Rango (2011 film)
Encyclopedia
Rango is a 2011 American computer-animated Western
Comedy film
directed by Gore Verbinski
and produced by Graham King
. In the film, a chameleon
named Rango accidentally ends up in the town of Dirt, an outpost that is in desperate need of a new sheriff. It features the voices of actors Johnny Depp
, Isla Fisher
, Bill Nighy
, Abigail Breslin
, Alfred Molina
, Harry Dean Stanton
, Ray Winstone
, Timothy Olyphant
and Ned Beatty
. Rango was received with critical acclaim and was also a box-office success.
(Johnny Depp
) becomes accidentally stranded in the Mojave Desert
after his terrarium falls from his owner's car. After meeting an armadillo
named Roadkill (Alfred Molina
), who is seeking the mystical Spirit of the West, he narrowly avoids being eaten by a red-tailed hawk
. The next day, after having a surreal nightmare, he meets desert iguana
Beans (Isla Fisher
), a rancher's daughter, who takes him to Dirt, an Old West town populated by desert animals.
Beans discovers that the water reserves, stored in a water-cooler bottle in the bank, are dangerously low. At the Gas Can Saloon, the chameleon, using bravado and improvisation to fit in, presents himself as Rango (after taking his name from the last part of the word Durango
), a tough drifter. He quickly runs afoul of outlaw Bad Bill (Ray Winstone
), narrowly avoiding a shootout when the hawk returns, scaring Bill. The hawk chases Rango until by luck Rango kills the predator by crushing it under an empty water tower
that he accidentally caused to collapse. In response, the Mayor (Ned Beatty
) appoints Rango the new sheriff. A skeptical Beans demands Rango investigate the water problem while the townsfolk worry that the hawk was the only thing keeping gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake from returning to terrorize them.
That night, Rango inadvertently gives some mole and prairie dog robbers the location of the bank and tools to break into the vault. When the townsfolk find their water stolen, Rango organizes a posse that finds the bank manager, Mr. Merrimack (Stephen Root
), dead from being drowned. They eventually track the robbers to their mountain hideout, only for their leader, Balthazar (Harry Dean Stanton
), to reveal that his clan of moles, prairie dogs and other such subterranean animals greatly outnumbers the posse. Nabbing the covered wagon
water-bottle, the posse flees, chased in a ground and air fight before discovering the bottle is empty. Despite the robbers professing that they'd discovered it empty, the posse returns them to town for trial.
After Rango and Beans deduce that the Mayor has been buying all the nearby land around, Rango recalls the mayor telling him how controlling water equals control of everything. He confronts the mayor, who denies he has done anything wrong and shows Rango that he is building a modern city on the old land. With no proof of the mayor's wrongdoing, Rango leaves, while the mayor, seeing that Rango is close to figuring out what his true plans are, orders Bad Bill to call Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy
), who soon arrives, firing shots with his gatling gun
tail. Recognizing that Rango is a fake, Jake runs him out of town after humiliating him and making him admit that everything he told the town about himself is a lie.
Ashamed and no longer knowing who he is, Rango wanders the desert and, in a daze, meets the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant
), a cowboy whom Rango calls the Man with No Name
. The Spirit inspires Rango and tells him, "No man can walk out on his own story". With the aid of Roadkill and mystical moving yuccas, Rango learns the source of Dirt's water is Las Vegas
and that someone has shut off a water line. Realizing the mayor's hand in this, Rango recruits the hill clan in his plan.
Returning to town, he calls out Jake for a duel with a single bullet — a diversion so that the hill folk and the yucca can flood the town with water. The mayor threatens Beans' life, forcing Rango to surrender. Locked in the glass-bottle bank vault to drown, the mayor tries to shoot Jake with Rango's gun, only to discover it is empty. Inside the bottle, Beans kisses Rango but chokes on the bullet, which he had hidden in his mouth. When he performs the Heimlich Maneuver on her, she spits it out with enough force to crack the glass and shatter the vault. Acknowledging Rango as a worthy opponent, Jake grabs the mayor and drags him into the desert to take revenge. The citizens of Dirt celebrate the return of the water and recognize Rango as their hero.
