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.
[4] 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.
[5] 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.
An animated Western with a chameleon as the hero is an unlikely concept, but
Rangois a great film thanks to its witty mix of parody, intriguing characters, and sophisticated humor. When a common pet chameleon who's suffering from an identity crisis crashes headfirst into the stereotypically classic Western town of Dirt, he has the unique opportunity to completely reinvent himself. Dubbing himself Rango, the chameleon boasts of his own heroism and creates a spiral of deception that lands him an appointment as sheriff of a town in crisis. The question is, can one unprepared and completely unqualified chameleon possibly change this little town's future for the ...
