Rango (2011 film)

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Rango

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Produced by Gore Verbinski
Graham King
John B. Carls
Screenplay by John Logan
Story by Gore Verbinski
John Logan
James Ward Byrkit
Starring Johnny Depp
Isla Fisher
Abigail Breslin
Alfred Molina
Bill Nighy
Harry Dean Stanton
Ray Winstone
Timothy Olyphant
Ned Beatty
Music by Hans Zimmer
Editing by Craig Wood
Studio Nickelodeon Movies
Blind Wink
GK Films
Industrial Light and Magic
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) March 4, 2011 (2011-03-04)
Running time 107 minutes
111 minutes (extended version)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $135 million[1][2]
Box office $245,375,374 [1]

Rango is a 2011 American computer-animated family film directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Graham King. Rango was a critical and commercial success, and won Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards.

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.

Contents

Plot

A nameless pet chameleon (Johnny Depp) becomes stranded in the Mojave Desert after his terrarium falls from his owners' car by accident. He meets an armadillo named Roadkill (Alfred Molina), who is seeking the mystical Spirit of the West and directs the parched chameleon to find water at a town called Dirt. While wandering the desert, he narrowly avoids being eaten by a red-tailed hawk and has a surreal nightmare before meeting the desert iguana Beans (Isla Fisher), a rancher's daughter, who takes the chameleon to Dirt, an Old West town populated by desert animals.

Using bravado and improvisation to fit in, the chameleon presents himself to the townsfolk as a tough drifter named Rango. He quickly runs afoul of outlaw Bad Bill (Ray Winstone), but narrowly avoids a shootout when Bill is scared off by the hawk's return. Rango is chased by the hawk until, by luck, he kills the predator by accidentally knocking down and crushing it under an empty water tower. In response, the town mayor (Ned Beatty) appoints Rango the new sheriff. Meanwhile, the townsfolk worry that with the hawk dead, the gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake will return to terrorize them.

After discovering Dirt's water reserves, stored in the town bank inside a water-cooler bottle, to be near empty, a skeptical Beans demands Rango investigate. That night, however, Rango inadvertently gives a trio of mole and prairie dog robbers access to the bank, mistaking them for prospectors. The townsfolk find their water bottle stolen the next day, so Rango organizes a posse to find it. They discover bank manager Merrimack (Stephen Root) dead in the desert from being drowned, and eventually track the robbers to their mountain hideout. There they fight the robbers' clan of subterranean animals over the stolen water bottle in a chase through the mountains before discovering the bottle to be empty. Despite the robbers professing that they belatedly had discovered it was empty, the posse brings them to town for trial.

Rango and Beans deduce that the mayor has been buying all the land around Dirt. Rango confronts the mayor, who denies any wrongdoing on his part and shows Rango that he is building a modern city with the purchased land. In response to Rango's accusations, the mayor summons Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy), who recognizes that Rango is a fake and 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 confused over his own identity, Rango wanders the desert and, in a daze, meets the Spirit of the West (Timothy Olyphant), a cowboy whom Rango identifies as the Man with No Name. The Spirit inspires Rango, telling him, "No man can walk out on his own story".

With the aid of Roadkill and mystical moving yuccas, Rango learns that the mayor has shut off the water line leading to Dirt's source of water, Las Vegas. Recruiting the robbers' clan to aid him, Rango returns to Dirt to call out Jake for a duel with a single bullet, a diversion so mountain clan and yuccas can flood the town with water and free the falsely accused robbers. The mayor forces Rango to surrender by threatening Beans' life, trapping them inside the glass bank vault to drown. He then tries to shoot Jake with Rango's gun, only to discover it is empty — Rango uses the bullet to crack the glass and shatter the vault, freeing himself and Beans. Jake acknowledges Rango as a worthy opponent and drags the mayor into the desert to take revenge for double-crossing him. The citizens of Dirt celebrate the return of the water and recognize Rango as their hero.