, Gore Verbinski
's production company Blind Wink, and Graham King
's GK Films. The CGI
animation
was created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), marking the first feature animation done by ILM, generally a special effects company. It is also the first animated film for Verbinski since his previous films were all live-action. During voice recording, the actors were given costumes and sets to "help give them the feel of the Wild West". Star Johnny Depp
had a 20-day window in which he could voice his role as Rango, and the filmmakers scheduled the supporting actors so as they could do their scenes with Depp and interact with him. Verbinski said his attempt with Rango was to do a "small" film after the large-scale Pirates of the Caribbean
trilogy, but that he underestimated how painstaking and time-consuming animated filmmaking is.
The film contains a number of references to movie Westerns and other films, 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
; and subtle references to earlier ILM work, including the dogfight in the Death Star trench in Star Wars: A New Hope and the alien water creature in The Abyss
.
was released on June 9, 2010, along with the film's official site, RangoMovie.com. It shows an open desert highway and an orange, wind-up plastic fish floating slowly across the road. On June 28, 2010, the first poster was released, showing the character Rango. A two-minute film trailer was released June 29, 2010. Another trailer was released December 14, 2010. A 30-second spot was made specifically to run during Super Bowl XLV
on February 6, 2011.
, based on 200 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's consensus says, "Rango is a smart, giddily creative burst of beautifully animated entertainment, and Johnny Depp gives a colorful vocal performance as a household pet in an unfamiliar world." Another review-aggregation website, Metacritic
, reported that the film had been given an average review of 75 out of 100 (or 3 out of 4). Richard Corliss
of Time
applauded the "savvy humor" and called the voice actors "flat-out flawless." Bob Mondello of National Public Radio observed that "Rango' s not just a kiddie-flick (though it has enough silly slapstick
to qualify as a pretty good one). It's a real movie lover's movie, conceived as a Blazing Saddles
-like comic commentary on genre
that's as back-lot savvy as it is light in the saddle." Frank Lovece
of Film Journal International
, noting the nervous but improvising hero's resemblance to the Don Knotts
character in The Shakiest Gun in the West
, echoed this, saying that "with healthy doses of Carlos Castaneda
, Sergio Leone
, Chuck Jones
and Chinatown ... this [is] the kid-movie equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino
picture. There's no gory violence or swearing, of course, but there sure is a film buff's parade of great movie moments." Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film four out of four stars calling the film "some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical.... The movie respects the tradition of painstakingly drawn animated classics, and does interesting things with space and perspective with its wild action sequences."
In one of the few negative reviews, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune
acknowledged its "considerable care and craft" but called it "completely soulless" and that watching it "with a big suburban preview audience was instructive. Not much laughter. Moans and sobs of pre-teen fright whenever Rattlesnake Jake slithered into view, threatening murder."
. As of July 7, 2011, Rango earned $123,257,581 in North America and $119,348,156 in other territories for a total $242,605,737. It is the eleventh highest-grossing film of 2011
, having been knocked out of the top ten by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Between March and April 2011 it was the highest grossing film of 2011 but then fell second, beaten by Rio
.
In the USA and Canada
, Rango debuted in 3,917 theaters, grossing $9,608,091 on its first day and $38,079,323 during its opening weekend, ranking number one at the box office. Overseas during its first weekend it earned $16,770,243 in 33 countries. On March 26, 2011 it became the first film of 2011 to cross the $100 million mark in the United States and Canada.
Outside Northern America
, territories where it earned more than $10 million were Russia
and CIS
($11,727,303), the UK
, Ireland
and Malta
($10,961,272), France
and the Maghreb
region ($10,563,989), Australia
($10,532,753) and Mexico
($10,466,177).
