The T-shirt that the hitchhiker (Tobey Maguire) wears has a Ralph Steadman pictu

re on it. Ralph Steadman did the original illustrations for the book and the typ
eface of the credits is based on his handwriting.
Duke's tribute to Dr. Gonzo - "There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. Some
kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird
to live, and too rare to die" - is taken from the foreword of "Autobiography of
a Brown Buffalo," the semi-autobiographical novel written by 'Oscar Zeta Acosta
' . Zeta Acosta was the famous "Chicano lawyer" and friend of Hunter S. Thompson
whose notorious party binges served as the model for Dr. Gonzo. Thompson change
d Zeta Acosta's ethnic identity to "Samoan" to deflect suspicion from Zeta Acost
a, who was in some trouble with militant Chicanos in L.A. at the time the book w
as written.
Cameo: [Hunter S. Thompson] at the Jefferson Airplane show. When Johnny Depp, as
Thompson, sees the real Thompson, Depp's narration says "There I was . . . moth
er of God, there I am!"
The character of Dr. Gonzo is based on Hunter S. Thompson's friend 'Oscar Zeta A
costa' , who is said to have drowned sometime in 1974.
While Hunter S. Thompson developed a strong friendship with Johnny Depp and hear
tily approved of his performance, he once said that if he ever saw anyone acting
the way Depp does in the film, he would probably hit them with a chair.
Animator/filmmaker Ralph Bakshi tried to convince producer Laila Nabulsi to let
him do "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" as an animated movie, done in the style
of Ralph Steadman's illustrations for the book. Bakshi is quoted as saying: "Hun
ter had given the rights to a girlfriend of his. I spent three days with her try
ing to talk her into me animating it - she wanted to make a live action of it I kept telling her that a live action would look like a bad cartoon but an anima
ted version would be a great one. She had a tremendous disdain for animators bec
ause it wasn't considered the top of Hollywood. Hunter also could not make her c
hange her mind. So she made the pic with Johnny Depp (who is a great actor) and
got the film I told her she would get - it would have been more real in a cartoo
n using Steadman's drawings."
Prior to filming, Johnny Depp swapped his car for Hunter S. Thompson's red Chevr
olet convertible and spent weekends driving it around California in preparation
for the role. Meanwhile, Thompson spent that period in Depp's car with a woman n
amed Heidi, writing an essay called "Fear And Loathing In Hollywood: My Doomed L
ove At The Taco Stand" that was partially published in Time Magazine, along with
a new Ralph Steadman drawing of a gargoyle-like Dr. Gonzo.
Cameo: [Laila Nabulsi] the producer appears as Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane
performing at The Matrix.
Near end of this film, Duke takes too much "andrenichrome" and has a nasty exper
ience. Andrenichrome was a substance that Hunter S. Thompson made up for the boo
k when he originally wrote it, and was kept in the script by Terry Gilliam. The
name itself wasn't new - Adrenochrome is an oxidation product of adrenaline, whi
le Adrenochrome semicarbazone, also known as carbazochrome, is used as a medicin

