Rango

Rango is Nickelodeon Movies' third computer-animated film, released on March 4, 2011. It was directed by and produced by Graham King. Rango was a critical and commercial success, and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. 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. 
It was Nickelodeon's second computer-animated film to be rated PG by the MPAA, after Barnyard. The film received widespread positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $245 million worldwide against its $135 million budget.
== Plot ==
A pet chameleon (Johnny Depp) becomes stranded in the Mojave Desert, where he is directed by an armadillo (Alfred Molina) to a town called Dirt. In the desert, he is pursued by a red-tailed hawk and hallucinates at length before meeting the desert iguana Beans (Isla Fisher), who takes the chameleon to Dirt, an Old West town populated by desert animals. There, the chameleon presents himself to the townsfolk as a heroic figure, under the name of 'Rango'. He soon runs afoul of Gila monster Bad Bill (Ray Winstone), but avoids a fight when Bill is scared off by the afore-seen hawk, and is himself pursued by the hawk until he accidentally crushes it beneath an empty water tower, whereupon the town's mayor (Ned Beatty) appoints Rango the sheriff. Meanwhile, the townsfolk worry that with the hawk dead, the gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake will return. After discovering Dirt's water reserves nearly empty, Beans demands that Rango investigate; but later, Rango inadvertently assists a trio of bank robbers, led by the mole Balthazar, mistaking them for prospectors; and upon finding the water stolen, organizes a posse, who discover bank manager Merrimack dead in the desert from drowning, and later fight the robbers for the stolen water bottle, before discovering the bottle to be empty. Despite the robbers professing they had found it empty, the posse brings them to town for trial.
Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) arrives and tells Rango to leave for good, so he does. Night comes as the moon is starting to come out, and Rango makes his way through some cactus, who’s shadows were moving a little when the moon came, over the sand, arriving and at the road with Mr. Tims and the doll from the beginning. He was very sad and wished he hadn’t lied and was nobody. Rango arrived at the edge of the road. The cars and trucks sped by and he then crosses to the other side of the road. As Rango crossed the road, the cars and trucks zoomed and and whooshed over him while the wind and sand blew. And in no time, Rango made it to the other side and fainted and the bugs from the bug golf carried him along the rest of the way. And Rango confronts the mayor about his purchase of land around Dirt, who denies any wrongdoing and shows Rango that he is building a modern city with the purchased land. When Rango objects to this, the mayor summons Rattlesnake Jake, who humiliates Rango. Rango thence wanders from town until his encounter with a figure identified only as the 'Spirit of the West' or '', who advises him that "No man can walk out on his own story". Guided by the armadillo and a set of mobile yucca schidigera, Rango learns that Dirt's water supply is controlled by an emergency valve in a water pipeline to Las Vegas Valley. Thereafter Rango challenges Jake to a duel while Balthazar's robbers and the yucca schidigera release the water-supply; but he and Beans are imprisoned by the mayor, who then attempts to kill Jake, having identified in him an aspect of the nearly-obsolete 'Old West', only to be foiled when Rango and Beans release themselves and the water-supply from his control. At this, Jake salutes Rango and departs, taking the mayor prisoner, while the other characters celebrate.
== Cast ==
*Johnny Depp as Rango, a chameleon who is the titular protagonist of the film.
*Isla Fisher as Beans, a desert iguana, the love interest of Rango, and also the deurtagonist.
*Abigail Breslin as Priscilla, a cactus mouse"Abigail Breslin in Rango and The Hunger Games?", "The Stacks" (section), "Ink Splots 26" (column), Scholastic Corporation, March 4, 2011. WebCitation archive. or aye-aye, Gore Verbinski, "Real Creatures of Dirt", Rango DVD. Schultz: "She represents one of the strangest looking creatures on our planet. She's not from the desert or the United States at all[…]" Verbinski: "[Character designer] Crash [McCreery] went and did the research and found the aye-aye[…]which doesn't really belong in this particular desert."
*Ned Beatty as Tortoise John, Mayor of Dirt, a desert tortoiseO'Hehir, Andrew. "'Rango' and the rise of kidult-oriented animation", , March 2, 2011. WebCitation archive.the main antagonist of the film.
*Alfred Molina as Roadkill, a nine-banded armadillo
*Bill Nighy as Rattlesnake Jake, a rattlesnake, the secondary antagonist.
