History WesternAnimation / Rango

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "[[WhoAreYou Who am I?]]" See TheHerosJourney.

''Rango'' is a 2011 film directed by Creator/GoreVerbinski, starring Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/AbigailBreslin, Creator/IslaFisher, Creator/AlfredMolina, Creator/BillNighy, and Creator/RayWinstone, among others. An ode to {{Spaghetti Western}}s, it os Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic's first feature-length animated film, as well as their only one created as an independent studio. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature that year.

* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: While most of the animals are fully clothed, the tip of the hawk's beak is a sharpened metal prosthetic, the armadillo wears a hat and a small band of cloth, and Rattlesnake Jake wears a flat-crowned hat, some bandoliers, and a gatling gun for a rattle.

-->--'''Spirit of the West'''

''Rango'' is a 2011 film directed by Creator/GoreVerbinski, starring Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/AbigailBreslin, Creator/IslaFisher, Creator/AlfredMolina, Creator/BillNighy, Creator/RayWinstone and others. An ode to {{Spaghetti Western}}s, it was Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic's first feature-length animated film, as well as their only one created as an independent studio. It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature that year.

An unnamed pet chameleon with an identity crisis falls out of the back of a car and wanders the desert, eventually reaching the town of Dirt. After accidentally killing a hawk that had been terrorising the townsfolk, he attempts to further impress the locals by concocting a badass backstory, adopting the name Rango along the way; this impresses everyone and gets him hired as sheriff by the mayor. But Dirt has its own problems; namely, the town is going through a drought and its water supply is disappearing, and it's up to Rango to find the cause.

The film plays out as a loving tribute to Westerns of the past, taking its story beats from the classic structure of classic films while maintaining its own course. References to great films of the past abound throughout the film, serving as {{Easter Egg}}s for fans of the genre.

The movie is also noted for its visual contrast with other wide-release CG animated films. Whereas most other films in the genre tend to go for a clean, idealized look for their world, ''Rango'' intentionally avoids this. Most of the characters are based on ugly-looking animals and the whole world seems to have a layer of dirt and grime on it. In addition, Verbinski filmed his actors peforming in live-action, then basing the animation on the shots. The result is a setting that looks more "real" in some ways and more cartoonish in others. Either way, it certainly stands out visually.

* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: While most of the animals are fully clothed, the hawk wears sharpened metal on its beak, the armadillo wears a hat and a small band of cloth, and Rattlesnake Jake wears a flat-crowned hat, some bandoliers, and a gatling gun for a rattle.
* AccidentalHero: After the hawk winds up dead trying to make a meal of Rango, the chameleon is hailed a hero for "killing" the hawk and made the town's sheriff. This isn't the last of his dumb luck either.

** Rango is carried away by woodlice in a brief scene, where he later [[spoiler:finds a boat in the middle of a salt flat]]. He also runs like Jack Sparrow, leaning back, arms akimbo; and like Jack in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, Rango is also armed with [[OneBulletLeft one bullet]].
** [[spoiler:The Spirit of the West]] is voiced by Timothy Olyphant--a brilliant three-pronged ShoutOut to ''Series/{{Justified}}'', ''{{Series/Deadwood}}'', and ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' as his character model is a Creator/ClintEastwood look alike.
** Also, this isn't the first time Bill Nighy has portrayed a [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean feared Grim-Reaper figure]]. He even throws on Jones's characteristic verbal tic to a line near the end.
* ActorISTheTitleCharacter: One might be forgiven for looking at the marketing and thinking that the movie title is "Creator/JohnnyDepp Is Rango".

* AllDesertsHaveCacti: Despite the accuracy in the appearance of the film's Saguarro cacti, this type of cactus does not actually grow in the Mojave desert.
** Downplayed: They ''do'', however, grow in the surrounding area and their northernmost limit is a mere twenty miles from the edge of the Mojave.
* AllForNothing: After stealing back the water jug, the tarp falls away to reveal [[spoiler:it's filled with nothing but sand]].

