Brilliant Animated Film Draws References from Classics

Rating: 9/10 (16 July 2011)

Most animated films are made for families and children but here we see a rare film that almost falls into the art film category. Rango is a perverse, philosophical tribute to movie- making which can be difficult to comprehend. The references to other films requires viewing this gem several times but the humor can be a bit too sophisticated or vulgar for some. It's an existential film about chameleon finding who he is, if he is the hero and whether he has an identity in the old west, much like the Man With No Name, a tribute to Sergio Leone's films.
The film is rich with references to other films. For example, some people point out the Ride of the Valkyries in the canyon with the bats as a tribute to Apocalypse Now or Ned Beatty's mayor is a tribute to Chinatown and the little girl who always asks questions is remotely similar to a character in True Grit. The tower in the town is a bit like The Quick and The Dead (which had the woman with no name seeking revenge as in Once Upon a Time in the West). The reference to water and control is clearly from Dune, another movie where water was a central theme (He who controls the water or "spice"...)...and the walking cactus in the desert are reminiscent of the worms as well as water everywhere in the end...
We get hints of the philosophy of the film when in the beginning, we realize our protagonist is a lonely, nerdy chameleon who first runs into the question of why did the armadillo cross the road. The Spirt of the West lies on the other side (and we later see he's incredibly close to a screen legend without a name). The alabaster carriage and golden guardians turns out to be hilariously something familiar to us (hint: Oscar and Clint). The dream images are like Native American soul-searching with the Great Spirit. And the image of the earth bugs carrying away Rango to the distant future might be a reference to visions of death, perhaps a bit as in Gladiator.
Industrial Light & Magic did a brilliant job of animation with the details of shadows in the town and the desert panorama. The rich close-ups of the animal characters is a bit disconcerting. I love the rabbit with one ear or Spoons, the white rat with the strong cowboy accent. The close-ups of the ugly characters is a tribute to Sergio Leone who loved to zoom in on eyes and facial skin cracks.
Perhaps the most film references, however, as to Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. We see Rango's mayor is a cripple like OUTITW's Morton who competes with Jake the Snake (Henry Fonda). The black hat might be Lee van Cleef but easily Fonda's Frank. The scene in the bar where Rango finds his name is clearly a reference to OUTITW when Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain) meets Charles Bronson (Harmonica) and Jason Robards (Cheyenne). Lionel Stander's bartender was copied by the toady barman. The mayor makes references to the future, buying the ranch (owned by Beans who even has red hair like Jill McBain) and that Jake isn't a businessman but the last gunslinger is a reference to Once Upon a Time in the West....the characters and lines are quite similar. The drink sliding across the bar in the shadows was a reference to Cheyenne sliding the gun across to Harmonica. There's an interview by the visual effects director who actually mentions the numerous references and modeling after Once Upon a Time in the West. That movie, consider by many the greatest western ever made, was a tribute to many westerns that came before and also copied the classic westerns.
This film is clearly for the film buff, but not necessarily for everyone. It's a rich comedy that has the depth of The Seventh Seal, Citizen Kane or 8 1/2.