al drug to reduce capillary bleeding - however, neither compound is a hallucinog

enic drug as portrayed in the book/film. After showing a rough cut of the film t
o a test audience, Gilliam was approached by a group of young men, one of which
complimented him on the film in general, but said that his favorite scene was th
e andrenichrome scene. He said that he had used the drug and that Gilliam had ca
ptured the effects perfectly. Gilliam didn't have the heart to tell the kid that
it was made up, and went along with his story.
During the early stages during the initial development hell to get the film made
, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando were originally considered for the roles of D
uke and Gonzo, and Nicholson was attached, but he, and Brando, both grew too old
. Afterward, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi were considered for the duo, but that
fell apart when Belushi died. John Malkovich was later considered for the role o
f Duke, but he too grew too old. At one point John Cusack was almost cast, but t
hen Hunter S. Thompson met Johnny Depp, and was convinced no one else could play
him. Cusack had previously directed the play version of "Fear and Loathing", wi
th his brother playing Duke.
Hunter S. Thompson himself shaved Johnny Depp's head. They were in Thompson's ki
tchen, Depp refused to look in a mirror, and Thompson wore a miner's hard hat.
Much of the clothing (shirts, hats) worn by Johnny Depp in the movie were actual
pieces of clothing that the real Hunter S. Thompson wore in the '70s. Thompson
himself let Depp borrow them for the movie, after Depp spent four months with Th
ompson learning his mannerisms and proper vocal inflection for the role.
Terry Gilliam, 'Tony Grisoni (I)' , Alex Cox, and Tod Davies are credited for th
e film's screenplay. Gilliam and Grisoni adapted the novel by Hunter S. Thompson
and used their script for the film; however, a nasty arbitration wrangle at the
Writers Guild of America found that Cox and Davies had written a screenplay ear
lier that had also adapted Thompson's novel, and should thus receive credit for
the finished work even though they had nothing to do with it.
Hunter S. Thompson's tribute to Oscar as he boards the plane was actually taken
from "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat: Fear and Loathing in the Graveyard o
f the Weird," and was later added to the forward of Acosta's autobiography. The
forward is little more than a quote, while the original article is a fascinating
eulogy on the mysterious disappearance of his friend Oscar. The article is repr
inted in its entirety in "The Great Shark Hunt", Hunter S. Thompson.
When Raoul Duke is calling his attorney about a new assignment, there is a poste
r on the back wall of Dr. Gonzo's office. It has an two-thumbed fist clutching a
peyote button inside a sheriff's star. This is actually a political poster from
Hunter S. Thompson's campaign for sheriff of Aspen. He ran on the Freak Power p
arty ticket, a political party he made up himself.
Gary Busey (Highway Patrolman) improvised the "Give me a kiss" line. The produce
rs and Hunter S. Thompson were initially horrified by it, but Terry Gilliam thou
ght it was funny, and left it in the final cut. Thompson said that after a few m
ore viewings, he found the line quite funny.
Raoul Duke's typewriter has the words "OFF THE PIGS" written on the top.

According to Johnny Depp, the gorilla statue outside the Bazooko Circus, now "li
ves" in his front yard.
Near beginning of the movie, while Dr. Gonzo and Raoul are driving down the high
way, there is an accident involving many cars. There is an ambulance about to pu
t a person that is covered with a white sheet in it. If you look on the white sh
eet, there is a smiley face in blood on it.
The Bazooko Circus Casino was modeled closely after the Circus Circus Casino in
Las Vegas, which was mentioned in the original book. The real casino refused to
have anything to do with the film, and even forbade the use of its name. The cas
ino sign shown in the film replaces Circus Circus' neon clown's pinwheel with a
mallet, and the interior shots were partially filmed in the (now closed) Boardwa
lk Casino in Las Vegas. The carousel-themed "Merry-Go-Round" bar in the real Cir
cus Circus (called the "Horse-A-Round" bar) revolves in the opposite direction a
s the one depicted in the film.
Terry Gilliam took over as director after Alex Cox (Sid and Nancy (1986)) left t
he picture due to creative differences. Gilliam re-wrote the entire screenplay i
n a matter of days to fit his unique creative vision and style, while staying tr
ue to Hunter S. Thompson's writings.
The coconut-smashing scene towards the end of the film was not originally in the
book. Hunter S. Thompson wrote the scene when he wrote Fear and Loathing and th
en omitted it. Terry Gilliam inserted it back into the story for this movie.
In the book Hunter S. Thompson listens to "Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rollin
g Stones, but the rights to play it in the film were too expensive for the produ
ction budget.
Benicio Del Toro improvised the part in the beginning in the car when he licked
the spilt cocaine off the suitcase.
During the scene in which Duke is tripping on adrenochrome, he mutters, "La llam
a es un quadrupedo." This is a quote from a sketch in "Monty Python's Flying Cir
cus" (1969).
In the trailer for the movie, when Gonzo fires the gun in the car, it actually g
oes off instead of just clicking.
In a scene cut from the movie, Duke and Gonzo tell a DA from Atlanta about a rat
her gruesome incident which happened at a McDonalds. In the final cut, during ch
eck-in scene at the Mint Hotel, a man in a cowboy hat tells the exact same story
to someone over a payphone.
According to Terry Gilliam's commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD, at the
beginning of the movie when they stop on the side of the road after Duke starts
seeing bats and wants Gonzo to drive, you can see a strange looking cactus in th