Cast

Development

The film was produced by Nickelodeon Movies, 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[8][9]

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;[10] and references to earlier ILM work, including the dogfight in the Death Star trench in Star Wars: A New Hope.[11]

In a discussion about the nature of contemporary animated features, Verbinski said in December 2011,

There are shackles with the budgets and the profit margins. You want to compete with what they're doing at Pixar and DreamWorks. There's a price tag with that just in terms of achieving that quality level. What happened to the Ralph Bakshis [the director of such adult-oriented animated movies as 1972's Fritz the Cat] of the world? We’re all sitting here talking about family entertainment. Does animation have to be family entertainment? I think at that cost, yes. There's the bull's-eye you have to hit, but when you miss it by a little bit and you do something interesting, the bull's-eye is going to move. Audiences want something new; they just can't articulate what.[12]

Marketing

Rango's teaser trailer was released on June 9, 2010,[13] along with the film's official site, RangoMovie.com.[14] It shows an open desert highway and an orange, wind-up plastic fish floating slowly across the road.[15] On June 28, 2010, the first poster was released, showing the character Rango.[3] A two-minute film trailer was released June 29, 2010.[16][17] Another trailer was released December 14, 2010.[18] A 30-second spot was made specifically to run during Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011.[19]

Reception

Critical

Rango received very positive reviews. It has an 88% rating on the film critics aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, 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." [20] 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).[21] Richard Corliss of Time applauded the "savvy humor" and called the voice actors "flat-out flawless."[22] He later named it one of the 10 best movies of 2011, saying, "In a strong year for animation ... Rango was the coolest, funniest and dagnab-orneriest of the bunch."[23] 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."[4] 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."[24] 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."[25]

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."[26]

Box-office performance

Rango, which was distributed by Paramount Pictures, earned $123,477,607 in North America and $121,897,767 in other countries for a total $245,375,374.[27] It is the 23rd highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide.[28]

In North America, 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.[1] On March 26, 2011 it became the first film of 2011 to cross the $100 million mark in North America.[29]

In markets outside North America, during its first weekend, it earned $16,770,243 in 33 countries.[30] It topped the overseas box office two times in March 2011.[31][32]

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.[33]

Smoking controversy

The Sacramento, California-based anti-smoking organization Breathe California faulted the movie for what it said was at least 60 instances of characters smoking.[34]

2012 re-release

The film is scheduled return to theaters for a three-week engagement beginning January 27, 2012.[35]

Accolades

Award Category Winner/Nominee Result
Academy Awards Best Animated Feature Film Gore Verbinski Won
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Animated Film Won
Best Animated Female: Isla Fisher Won
American Cinema Editors Best Edited Animated Feature Film Craig Wood Won
Annie Awards Best Animated Feature Won
Animated Effects in an Animated Production Chase Cooper Nominated
Animated Effects in an Animated Production Willi Geiger Nominated
Character Design in a Feature Production Mark “Crash” McCreery Won
Directing in a Feature Production Gore Verbinski Nominated
Storyboarding in a Feature Production Delia Gosman Nominated
Storyboarding in a Feature Production Josh Hayes Nominated
Writing in a Feature Production John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Byrkit Won
Editing in a Feature Production Craig Wood Won
BAFTA Best Animated Film Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Animated Film Won
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Animated Feature Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Animated Feature Won
Golden Globes Awards Best Animated Feature Film Nominated
Hollywood Film Festival Best Animated Won
IGN Best of 2011 Best Animated Movie Won
International Film Music Critics Association Best Original Score for an Animated Feature Hans Zimmer Nominated
Kids Choice Awards Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie Johnny Depp Pending
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Animation Won
Motion Picture Sound Editors Best Sound Editing. Sound Effects, in an Animation Feature Film Nominated
83rd National Board of Review Awards Best Animated Feature Won
Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Animated Feature Won
Producers Guild of America Awards Best Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski Nominated
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Animated Feature Won
Satellite Awards Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media Nominated
Saturn Awards Best Animated Film Pending
2011 Teen Choice Awards[36] Choice Movie Animated Voice Johnny Depp Won
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Best Animated Feature Nominated
Visual Effects Society[37] Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Tim Alexander, Hal Hickel, Jacqui Lopez, Katie Lynch Won
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Frank Gravatt, Kevin Martel, Brian Paik, Steve Walton Won
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture John Bell, Polly Ing, Martin Murphy, Russell Paul Won
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Colin Benoit, Philippe Rebours, Nelson Sepulveda, Nick Walker Won
2012 People's Choice Awards[38] Favorite Movie Animated Voice Johnny Depp Won