With its distribution contract with DreamWorks Animation
set to be concluded in 2012, Paramount Pictures, pleased by the performance of this film, announced plans to establish its own animation department.
released a video game based on the film. It is rated E10+ and was released for the PlayStation 3
, Xbox 360
, Nintendo DS
, and Wii
.
launched Rango: The World, a browser-based virtual world set in the Rango universe, on March 4, 2011, the day of the film's release.
The extended version adds a final scene with the flooded town now a beach resort renamed Mud, and Rango riding out to deal with news that Bad Bill is causing trouble elsewhere.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
Comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski
Gregor "Gore" Verbinski is an American film director, writer and musician. He is best known for directing the films The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Rango.-Early life:...
and produced by Graham King
Graham King
Graham King, OBE is a British film producer. He is also President and CEO of Initial Entertainment Group. He is best known for his Academy Award winning 2006 crime thriller film The Departed, which was awarded the Best Picture Oscar at the 79th Academy Awards.King was appointed Officer of the...
. In the film, a chameleon
Chameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
named Rango accidentally ends up in the town of Dirt, an outpost that is in desperate need of a new sheriff. It features the voices of actors Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Isla Fisher
Isla Fisher
Isla Lang Fisher is an actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away...
, Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
, Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
, Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
, Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
, Ray Winstone
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...
, Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
and Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
. Rango was received with critical acclaim and was also a box-office success.
Plot
A pet chameleonChameleon
Chameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
(Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
) becomes accidentally stranded in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
after his terrarium falls from his owner's car. After meeting an armadillo
Armadillo
Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...
named Roadkill (Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
), who is seeking the mystical Spirit of the West, he narrowly avoids being eaten by a red-tailed hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West...
. The next day, after having a surreal nightmare, he meets desert iguana
Desert iguana
The desert iguana is one of the most common lizards of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico...
Beans (Isla Fisher
Isla Fisher
Isla Lang Fisher is an actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away...
), a rancher's daughter, who takes him to Dirt, an Old West town populated by desert animals.
Beans discovers that the water reserves, stored in a water-cooler bottle in the bank, are dangerously low. At the Gas Can Saloon, the chameleon, using bravado and improvisation to fit in, presents himself as Rango (after taking his name from the last part of the word Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...
), a tough drifter. He quickly runs afoul of outlaw Bad Bill (Ray Winstone
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...
), narrowly avoiding a shootout when the hawk returns, scaring Bill. The hawk chases Rango until by luck Rango kills the predator by crushing it under an empty water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
that he accidentally caused to collapse. In response, the Mayor (Ned Beatty
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
) appoints Rango the new sheriff. A skeptical Beans demands Rango investigate the water problem while the townsfolk worry that the hawk was the only thing keeping gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake from returning to terrorize them.
That night, Rango inadvertently gives some mole and prairie dog robbers the location of the bank and tools to break into the vault. When the townsfolk find their water stolen, Rango organizes a posse that finds the bank manager, Mr. Merrimack (Stephen Root
Stephen Root
Stephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
), dead from being drowned. They eventually track the robbers to their mountain hideout, only for their leader, Balthazar (Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
), to reveal that his clan of moles, prairie dogs and other such subterranean animals greatly outnumbers the posse. Nabbing the covered wagon
Covered wagon
The covered wagon, also known as a Prairie schooner, is an icon of the American Old West.Although covered wagons were commonly used for shorter moves within the United States, in the mid-nineteenth century thousands of Americans took them across the Great Plains to Oregon and California...
water-bottle, the posse flees, chased in a ground and air fight before discovering the bottle is empty. Despite the robbers professing that they'd discovered it empty, the posse returns them to town for trial.
