An Animated Western With 88% Tomatometer We All Forgot Too Quickly Is Still a Must-Watch

Summary:

• However successful they are with critics and viewers, some movies are still destined to be thrown out of everyone’s memory soon after the release, and one of such films is an animated feature that has all the reasons to be praised even to this day.
• Released back in 2011, the movie follows an ambitious pet chameleon who takes up a job of a local sheriff to deal with his identity crisis and personal issues.
• The film was a big hit upon its release, but then was quickly forgotten despite the fact that it’s full of subtle and brilliant references to the cinema’s classic genre.

Sometimes the overall critical and commercial success doesn’t guarantee the movie’s cult classic status that would eventually cement it in the viewers’ memory, and the 2011 Western animated movie Rango is sadly one of the most striking examples.

Being a total hit upon its release back in the day, Rango was unfairly quick to fade from everyone’s list of favorites — and it may be due to some certain reasons that, in fact, make the movie even better.

Starring Johnny Depp as the voice actor for the main character, eccentric and ambitious chameleon Rango, Gore Verbinski’s film follows the same pet chameleon struggling with identity crisis. Being a sheltered family pet before, Rango strives for standing out in some way he has no idea about yet while his whole nature tells him to blend in with everything that surrounds him.

When Rango suddenly finds himself in a small town called Dirt that, coincidentally, is looking for its new sheriff, the brave chameleon embarks on a new role of the main defender of the small land. Though at first he acts like a clumsy newcomer (obviously), some circumstances later on force him to come up with big decisions that will turn him into a real hero.

Made with a bit disturbingly realistic approach, Rango appears to be nothing but an homage to the Western genre as a whole having especially noticeable nods towards some classic movies like Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name or Chinatown.

Rango’s destiny was that different from most of the animated stories for children just because the former had chosen to not go down the same road. Rango isn’t based on any of the famous tales that Disney has in its stock but rather found its main inspiration in the old classic films; on top of that, Rango is to this day a singular movie that was never followed by sequels, the thing that happens quite frequently with similar projects.

All that combined may have probably contributed to the fact that Rango was very soon forgotten by the audience, despite its compelling plot and a peculiar way of animating the characters.

Simultaneously, the same reasons can point to the fact that Rango has in fact never been something enjoyable for kids in particular. With its a bit ugly-ish animation style (at least for those children who are used to Disney’s impeccable images) and some deep themes that the movie explores, Rango may seem somewhat boring for little viewers.

Instead, it’s a real gem for the older audience who may have never noticed how an animated feature had brought up something that serious before Pixar started doing the same.