NPR: Johnny Depp looking to 'right the wrongs' in Tonto role

Johnny Depp, who helped create Tonto's character for the new movie, says he grew up watching reruns of the TV series, which he says was pure entertainment.

"But even at the ripe old age of 5 or 6 or 7, watching that on TV, I had the very distinct feeling that there was something very wrong," he says from a hotel room in Lawton, Okla., before a special screening of the new movie. "Tonto never deserved to be called a sidekick."

Depp wanted to play Tonto as the Lone Ranger's equal partner. "In my own small way, it was my attempt to right the wrongs of what had been done with regards to the representation of Native Americans in cinema."

Tonto is first seen in Disney's new The Lone Ranger on display at a sideshow diorama labeled "noble savage." Depp says the character is meant to be humorous — the Lone Ranger even kids him about the word Tonto meaning "dummy" in Spanish. Depp's Tonto is a deadpan spirit warrior from the Comanche tribe.