After Rango and Beans deduce that the Mayor has been buying all the nearby land around, Rango recalls the mayor telling him how controlling water equals control of everything. He confronts the mayor, who denies he has done anything wrong and shows Rango that he is building a modern city on the old land. With no proof of the mayor's wrongdoing, Rango leaves, while the mayor, seeing that Rango is close to figuring out what his true plans are, orders Bad Bill to call Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
), who soon arrives, firing shots with his gatling gun
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...
tail. Recognizing that Rango is a fake, Jake runs him out of town after humiliating him and making him admit that everything he told the town about himself is a lie.
Ashamed and no longer knowing who he is, Rango wanders the desert and, in a daze, meets the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
), a cowboy whom Rango calls the Man with No Name
Man with No Name
The man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
. The Spirit inspires Rango and tells him, "No man can walk out on his own story". With the aid of Roadkill and mystical moving yuccas, Rango learns the source of Dirt's water is Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and that someone has shut off a water line. Realizing the mayor's hand in this, Rango recruits the hill clan in his plan.
Returning to town, he calls out Jake for a duel with a single bullet — a diversion so that the hill folk and the yucca can flood the town with water. The mayor threatens Beans' life, forcing Rango to surrender. Locked in the glass-bottle bank vault to drown, the mayor tries to shoot Jake with Rango's gun, only to discover it is empty. Inside the bottle, Beans kisses Rango but chokes on the bullet, which he had hidden in his mouth. When he performs the Heimlich Maneuver on her, she spits it out with enough force to crack the glass and shatter the vault. Acknowledging Rango as a worthy opponent, Jake grabs the mayor and drags him into the desert to take revenge. The citizens of Dirt celebrate the return of the water and recognize Rango as their hero.
Cast
- Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
as Rango, a chameleonChameleonChameleons are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, the possession by many of a...
; - Isla FisherIsla FisherIsla Lang Fisher is an actress and author. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away...
as Beans, a desert iguanaDesert iguanaThe desert iguana is one of the most common lizards of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico... - Stephen RootStephen RootStephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
as Doc, a rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
; Mr. Johannes "Fluffy Joe" Merrimack III; Mr. Snuggles - Abigail BreslinAbigail BreslinAbigail Kathleen Breslin is an American teen actress. She is one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award....
as Priscilla, a cactus mouseCactus MouseThe Cactus Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae.It is found in Mexico and the United States.... - Ned BeattyNed BeattyNed Thomas Beatty is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain and a Golden Globe Award; won a Drama Desk Award....
as Mayor Marion "Tortoise John" Lynch, Mayor of Dirt, a desert tortoiseDesert TortoiseThe desert tortoise is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They can be located in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The species name agassizii is in honor of... - Ray WinstoneRay WinstoneRaymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...
as William "Bad Bill", a gila monsterGila monsterThe Gila monster is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora... - Harry Dean StantonHarry Dean StantonHarry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
as Balthazar - Alfred MolinaAlfred MolinaAlfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
as Roadkill, an armadilloArmadilloArmadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"... - Bill NighyBill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
as Rattlesnake Jake - Timothy OlyphantTimothy OlyphantTimothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...
as the Spirit of the West - Ian AbercrombieIan AbercrombieIan Abercrombie is an English actor, best known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in Birds of Prey. He appeared as Elaine Benes' boss Justin Pitt during the sixth season of Seinfeld, and as a fastidious butler on Desperate Housewives.-Biography:He is the cousin of John Abercrombie, a jazz guitarist of...
as Ambrose - Gil BirminghamGil BirminghamGil Birmingham is an American actor of Comanche ancestry, known for his portrayal of Billy Black in the The Twilight Saga film series.- Personal background :...
as Wounded Bird - Maile FlanaganMaile FlanaganMaile Flanagan is an American actress known for her role as the protagonist ninja Naruto Uzumaki in Naruto, Geri O'Flanagan in 3Way, and Janet in Yes Man.-Personal life:...
as Lucky - James Ward Byrkit as: Waffles, a horned toad; Gordy; Papa Joad; Cousin Murt; Curlie knife attacker; Rodent Kid
- Claudia BlackClaudia BlackClaudia Lee Black is an Australian actress and voice actor, known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in the science fiction television series Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series, the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins and...
