The late “Margaritaville” singer and leader of his “Parrothead” fans had another memorable experience with flying creatures — in the 2015 film “Jurassic World.” In an uncredited role, Jimmy Buffett played a bartender at the infamous dinosaur-filled park (which can’t quite keep its animals in their enclosures).
His own Margaritaville bar and restaurant also makes an appearance, with an Isla Nublar location appearing on the theme park’s main concourse. When pterosaurs are let loose on the park’s unsuspecting visitors, the crowd runs in terror. This includes Mr. Buffett fleeing the bar — but he also makes sure to save two precious margaritas, one in each hand, as he flees.
“My number one goal of the movie is for Jurassic World to feel like a real place,” director Colin Trevorrow said in a behind-the-scenes featurette. “We wanted it to feel like a Fiji resort, and when you go down that main street, it’s all brands we know.”
“We were excited to go and hand pick who was going to be on the main street and on the boardwalk, and we were lucky enough to get Margaritaville as the marquee restaurant,” producer Frank Marshall said.
Buffett’s perfectly Jimmy Buffett cameo was a viral sensation at the time, but the clip resurfaced again following news of Buffett’s death on Friday. He’s notable enough to have been given a page on the Jurassic Park Wiki, and a place in our hearts.
You can watch the full dino-attack scene here:
Buffett attended the 2015 movie’s red carpet and talked about his cameo in an interview with ScreenSlam before its premiere.
“I haven’t seen anything,” Buffett said. “They won’t show me my scene, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Buffett added, “The way it was used, it kind of fits in, because we’re obviously in Universal in Orlando, and we have a good relationship there — we have fun in the park.”
Buffett even played the film’s premiere party, duetting on “Margaritaville” with star Chris Pratt.
Buffett also wrote a song for the film, “The Ever Elusive Future.” As Buffett writes in the “Jurassic World”-inspired song, “There’s always something lurking in the jungle — better watch your step, it’s not a place to stumble. Something’s moving, something’s coming…”
“I got the idea from a friend of mine sitting next to me at this Vanity Fair tech conference in San Francisco,” Buffett told ScreenSlam. “It was like, the 55th speaker was up there, and then a friend of mine, Emmanuel, leaned over and said, ‘Oh, here we go again — the ever-elusive future.’”
Buffett said that he worked with his writing partner to rewrite the song to make it fit the film. Listen to the full song here.
You can also watch the video at the top of this story to celebrate Buffett’s cameo, described here as “Margarita Man,” set to Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger’s “Spider-Man” soundtrack song, “Hero.” As it should be.
