Interesting back story from The Hollywood Reporter about Disney’s efforts, with the wholehearted cooperation of Johnny Depp, to fend off criticism from his playing the Comanche Tonto in the new “Lone Ranger” movie.

He’s one of those Hollywood folk who has long identified himself as having Native American heritage. But he took that one step further by being inducted into the Comanche Nation, at least ceremonially, before the film opens July 3.

While we are a long way from the days when Mickey Rooney and Vito Scotti played offensive stereotypical Japanese characters, and even further from actors putting on blackface, I wonder how much of a fuss was ever going to be leveled at Depp as Tonto in that regard. But you never know, and Disney was going for safe over “Sorry.”