as Angelique - Blake ClarkBlake ClarkBlake Clark is an American actor, voice artist, comedian, and veteran of the Vietnam War, having served as a Captain with the 101st Airborne Division....
as Buford, Gas Can Saloon bartender - John Cothran, Jr.John Cothran, Jr.John Cothran, Jr. is an American actor.In the Madagascar video games, he voiced Maurice the aye-aye, replacing Cedric the Entertainer.-Biography:Cothran, Jr...
as Elgin - Patrika DarboPatrika DarboPatrika Darbo is an American actress.-Early life:Born Patricia Davidson in Jacksonville, Florida, Darbo grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She studied theater at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, graduating in 1970, and undertook further study at the Atlanta School of Drama...
as: Delilah; Maybelle - George DelHoyoGeorge DelHoyo-Theatre:DelHoyo began performing in the theatre during the 1970s. Working under the name George Deloy, he performed in plays and musicals at many of the major American regional theaters such as The Seattle Repertory, The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, The Old Globe in San Diego,...
as Señor Flan, the accordion player - Charles FleischerCharles FleischerCharles Fleischer is an American actor, stand-up comedian and voice artist.-Life and career:Fleischer was born in Washington, D.C. As a child, he is reported to have spent several summers at Kamp Kewanee in La Plume, Pennsylvania, where he started practicing his stand-up routine at age nine...
as Elbows - Beth GrantBeth GrantBeth Grant is an American actress. She is known for often playing characters who are conservatives, religious zealots or sticklers for rules....
as Bonnie - Ryan HurstRyan HurstRyan Douglas Hurst is an American actor who perhaps most notably starred as Gerry Bertier, an All-American linebacker in Disney's Remember the Titans and as Alison's brother, Michael, in the show Medium. He also played the role of football player Lump Hudson in The Ladykillers, appeared in the...
as Jedidiah - Vincent KartheiserVincent KartheiserVincent Paul Kartheiser is an American actor known for playing Connor in Angel and Pete Campbell in Mad Men.-Early life:Kartheiser was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Janet Marie and James Ralph Kartheiser...
as Ezekiel; Lasso rodent - Hemky Madera as Chorizo
- Alex Manugian as Spoons
- Mark McCreery as Parsons
- Joe NunezJoe NunezJoe Nunez is the former drummer for heavy metal bands Soulfly and current drummer for Stripping the Pistol. He joined Soulfly in 2001, only to leave again in 2003 to join the Chicago based Stripping the Pistol but re-joined them in 2005. He has played on four Soulfly records all released by...
as Rock-Eye - Chris ParsonChris ParsonChris Parson is an American voiceover actor and a 2001 graduate of the USC School of Cinema Television . Parson began his career working primarily as an assistant in talent management while still a student, and worked briefly in digital artist management for Sony Pictures Imageworks.It was after...
as: Hazel Moats, Kinski, Stump, Clinker, Lenny, Boseefus, Dirt Kid - Lew TempleLew TempleLew Temple is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Locus Fender in the action film, Domino starring Keira Knightley, and Cal, the diner manager in the comedy-drama Waitress starring Keri Russell....
as: Furgus; Hitch - Alanna UbachAlanna UbachAlanna Noel Ubach is an American actress and voice actress. She is known for her roles in Legally Blonde as Serena and Meet the Fockers as Isabel Villalobos...
as: Boo Cletus; Fresca; Miss Daisy - Gore VerbinskiGore VerbinskiGregor "Gore" Verbinski is an American film director, writer and musician. He is best known for directing the films The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Rango.-Early life:...
as: Sergeant Turley; Crevice; Slim; Lupe, the violin player - Kym WhitleyKym WhitleyKym Elizabeth Whitley is an American actress and comedienne.-Early life:Whitley was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.-Career:...
as Melonee - Keith Campbell as Sod Buster
Development
The film was produced by Nickelodeon MoviesNickelodeon Movies
Nickelodeon Movies is the motion picture production arm of children's cable channel Nickelodeon, originally launched in 1995. Its first film was Harriet the Spy. It has produced films based on Nickelodeon programs, as well as other adaptations and original projects...
, Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski
Gregor "Gore" Verbinski is an American film director, writer and musician. He is best known for directing the films The Ring, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Rango.-Early life:...
's production company Blind Wink, and Graham King
Graham King
Graham King, OBE is a British film producer. He is also President and CEO of Initial Entertainment Group. He is best known for his Academy Award winning 2006 crime thriller film The Departed, which was awarded the Best Picture Oscar at the 79th Academy Awards.King was appointed Officer of the...
's GK Films. The CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
was created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), marking the first feature animation done by ILM, generally a special effects company. It is also the first animated film for Verbinski since his previous films were all live-action. During voice recording, the actors were given costumes and sets to "help give them the feel of the Wild West". Star Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
had a 20-day window in which he could voice his role as Rango, and the filmmakers scheduled the supporting actors so as they could do their scenes with Depp and interact with him. Verbinski said his attempt with Rango was to do a "small" film after the large-scale Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
trilogy, but that he underestimated how painstaking and time-consuming animated filmmaking is.
The film contains a number of references to movie Westerns and other films, including The Shakiest Gun in the West
The Shakiest Gun in the West
The Shakiest Gun in the West is a 1968 Western comedy film starring Don Knotts. It was directed by Alan Rafkin and written by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.The film is a remake of The Paleface, a 1948 movie starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell....
, A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
, Chinatown, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. The screenplay was written by Age & Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Leone, based on a story by Vincenzoni and Leone...
, Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West is a 1968 Italian epic spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone for Paramount Pictures. It stars Henry Fonda cast against type as the villain, Charles Bronson as his nemesis, Jason Robards as a bandit, and Claudia Cardinale as a newly widowed homesteader with a...
, Cat Ballou
Cat Ballou
Cat Ballou is a 1965 comedy/Western film which tells the story of a woman who hires a famous gunman to protect her father's ranch, and later to avenge his murder, but finds that the man she hires is not what she expected...
, Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona
Raising Arizona is a 1987 comedy film directed by the Coen Brothers and starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has since achieved cult status...
and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. It was adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name....
; and subtle references to earlier ILM work, including the dogfight in the Death Star trench in Star Wars: A New Hope and the alien water creature in The Abyss
The Abyss
The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
.
Marketing
Rangos teaser trailerTeaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
was released on June 9, 2010, along with the film's official site, RangoMovie.com. It shows an open desert highway and an orange, wind-up plastic fish floating slowly across the road. On June 28, 2010, the first poster was released, showing the character Rango. A two-minute film trailer was released June 29, 2010. Another trailer was released December 14, 2010. A 30-second spot was made specifically to run during Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League champion for the 2010 season. The game was held at Cowboys Stadium in...
on February 6, 2011.
Critical
Rango received very positive reviews. It has an 88% rating on the film critics aggregate site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 200 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's consensus says, "Rango is a smart, giddily creative burst of beautifully animated entertainment, and Johnny Depp gives a colorful vocal performance as a household pet in an unfamiliar world." Another review-aggregation website, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, reported that the film had been given an average review of 75 out of 100 (or 3 out of 4). Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
applauded the "savvy humor" and called the voice actors "flat-out flawless." Bob Mondello of National Public Radio observed that "Rango
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
to qualify as a pretty good one). It's a real movie lover's movie, conceived as a Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles
Blazing Saddles is a 1974 satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, the film was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman's story and draft. The movie was nominated for three...
-like comic commentary on genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
that's as back-lot savvy as it is light in the saddle." Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
of Film Journal International
Film Journal International
Film Journal International is a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It is a sister publication of Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals....