Video games

Console games

Electronic Arts 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.[39]

Online games

Funtactix 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.[40][41]

Home video

The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 15, 2011.[42][43] 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.[44][45][46]

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.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Rango (2011 film)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rango.htm. Retrieved March 3, 2011. 
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (March 3, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Rango' expected to shoot down the competition". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Archived from the original on 2011-03-06. http://www.webcitation.org/5wzLrCK5S. Retrieved March 3, 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Billington, Alex. "Posters: Introducing: Johnny Depp as a Western Chameleon in Rango!", FirstShowing.net, June 28, 2010. WebCitation archive.
  4. ^ a b Mondello, Bob. "Ride 'Em, Chameleon! 'Rango' A Wild, Wacky Western", NPR.org, March 4, 2011. WebCitation archive.
  5. ^ "Abigail Breslin in Rango and The Hunger Games?", "The Stacks" (section), "Ink Splots 26" (column), Scholastic Corporation, March 4, 2011. WebCitation archive.
  6. ^ O'Hehir, Andrew. "'Rango' and the rise of kidult-oriented animation", Salon.com, March 2, 2011. WebCitation archive.
  7. ^ Coyle, Jake. "Movie review: 'Rango'", Associated Pressvia NorthJersey.com, March 4, 2011. WebCitation archive.
  8. ^ a b Moody, Annemarie. "ILM Jumps to Features with Rango", Animation World Network, September 12, 2008. WebCitation archive.
  9. ^ a b Vejvoda, Jim. What Exactly is Rango?", IGN.com, June 30, 2010. WebCitation archive
  10. ^ Breznican, Anthony (March 6, 2011). "Johnny Depp's 'Rango': Its top six riffs on classic movies". Entertainment Weekly. http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/03/06/the-top-six-rango-riffs-on-classic-movies/. Retrieved 2011-04-30. 
  11. ^ The DVD director's commentary track mentions Star Wars during this sequence.
  12. ^ Verbinski in "THR's Animation Roundtable: 7 Top Filmmakers Debate R-Rated Toons and If 'Tintin' Should Be Eligible for Ani[mation Oscar"]. The Hollywood Reporter. December 22, 2011. Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. http://liveweb.archive.org/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywood-reporter-animation-roundtable-tintin-275984. 
  13. ^ O'Hara, Helen. "First Baffling Rango Glimpse Is Here", Empire, June 09, 2010. WebCitation archive.
  14. ^ Gallagher, Brian. "Rango Announcement Teaser and Official Site Launch", MovieWeb, June 09, 2010. WebCitation archive.
  15. ^ Rango – Movie Trailers – iTunes
  16. ^ Young, John. "'Rango': A peek behind the scenes of Johnny Depp's epic lizard western", Entertainment Weekly, June 30, 2010. WebCitation archive.
  17. ^ "Rango Trailer Online: Fear, loathing and guitar-playing owls", Empire, 29 June 2010. WebCitation archive.
  18. ^ Raup, Jordan. "Theatrical Trailer For Gore Verbinski's 'Rango' Starring Johnny Depp", TheFilmStage.com, December 14, 2010. WebCitation archive.
  19. ^ "Rango (Big Game Spot) (2011)", VideoDetective.com, February 7, 2011. WebCitation archive.
  20. ^ "Rango". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rango-2011/. Retrieved 2011-03-01. 
  21. ^ Rango at Metacritic
  22. ^ Corliss, Richard. "Rango Review: Depp Plays Clint the Chameleon in Year's Coolest Film", Time, March 14, 2011
  23. ^ Corliss, Richard (December 7, 2011). "The Top 10 Everything of 2011 - Rango". Time. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101344_2101362_2101359,00.html. Retrieved December 13, 2011. 
