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| Rango | |
|---|---|
| Name | Rango |
| Caption | Theatrical release poster |
| Director | Gore Verbinski |
| Producer | Graham King |
| Writer | John Logan |
| Starring | Johnny Depp |
| Music | Hans Zimmer |
| Studio | Nickelodeon Movies; Blind Wink |
| Distributor | Paramount Pictures |
| Released | March 4, 2011 |
| Runtime | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $135 million |
| Gross | $245 million |
Rango
Rango is a 2011 American animated Western comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by John Logan. The film features the voice of Johnny Depp as a chameleon who becomes the sheriff of a frontier town, and blends influences from Spaghetti Westerns, film noir, and Road movies. Produced by Graham King and developed at Industrial Light & Magic's animation unit and Paramount Pictures' Nickelodeon Movies, the film won numerous awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
A displaced pet chameleon, stranded in the Mojave-like desert after a car accident, drifts into the drought-stricken frontier town of Dirt (fictional town). Adopting a swashbuckling persona inspired by Humphrey Bogart and Indiana Jones, the outsider ingratiates himself with locals including the tough mayor and a mysterious lone ranger, then fabricates heroic tales to gain status. When the town's water supply vanishes and corruption linked to a powerful developer emerges, the chameleon must confront his own identity and reckon with violent enforcers, culminating in a showdown reminiscent of climactic duels from High Noon and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Themes echoing The Searchers, Chinatown, and Blade Runner explore authenticity, environmental crisis, and mythmaking in the American West.
The lead voice is provided by Johnny Depp as the chameleon protagonist, alongside a supporting cast including Isla Fisher as a desert iguana, Joaquin Phoenix as a hardened lone ranger, and Bill Nighy as a mayoral figure. Additional voices feature Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone, Nathan Fillion, and Paul Reubens. The ensemble also includes performances by Tory Kittles, Jane Lynch, Gil Birmingham, Danny Trejo, and Tim Blake Nelson. The film’s characters invoke archetypes associated with Clint Eastwood-style gunslingers, John Wayne leading men, and classic Hollywood character actors, with animal species mapped to Western stock characters.
Development began when Gore Verbinski conceived a personal animated project after directing the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy for Walt Disney Pictures. The production employed a hybrid approach at Industrial Light & Magic that combined live-action camera reference, digital puppetry, and photorealistic texturing to create anthropomorphic creatures. Screenwriter John Logan collaborated with story artists influenced by Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa, while producer Graham King brought experience from The Departed. The film’s $135 million budget covered extensive location-based animation, motion-capture reference shoots in the Mojave, and veteran crew from DreamWorks Animation and Pixar backgrounds. Casting drew from indie and mainstream actors, with improvisational sessions in studios in Los Angeles. Visual design paid homage to matte painting traditions from 20th Century Fox epics and to the production design of Blade Runner and Chinatown.
Composer Hans Zimmer scored the film, integrating motifs inspired by Ennio Morricone's iconic Western themes and contemporary electronic textures. The soundtrack features a blend of orchestral arrangements, guitar-driven cues, and atmospheric synths that reference scores from Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Zimmer collaborated with engineers and session musicians associated with London Symphony Orchestra recordings and worked alongside Gore Verbinski to match musical cues to the film’s homage-driven pacing. The score was released on Varèse Sarabande and received nominations from several film music organizations, recognizing its fusion of classical Western sonorities with modern sound design.
Paramount Pictures released the film in the United States on March 4, 2011, following festival screenings and preview events in Los Angeles and at industry gatherings. The marketing campaign included trailers attached to major studio releases and cross-promotion with Nickelodeon television properties. On its opening weekend, the film grossed a solid sum placing it within the top box office ranks alongside contemporaries from Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures. Ultimately the picture earned approximately $245 million worldwide against a $135 million budget, achieving profitability through international distribution agreements and ancillary licensing deals with broadcasters such as Netflix and cable outlets.
Critical response highlighted the film’s visual inventiveness and mature, referential writing, with particular praise for Johnny Depp’s performance and Gore Verbinski’s direction. Critics compared it favorably to classic Western cinema and noted its appeal to adult audiences alongside family viewers. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and received awards from organizations including the Annie Awards and the Golden Globe Awards nominations. It appeared on several year-end top film lists from publications such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Variety, and garnered acclaim at film festivals like Sundance and Telluride.
Home media releases on DVD and Blu-ray included behind-the-scenes featurettes, storyboards, and director commentary, distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment. The film’s distinctive visual language influenced subsequent animated features and inspired academic analyses in journals associated with American Film Institute and Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Merchandise collaborations involved boutique toy makers and specialty vinyl soundtracks sold through independent retailers. Over time the film has been cited in retrospectives on modern Westerns and animation, and it remains referenced in discussions by filmmakers from studios such as Aardman Animations, Pixar Animation Studios, and Illumination Entertainment.
Category:2011 films