woman. Some, including John Leguizamo, believe Chi-Chi is trans as well.

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{drag queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. It essentially served as a comedic, American answer to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPriscillaQueenOfTheDesert'', which was released in the previous year with a similar premise and equally-unwieldy name. However, while ''Priscilla'' was more of a {{Dramedy}} steeped in realism, ''To Wong Foo'' runs on RuleOfFunny. We never see the queens out of drag, and the movie is vague on whether or not they're transgender (all three of them use female pronouns, which is common with drag queens regardless of their gender), though Vida and Chi-Chi are heavily implied to be.

Drag queens and close friends Vida Boheme (Creator/PatrickSwayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Creator/WesleySnipes) tie for a state-level drag pageant in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and win a trip to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles to compete in the national. On their way backstage, they run into competitor Chi-Chi Rodriguez (Creator/JohnLeguizamo), distraught that she lost. Seeing a diamond in the rough, charitable Vida manages to convince Noxie to take Chi-Chi with them to Hollywood while teaching her the ways of drag. To pay Chi-Chi's way, the girls sell their plane tickets (something else that doesn't thrill Noxie) for an old but stylish convertible and embark on their 2,000-mile journey, making new friends and a few enemies along the way.

Swayze and Leguizamo were nominated for Golden Globes, and the film has become a [[LGBTFanbase cult classic in the LGBT community]]. A decade before ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'', ''To Wong Foo'' inspired an entire generation of drag queens.

* TheCameo: [=RuPaul=], Naomi Campbell, Creator/RobinWilliams, Joey Arias, and Creator/JulieNewmar herself.

-->'''Vida:''' You know something, girls, sometimes it just takes a fairy.

* ShoutOut: The three main characters watch the others dance from a balcony in a clear "shoutout" to ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty''. (They're even wearing pink, green and Chi Chi has a blue jacket over her white nightgown!)

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{drag queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. It essentially served as a comedic, American answer to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPriscillaQueenOfTheDesert'', which was released in the previous year with a similar premise and equally-unwieldy name. However, while ''Priscilla'' was more of a {{Dramedy}} steeped in realism, ''To Wong Foo'' runs on RuleOfFunny. We never see the queens out of drag, and the movie is vague on whether or not they're {{transgender}} (all three of them use female pronouns, which is common with drag queens regardless of their gender), though Vida and Chi-Chi are heavily implied to be.

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{drag queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. It essentially served as a comedic, American answer to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPriscillaQueenOfTheDesert'', which was released in the previous year with a similar premise and equally-unwieldy name. However, while ''Priscilla'' was more of a {{Dramedy}} steeped in realism, ''To Wong Foo'' runs on RuleOfFunny. We never see the queens out of drag, and the movie is vague on whether or not they're {{transgender}} (all three of them use female pronouns, as is common with drag queens regardless of their gender), though Vida and Chi-Chi are heavily implied to be.

Female impersonators and close friends Vida Bohemme (Creator/PatrickSwayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Creator/WesleySnipes) tie for a state-level drag pageant in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and win a trip to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles to compete in the national. On their way backstage, they run into competitor Chi-Chi Rodriguez (Creator/JohnLeguizamo), distraught that she lost. Seeing a diamond in the rough, charitable Vida manages to convince Noxie to take Chi-Chi with them to Hollywood while teaching her the ways of drag. To pay Chi-Chi's way, the girls sell their plane tickets (something else that doesn't thrill Noxie) for an old but stylish convertible and embark on their 2,000-mile journey, making new friends and a few enemies along the way.

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{Drag Queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. It essentially served as a comedic, American answer to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPriscillaQueenOfTheDesert'', which was released in the previous year with a similar premise and equally-unwieldy name. However, while ''Priscilla'' was more of a {{Dramedy}} steeped in realism, ''To Wong Foo'' runs on RuleOfFunny. We never see the queens out of drag, and the movie is vague on whether or not they're Transgender (female pronouns are used per drag etiquette), though Vida and Chi-Chi are heavily implied to be.

'''Noxeema:''' ..four. There are four steps to becoming a drag queen.\\

* WifeBasherBasher: Oh, [[spoiler: Vida. She beats the crap out of him and kicks him out of his own house after he goes too far hitting Carol Anne.]]

* ProlongedPrologue: The pageant intro, buying the car, and the road trip takes almost half the movie before the car breaks down and the girls are stuck in Snydersville, which when the ''real'' plot begins.

* SassyBlackWoman: Noxie, the black girl of the trio, is very snarky and critical of Vida's schemes.

* TransRelationshipTroubles: Vida has trouble maintaining friendships with people other than Chi Chi and Noxeema due to them discovering she is secretly transgender and possibly rejecting her because of it.

* PoiticalllyIncorrectVillain: Sheriff Dollard casually fires off racial slurs about Noxie and Chi-Chi.

* NWordPrivileges: Sheriff Dollard has none and yet casually fires off racial slurs in the presence of Visa, Noxie and Chi-Chi. Much to Noxie's anger.

* DragQueen: Well duh! The film focuses on three protagonists who are professional drag queen on a journey to Los Angeles.

* LongTitle: ''To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar'', an entire letter. Often abbreviated as "To Wong Foo".

* CerebusSyndrome: When the plot started to focus on hotel owner Carol Ann and her abusive husband Virgil.

* CategoryTraitor: When Chi-Chi insists that she is a drag queen, Noxeema rebuffs her and calls her "a boy in a dress" while lecturing about the stages of being a drag queen (simply transvestites, transsexuals and drag queens).

* ArtisticLicenseAwards: In actual drag pageantry, Chi-Chi would not be allowed to compete for the national title without an affiliated regional title under her belt like Noxie and Vida have.

Swayze and Leguizamo were nominated for Golden Globes, and the film has become a [[LGBTFanbase cult classic in the LGBT community]]. Practically an entire generation of drag queens cite this movie as their inspiration.

''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' (or ''To Wong Foo'' for short) is a 1995 comedy about a trio of {{Drag Queen}}s on a road trip to compete in a national pageant. It essentially served as a comedic, American answer to ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPriscillaQueenOfTheDesert'', which was released in the previous year with a similar premise and equally-unwieldy name. However, while ''Priscilla'' was more of a {{Dramedy}} steeped in realism, ''To Wong Foo'' runs on RuleOfFunny. We never see the queens out of drag, and the movie is vague on whether or not they're Transgender (female pronouns are used for the sake of convenience), though Vida and Chi-Chi are heavily implied to be.