  24. ^ Lovece, Frank. "Film Review: Rango", Film Journal International, March 2, 2011
  25. ^ Ebert, Roger. Rango (review), Chicago Sun-Times, March 2, 2011
  26. ^ Phillips, Michael. "'Rango' sells its soul for live-action", Chicago Tribune, March 2, 2011
  27. ^ "Rango". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rango.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  28. ^ "2011 WORLDWIDE GROSSES". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2011&p=.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 
  29. ^ Weekend Report: 'Wimpy Kid' Blindsides 'Sucker Punch'
  30. ^ Segers, Frank. "'King's Speech' Nabs No. 1 at Int'l Weekend Box Office With $19.4 Million". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kings-speech-nabs-no-1-164819. Retrieved 2011-03-09. . WebCitation archive.
  31. ^ "Overseas Total Box Office March 11–13, 2011". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/weekend/?yr=2011&wk=10&p=.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 
  32. ^ "Overseas Total Box Office March 18–20, 2011". Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/intl/weekend/?yr=2011&wk=11&p=.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 
  33. ^ Semigran, Aly (July 6, 2011). "Riding high off the success of 'Rango,' Paramount Pictures to launch in-house animation division". Entertainment Weekly. http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/07/06/paramount-pictures-animation/. 
  34. ^ Rubin, Rita (March 7, 2011). "'Rango' Has Smoking Foes Fuming". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2011-03-08-rango08_ST_U.htm. 
  35. ^ Best Animated Film nominee 'Rango' to be re-released in theaters for limited engagement
  36. ^ Ng, Philiana (2011-07-19). "Teen Choice Awards 2011: 'Pretty Little Liars,' Rebecca Black Added to List of Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. http://www.webcitation.org/60UVrjVi4. Retrieved 2011-07-27. 
  37. ^ "10th Annual VES Awards Recipients". Visual Effects Society. February 7, 2012. http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/10th+Annual+VES+Awards+Recipients. Retrieved February 8, 2012. 
  38. ^ Nominations Announced for the 'People's Choice Awards 2012'
  39. ^ http://www.ea.com/games/rango
  40. ^ "Rango: The WORLD". http://www.rangotheworld.com/. Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
  41. ^ Harrison, Alexa (February 10, 2011). "'Rango' range extends online". Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc.. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118031894. Retrieved 6 March 2011. . WebCitation archive.
  42. ^ Tom Woodward (May 11, 2011). "Paramount Home Entertainment has announced DVD and Blu-ray releases". DVD Active. http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/rango.html. Retrieved May 11, 2011. 
  43. ^ Stahler, Kelsea (9 May 2011). "'Rango' Comes to Blu-ray and DVD in July". Hollywood.com. http://www.hollywood.com/news/Rango_Comes_to_Blu_ray_and_DVD_in_July/7791960. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
  44. ^ Gallagher, Brian (9 May 2011). "Rango Blu-ray and DVD Arrive July 15th". http://www.movieweb.com/news/rango-blu-ray-and-dvd-arrive-july-15th. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
  45. ^ "Rango with Johnny Depp Blu-ray Release Date and Details". TheHDRoom.com. 10 May 2011. http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Rango-with-Johnny-Depp-Blu-ray-Release-Date-and-Details/8958. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
  46. ^ "Rango Rounded Up". IGN.com. 9 May 2011. http://dvd.ign.com/articles/116/1166862p1.html. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 

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