, noting the nervous but improvising hero's resemblance to the Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
character in The Shakiest Gun in the West
The Shakiest Gun in the West
The Shakiest Gun in the West is a 1968 Western comedy film starring Don Knotts. It was directed by Alan Rafkin and written by Jim Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.The film is a remake of The Paleface, a 1948 movie starring Bob Hope and Jane Russell....
, echoed this, saying that "with healthy doses of Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....
, Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
, Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
and Chinatown ... this [is] the kid-movie equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
picture. There's no gory violence or swearing, of course, but there sure is a film buff's parade of great movie moments." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the film four out of four stars calling the film "some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical.... The movie respects the tradition of painstakingly drawn animated classics, and does interesting things with space and perspective with its wild action sequences."
In one of the few negative reviews, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
acknowledged its "considerable care and craft" but called it "completely soulless" and that watching it "with a big suburban preview audience was instructive. Not much laughter. Moans and sobs of pre-teen fright whenever Rattlesnake Jake slithered into view, threatening murder."
Box-office performance
The film was distributed by Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. As of July 7, 2011, Rango earned $123,257,581 in North America and $119,348,156 in other territories for a total $242,605,737. It is the eleventh highest-grossing film of 2011
2011 in film
The year 2011 is notable for containing the release of the most film sequels in a single year, at 27 sequels. The following tables list films that are in production or have completed production and will be released in the United States and Canada at some point in 2011.- Highest-grossing films :...
, having been knocked out of the top ten by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Between March and April 2011 it was the highest grossing film of 2011 but then fell second, beaten by Rio
Rio (film)
Rio, often promoted as Rio: The Movie, is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The title refers to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, in which the film is set. The film features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg, Anne...
.
In the USA and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Rango debuted in 3,917 theaters, grossing $9,608,091 on its first day and $38,079,323 during its opening weekend, ranking number one at the box office. Overseas during its first weekend it earned $16,770,243 in 33 countries. On March 26, 2011 it became the first film of 2011 to cross the $100 million mark in the United States and Canada.
Outside Northern America
Northern America
Northern America is the northernmost region of the Americas, and is part of the North American continent. It lies directly north of the region of Middle America; the land border between the two regions coincides with the border between the United States and Mexico...
, territories where it earned more than $10 million were Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and CIS
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
($11,727,303), the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
($10,961,272), France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
region ($10,563,989), Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
($10,532,753) and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
($10,466,177).
With its distribution contract with DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California that creates animated feature films, television program and online virtual worlds...
set to be concluded in 2012, Paramount Pictures, pleased by the performance of this film, announced plans to establish its own animation department.
Accolades
| Award | Category | Winner/Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Teen Choice Awards 2011 Teen Choice Awards The 2011 Teen Choice Awards hosted by Kaley Cuoco aired live on August 7, 2011 at 8/7c on Fox. This was the first time that the ceremonies were aired live since the 2007 show... |
Choice Movie Animated Voice | Johnny Depp Johnny Depp John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol... |
|
| 2012 People's Choice Awards People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett... |
Favorite Movie Animated Voice | Johnny Depp |
Console games
Electronic ArtsElectronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
released a video game based on the film. It is rated E10+ and was released for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
.
Online games
FuntactixFuntactix
Funtactix is an online game development studio specializing in browser based virtual worlds and multiplayer games.-History:Funtactix was Founded in Israel in 2006 by Yaron Leifenberg and Ilan Graicer, backed by Jerusalem Venture Partners and Benchmark Capital.In 2008, the Current CEO, Sam...
launched Rango: The World, a browser-based virtual world set in the Rango universe, on March 4, 2011, the day of the film's release.
Home video
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 15, 2011. The release had been produced as a two-disc Blu-ray, DVD, and "Digital Copy" combo pack with both the theatrical and an extended version of the film, cast and crew commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes.The extended version adds a final scene with the flooded town now a beach resort renamed Mud, and Rango riding out to deal with news that Bad Bill is causing trouble elsewhere.