Hunter S. Thompson & The Lizards

I’ll admit that I’m hardly the first person to notice this, but I don’t generally keep up with the latest movie news unless it’s a project particularly close to my heart. But I couldn’t help raise an eyebrow at the trailer for Johnny Depp’s latest effort: as the voice of a lizard in Rango (2011).

Watch the following video and pay particular attention around 1:47 mins.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-48ujEK4mwY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

Here’s the still frame.

Looks like the Good Doctor, right?

This little joke comes pretty quick. Blink and you’ll most like miss it. But it’s not the only reference to Hunter S. Thompson. Take a look at the movie poster. The main character isn’t exactly free of HST-influence. He may not have the hat and glasses like the man in the car, but Rango’s Hawaiian shirt and lanky free, coupled of course with Johnny Depp’s voice and the desert setting, bring to mind Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Fans of Hunter S. Thompson will surely be amused by this reptilian interpretation. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the author describes a room full of lizard-like creatures that plagued him after arriving at his hotel.

By Ralph Steadman:

From the movie:

**

So what would Thompson likely make of this?

I imagine he’d be none too pleased by Depp’s depiction of a somewhat Raoul Duke-esque lizard. He didn’t like being depicted as a cartoon, even though he was responsible for perpetrating that image. I think he’d find it a bit insulting and probably lecture “Colonel Depp”.

But personally I find it amusing and I tip my hat to Depp for bringing a little Gonzo to the screen. If nothing else, this trailer gives us something to think about until we’re finally treated to that elusive Rum Diary….

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Tags: colonel depp, fear and loathing in las vegas, gonzo, hunter s thompson, johnny depp, lizard, movie, ralph steadman, rango, raoul duke, terry gilliam, the rum diary