e background. It was designed by Ralph Steadman and appears many times in the ba
ckground of the movie in various scenes. Gilliam complained of having to lug it
around wherever they went.
In the scene where Benicio Del Toro stops the car and has an "attack" with Tobey
Maguire in the car, Maguire's hair seems different. According to Terry Gilliam'
s commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD, they shot this scene a few months
after the scene where they first picked him up and could not get Maguire to shav
e his head for the wig. It would have cost $15,000 extra to put that in his cont
ract initially but they opted not to because the movie was already becoming over
budget. They ended up spending well over that using a bald cap and makeup effec
ts, as well as using computer editing to erase the line on his forehead.
According to Terry Gilliam's commentary on the Criterion DVD, in the scene where
Raoul and Gonzo raise havoc at the Debbie Reynolds concert, the voice heard in
that scene that is supposed to be Reynolds singing actually IS Reynolds. Gilliam
is friends with Carrie Fisher, Reynolds' daughter, who spoke to her mother abou
t recording a couple lines for the movie, and Reynolds agreed.
During the scene when Duke first arrives at the dirt bike race, it is suppose to
be dawn but you can tell from the lighting it certainly isn't. According to Ter
ry Gilliam's commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD, they had the shot set u
p perfectly with the sun just rising, but when Johnny Depp tried to start the ca
r it was dead. They figured out soon enough that the driver forgot to fill the t
ank. Due to budget and time constraints, the shot had to be redone later that da
y.
Director Cameo: [Terry Gilliam] wearing a cap and holding a microphone protrudin
g from a large tape recorder box in the motorcycle race as the cyclists take off
.
The scene in which Raoul Duke calls his attorney from Baker is partially filmed
backwards. In the back ground smoke can be seen coming back into a fire, and Duk
e bangs in reverse on the side of the phone booth.
Benicio Del Toro gained 40 pounds for his role as Dr. Gonzo.
The "Red Shark" is Hunter S. Thompson's own convertible.
During Raoul Duke's acid trip in the bar of the hotel when he first arrives in L
as Vegas, you hear "Roger Pratt, please report to the front desk" being said on
the PA. Roger Pratt worked with director Terry Gilliam on Monty Python and the H
oly Grail (1975), Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), and Twelve Monkeys (199
5) as his cinematographer - but not on Fear and Loathing.
When Duke is gambling (he plays a round of roulette) there are two actual Hunter
S. Thompson IDs in his wallet.
Director Trademark: [Terry Gilliam] [bookends] Raoul Duke driving down a stretch
of desert road with the top down.

Laraine Newman (the Frog-Eyed Woman) and Harry Dean Stanton (the Judge) both app
eared on the 1996 Spoken Word Adaptation CD of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. S
tanton was the narrator while Newman played several small roles.
Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone each tried to get the film off the ground, but
were unsuccessful and moved on.
In retaliation for the wrangle that Terry Gilliam faced against the WGA, on 22 M
ay 1998 during a book signing, he burned his WGA card in front of the public. Th
at led to Gilliam and 'Tony Grisoni (I)' being given the dual writing credit.
Bruce Robinson, director of Withnail & I (1987), was asked by Johnny Depp to wri
te and direct "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Robinson turned the offer down,
saying he couldn't see "how you could get that one on the screen." Conversely, R
obinson later accepted an offer to write and direct a screen adaptation of Thomp
son's novel _Rum Diary, The (2008)_ .