Rango (2011 film)

Plot

A theatrically-minded pet chameleon is left to fend for himself in the Mojave Desert after his vivarium falls out of his owners' car. Armadillo hermit Roadkill, crossing the road in search of the Spirit of the West, tells him about the nearby town of Dirt. The chameleon sets out and, after a near-fatal encounter with a red-tailed hawk, meets desert iguana rancher Beans, who takes him to Dirt. Presenting himself as a tough drifter named Rango, he runs afoul of outlaw Bad Bill and is challenged to a duel.

The hawk interrupts and chases Rango, who accidentally knocks over an empty water tower that crushes the predator. Believing he did it intentionally, the townsfolk appoint him sheriff. Some worry that gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake will return.

With the town suffering a severe drought, Beans demands Rango investigate the lack of water. He inadvertently assists mole bandit Balthazar in stealing the remaining water supply. Rango organizes a posse that finds banker Johannes Merrimack III dead from drowning.

They track Balthazar to his hideout and fight his clan, but the stolen water container is empty. Rango questions the mayor about buying land for a modern city. The mayor, revealed responsible for Merrimack's death, summons Rattlesnake Jake to expose Rango's lies and run him out of town. Dejected, Rango returns to where he was separated from his owners and encounters the Spirit of the West, who advises him to return to Dirt and set things right.

Voice cast

Johnny Depp voices Rango, an eccentric pet chameleon who becomes sheriff. Isla Fisher voices Beans, a hot-headed desert iguana rancher and Rango's love interest. Abigail Breslin voices Priscilla, a young cactus mouse. Ned Beatty voices Tortoise John, the elderly desert tortoise mayor.

Alfred Molina voices Roadkill, a nine-banded armadillo hermit. Bill Nighy voices Rattlesnake Jake, a sadistic rattlesnake gunslinger. Harry Dean Stanton voices Balthazar, a mole bandit. Stephen Root voices Doc, Johannes Merrimack III, and Mr. Snuggles.

Ray Winstone voices Bad Bill, a Gila monster outlaw. Timothy Olyphant voices the Spirit of the West, using the likeness of Clint Eastwood. Gil Birmingham voices Wounded Bird, a Native American crow deputy. Ian Abercrombie voices Ambrose, an owl.

Claudia Black voices Angelique, a fox secretary. Blake Clark voices Buford, a toad bartender. Ryan Hurst and Vincent Kartheiser voice Jedidiah and Ezekiel, Balthazar's sons. George DelHoyo voices Señor Flan, leader of a mariachi band of owls.

Joe Nunez voices Rock-Eye, a desert toad. Alex Manugian voices Spoons, a mouse prospector. James Ward Byrkit voices Waffles, a horned lizard. John Cothran voices Elgin, a cat.

Lew Temple voices Fergus, an eagle-like bird. Gore Verbinski voices Sergeant Turley, a turkey veteran. Additional voices are provided by Beth Grant, Charles Fleischer, Hemky Madera, Alanna Ubach, Maile Flanagan, Patrika Darbo, Mark 'Crash' McCreery, Chris Parson, Kym Whitley, and others. The likeness of Benicio del Toro appears as his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas character, alongside Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke.

Production

The production used what was called "emotion capture," meaning the actors performed their scenes in live action first so the animators could study their movements. To help them get into the Wild West mindset, the cast wore their characters' outfits and acted on actual sets. Johnny Depp only had twenty days available for filming, so the rest of the cast had to schedule their scenes around his availability. Verbinski originally thought Rango would be a "small" project after the massive scale of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, but he admitted he didn't realize how slow and expensive animation could be.

Paramount stepped in with funding just as Verbinski’s limited budget was about to run out. The movie was made in 2D rather than stereoscopic 3D because the money wasn't there for it, and Verbinski refused to do "half-assed 3D." Industrial Light & Magic chose Rango over Avatar, even though they had done effects tests for the latter, because they wanted a less risky project and had a history with Verbinski. The film is packed with nods to Westerns and other movies, including The Shakiest Gun in the West, A Fistful of Dollars, Chinatown, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Cat Ballou, Raising Arizona, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, plus a reference to the Death Star trench dogfight from Star Wars. Verbinski also mentioned El Topo as an influence.

Reception

Rango grossed $123 million in the United States and Canada and $122 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $246 million. It was the 24th highest-grossing film of 2011. It debuted in 3,917 theaters, grossing $9,608,091 on its first day and $38,079,323 during its opening weekend, ranking number one.

It dropped to second place the following week but became the first film of 2011 to cross $100 million on March 26. Internationally, it earned $16,770,243 in 33 countries during its first weekend and topped the international box office twice in March 2011. Although it did not double its budget, Paramount declared it a success and subsequently formed its own animation department. The film received critical acclaim.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of 'C+.' Richard Corliss of Time praised the 'savvy humor' and called the voice actors 'flat-out flawless,' later naming it one of the 10 best movies of 2011. Bob Mondello of National Public Radio called it 'a real movie lover's movie.' Frank Lovece of Film Journal International compared it to a Quentin Tarantino picture. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it four out of four stars, calling it 'some kind of a miracle.'

Did You Know?

• The teaser trailer, released June 9, 2010, depicted an open desert highway and Mr. Timms, Rango's orange wind-up plastic fish.
• Electronic Arts released a video game of the same name that served as a sequel to the film.
• The score was composed by Hans Zimmer and features contributions from Los Lobos and Lard.