*Harry Dean Stanton as Balthazar, a mole, and the quaternary antagonistdella Cava, Marco R. "'Rango' team can't be caged", , March 4, 2011, p. 1D. WebCitation archive
*Ray Winstone as Bad Bill, a Gila monster the tertiary antagonist of the film.
*Timothy Olyphant as the Spirit of the West
*Stephen Root as: Doc, a rabbit; Mr. Johannes Merrimack III ("Fluffy Joe" - the banker); Mister Snuggles
*Maile Flanagan as Lucky
*Ian Abercrombie as Ambrose, a burrowing owl
*Gil Birmingham as Wounded Bird, a Chihuahuan raven
*James Ward Byrkit as: Waffles, a horned toad; Gordy; Papa Joad; Cousin Murt; Curlie knife attacker; Rodent Kid
*Claudia Black as Angélique, a fox
*Blake Clark as Buford, a Sonoran desert toad and a Gas Can Saloon bartender
*John Cothran, Jr. as Elgin
*Patrika Darbo as: Delilah; Maybelle
*George DelHoyo as Señor Flan, the accordion player
*Charles Fleischer as Elbows
*Beth Grant as Bonnie
*Ryan Hurst as Jedidiah
*Vincent Kartheiser as Ezekiel; Lasso rodent
*Hemky Madera as Chorizo
*Alex Manugian as Spoons
*Mark McCreery as Parsons
*Joe Nunez as Rock-Eye
*Chris Parson as: Hazel Moats, Kinski, Stump, Clinker, Lenny, Boseefus, Dirt Kid
*Lew Temple as: Furgus; Hitch
*Alanna Ubach as: Boo Cletus, a raccoon; Fresca; Miss Daisy
*Gore Verbinski as: Sergeant Turley, a wild turkey; Crevice; Slim, a turkey vulture; Lupe, the violin player
*Kym Whitley as Melonee
*Keith Campbell as Sod Buster
== Production ==
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 (ILM), marking its first full-length animated feature. ILM usually does visual effects for live-action films.Moody, Annemarie. "ILM Jumps to Features with Rango", Animation World Network, September 12, 2008. WebCitation archive. It is also the first animated film for Verbinski. During voice recording, the actors received costumes and sets to "give them the feel of the Wild West"; star Johnny Depp had 20 days in which to voice Rango; and the filmmakers scheduled the supporting actors to interact with him.Vejvoda, Jim. What Exactly is Rango?", , June 30, 2010. WebCitation archive Verbinski said his attempt with Rango was to do a "small" film after the large-scale trilogy, but that he underestimated how painstaking and time-consuming animated filmmaking is.
In a discussion about the nature of contemporary animated features, Verbinski said in December 2011,
== Release ==
=== Marketing ===
Rango's teaser trailer was released on June 9, 2010,O'Hara, Helen. "First Baffling Rango Glimpse Is Here", Empire, June 9, 2010. WebCitation archive. along with the film's official site, RangoMovie.com.Gallagher, Brian. "Rango Announcement Teaser and Official Site Launch", , June 9, 2010. WebCitation archive. It shows an open desert highway and an orange, wind-up plastic fish floating slowly across the road.Rango – Movie Trailers – iTunes On June 28, 2010, the first poster was released, showing the character Rango.Billington, Alex. "Posters: Introducing: Johnny Depp as a Western Chameleon in Rango!", FirstShowing.net, June 28, 2010. WebCitation archive. A two-minute trailer was released June 29, 2010.Young, John. "'Rango': A peek behind the scenes of Johnny Depp's epic lizard western", , June 30, 2010. WebCitation archive."Rango Trailer Online: Fear, loathing and guitar-playing owls", Empire, June 29, 2010. WebCitation archive. Another trailer was released December 14, 2010.Raup, Jordan. "Theatrical Trailer For Gore Verbinski's 'Rango' Starring Johnny Depp", TheFilmStage.com, December 14, 2010. WebCitation archive. A 30-second spot was made specifically to run during on February 6, 2011."Rango (Big Game Spot) (2011)", VideoDetective.com, February 7, 2011. WebCitation archive.
=== 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.
The film received a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on June 4, 2024.
