"Rango" a surprise animated hit starring Johnny Depp
And so, I tip my hat to Maia Kayser, the lead animator of Rango, from Lucasfilm, Ltd. After Rango gets cast out of Dirt, the not at all ironic name of the western town he accidentally stumbles across, the film moves to a magnificent sequence of the desert at night with twinkling stars in the sky, and plants gently waving in the breeze. Even Rango’s dehydrated hallucinations are vivid enough to look realistic and convince the viewer not only to forget that it is an animated movie, but to enjoy the seamlessness of a movie in which each part is integral to the next. The gorgeous animation only helped to support the fun music, which was so wildly appropriate it was hilarious as well (I’m sorry, but if a bearded owl in a mariachi band doesn’t make you laugh then you are tired of life).
Though it was not the cutting-edge blockbuster that “Toy Story 3” was, it still managed to bring in an estimated $118.8 million, as of April 17, on a $135 million production budget. It would be a stretch to predict Rango as having a legacy to match Johnny Depp’s past works, but the movie has enough interesting layers and tons of hidden details to make it a favorite for years to come. With a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 89%, it seems unlikely that it will ever be forgotten completely, as its themes appeal to a wide audience. Overall, the movie was not very well conceived, but was brilliantly executed. Although the concept of the movie wasn’t anything original, watching it was still an enjoyable experience because it was so well made.