Here's one way to tell that Paramount and Nickelodeon are nervous about how their animated lizard flick "Rango," which opens this weekend, will do.
This week, the studios switched up their TV ad spots to include live-action, in-the-flesh shots of Johnny Depp, who voices the title reptile.
Sure, Depp lends a little star power -- but putting him in the preview is the equivalent of trying to draw Superbowl viewers by promising that Cameron Diaz will be in the stands. One thing has just about nothing to do with the other.
Part of the Pixar crowd -- the kids with more mellow parents -- may have seen the "Pirates of the Carribbean" movies, but most of them don't know who Depp is.
And a glimpse of him in the preview just reminds Depp-loving moms that his mug is nowhere to be found in the full-length feature.
But maybe that's a good thing -- no one wants to kick off 2011 with a "Tourist"-esque debacle.
Compare the original trailer below with the featurette that's now being excerpted in TV previews (they use the part of the clip that falls around :17.
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