Rango DVD.jpg|DVD
Rango Blu Ray.jpg|Blu-ray
Rango 4K.jpg|4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
=== 2012 re-release ===
The film returned to theaters for a three-week engagement beginning January 27, 2012.Best Animated Film nominee 'Rango' to be re-released in theaters for limited engagement
== Reception ==
=== Critical response ===
Rango received 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." Another review-aggregation website, , reported that the film had been given an average review of 75 out of 100 (or 3 out of 4).Rango at 
=== Box office ===
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. It was the 23rd highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide.
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. On March 26, 2011 it became the first film of 2011 to cross the $100 million mark in North America.Weekend Report: 'Wimpy Kid' Blindsides 'Sucker Punch'
In markets outside North America, during its first weekend, it earned $16,770,243 in 33 countries.. WebCitation archive. It topped the overseas box office two times in March 2011.
With its distribution contract with set to be concluded in 2012, Paramount Pictures, pleased by the performance of this film, announced plans to establish its own animation department.
=== Smoking controversy ===
The Sacramento, California-based anti-smoking organization Breathe California regards the film a public health hazard; it said there were at least 60 instances of smoking in the film.
=== Accolades ===
Award 	Category 	Winner/Nominee 	Result
 	Best Animated Feature Film 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Film 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Female: 	 	Won
 	Best Edited Animated Feature Film 	Craig Wood 	Won
 	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 	 	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
 	Best Animated Film 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Film 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Feature 	 	Won
 	Animated Feature 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Feature Film 	 	Nominated
 	Best Animated 	 	Won
IGN Best of 2011 	Best Animated Movie 	 	Won
 	Best Original Score for an Animated Feature 	 	Nominated
Kids Choice Awards 	Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie 	Johnny Depp 	Nominated
 	Best Animation 	 	Won
 	Best Sound Editing. Sound Effects, in an Animation Feature Film 	 	Nominated
83rd National Board of Review Awards}} 	Best Animated Feature 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Feature 	 	Won
 	Best Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures 	John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski 	Nominated
 	Best Animated Feature 	 	Won
 	Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media 	 	Nominated
 	Best Animated Film 	 	Nominated
|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/60UVrjVi4 |archivedate=July 27, 2011 |accessdate=July 27, 2011}}	Choice Movie Animated Voice 	Johnny Depp 	Won
 	Best Animated Feature 	 	Nominated
 	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
Nominations Announced for the 'People's Choice Awards 2012' 	Favorite Movie Animated Voice 	Johnny Depp 	Won
== Video games ==
=== Console games ===
Electronic Arts released a video game based on the film. It was rated E10+ and was released for the , , , and .http://www.ea.com/games/rango
=== Online games ===
 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.. WebCitation archive.
== Trivia ==
*This was the first Nickelodeon movie to win the Academy Award for Animated Feature Film, and the first Nickelodeon movie to be nominated since Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius. It was also the first animated film not produced by film to win the award since 2007.
*Throught the entire film, it contains a number of references to various Western and other films, including , , Chinatown, , , , , and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; and references to earlier ILM work, including the dogfight in the Death Star trench in Star Wars: A New Hope.The DVD director's commentary track mentions Star Wars during this sequence.
*In addition to winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, this film was also nominated for the same category at the Golden Globe Awards, which lost to fellow Nickelodeon film The Adventures of Tintin.
*The song that plays when Rango becomes an Outcast was actually used in another film called The Kingdom, composed by Danny Elfman.
*Despite being a Nickelodeon film, it initially did not air on the main flagship channel following the controversy, after two years of its original release. However, it did air on a number of non-Viacom-owned TV channels, such as FXM, Cartoon Network, and Discovery Family. Nickelodeon eventually aired the film on January 1, 2018.
*This is the first animated Nickelodeon film not to use cartoon sound effects, due to having a more realistic theme.
== Videos ==
=== Clips ===
Rango - Rolling Bottle|Clip #1
You ain't from around here - Clip from Rango|Clip #2
Rango - That means we ride||Clip #3
Clip from Rango - Welcome to Dirt|Clip #4
Extended clip from 'Rango' starring Johnny Depp - One last chance to reconsider|Clip #5
== Gallery ==
Rango xlg.jpg|Teaser poster #1
Rango-Teaser-Poster-Outdoor-USA-01_mid.jpg|Teaser poster #2
Rango official poster.jpeg|Theatrical release poster #1
Ciara_Bravo_at_the_Rango_premiere.jpg|Ciara Bravo at the film's premiere.
== References ==
Category:Movies
Category:Theatrical movies
Category:Comedy
Category:Nicktoon films
Category:PG-rated movies