No animals were harmed during the making of this film...

So in the final scene, the model car was crashed into the 'Gila monster' & the pyrotechnic charge blew up in its face, You can clearly see that it's the live lizard, not a taxidermied one, and there was no detectable editing. Did they consider the animal expendable & just blew the pyro charge up right in his face?

The American Humane Association's "No animals were harmed..." disclaimer doesn't appear in the end credits of this film either.

Does anyone know if the beaded lizard featured in this film survived the final scene, or did it get turned into a pair of lizard-skinned boots for the sake of the movie?

"Like a midget at a urinal, I was going to have to stay on my toes."