** The ultra-British Bill Nighy does a stunning accent as Rattlesnake Jake.

** Despite being a non-speaking animal, the redtailed hawk tries (almost successfully) to get Rango out of a glass soda bottle by dropping it from a great height, and successfully dispenses Rango from a vending machine he chooses to hide in.
** The bats and the pigs (peccaries?) dragging the carts don't talk either. However the bats count for this trope too, being able to fly like jet planes and [[spoiler:maintain a close enough formation to look like a hawk.]]
* AnachronismStew: Dirt has all the technological trappings of a 19th Century western town, but the mayor gets around on what appears to be an automatic electric wheelchair that would be about a hundred years more advanced than anything else at the time. Played with in that the film takes place in modern times, and most everything about this animal society appears to be scavenged.
* AnalogyBackfire: "Why, we'd turn on each other like a bunch of animals!"
* AndTheAdventureContinues: The Extended Cut ends with [[spoiler:Rango riding off ([[RidingIntoTheSunset into the sunset of course]]) to look into trouble that Bad Bill is stirring up in Dry Creek.]]
* AnimalsNotToScale: While animals like Rattlesnake Jake, the metal-beaked hawk, and the wise armadillo are of proper size, the citizens who populate the town of Dirt (more specifically a gila monster, fox, turkey vulture, bobcat, and tortoise) are the size of Rango, the former pet chameleon.
* AnimalStereotypes: Rango is a Chameleon, but he's also a [[StealthPun ''Social'' Chameleon]]. See PersonalityPowers below.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "[[WhoAreYou Who am I]]?" See TheHerosJourney.

** Apparently after a [[NoodleIncident chain reaction]] wherein six Jenkins brothers were killed with one bullet, the seventh Jenkins brother died of infection.

* AshesToCrashes: Rango tasting the contents of jars in Beans' wagon. "You eatin' '''daddy's ashes'''!" (Subverted -- She means his cigarette ashes. [[DisappearedDad They never found the body.]])
* AshFace: Rango accidentally setting Bad Bill's face on fire only results in two things: covering the Gila monster up in black soot, and pissing him off.
* AteHisGun: Subverted in a CrossesTheLineTwice gag: a kid is playing with Rango's pistol, staring right down the barrel.

* AudibleSharpness: Before slicing the Pepto-Bismol bottle Rango hides in, the hawk brandishes its talons, making a metallic sound.

* BadassAdorable: Priscilla. With the six-shooters. "Can I gut-shoot someone?"
* BadassBoast: What got Rango into the whole mess in the first place.

* BecomingTheBoast: [[spoiler:By film's end, Rango lives up to be the hero he makes himself out to be. Made evident when he confronts Jake again and Jake can see no fear in his eyes as Rango holds him at gunpoint.]]

--> '''Beans:''' My daddy was not a ''burden''! Keep your blood money and I'll ''keep'' my land!

** If you know Spanish, listen closely to the Mariachi Owl Band. During their scene in the jail cell, one of the verses in their funeral dirge translates into [[spoiler:"Where are your eggs?" ("eggs" is Spanish slang for "balls").]] "Cojones" are also mentioned once or twice.
** The best has to be, though, when Rango makes a crack about Beans's name, he comments that he enjoys a nice [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_alla_puttanesca puttanesca]], but he wouldn't name his daughter that. In Italian "puttanesca" means literally [[spoiler:"whore-styled"]]

** Done a bit with the GreekChorus of owls -- at one point they don't play an appropriately exciting musical cue on time, so Rango has to repeat his CallToAdventure. Later in the film, Rango uses them as part of a plan.

** The Mayor is an avid golfer, having "played the game for years". [[spoiler:When Rango learns where The Mayor got his inspiration, i.e. the land development of Las Vegas, one of the most prominent things seen is a golf course, where he most likely discovered the game]]. "Learned a thing or two" indeed, tips on his swing no doubt.

* BrutalBirdOfPrey: When Rango first arrives in town, it's being terrorised by a brutal hawk. (Logically, in that the inhabitants are all animals who would naturally be the hawk's prey). Even [[TheDreaded Rattlesnake Jake]] is terrified of it. ([[spoiler:Which makes Rango's accidental success in killing it unfortunate, as it was the only thing restraining Jake in any way.]])
* CactusCushion: The titular chameleon of tries to escape a red-tailed hawk early in the film by hiding behind a cactus. He ends up having some of its spines sticking in him, and tries (and fails) to disguise himself ''as'' a cactus because of this.
* CallBack: “Thirsty Brother?”

** "The signal! Something must've gone wrong!" (As they stand surrounded by a huge clan of hostile moles.)
** While ducking a gatling gun, Waffles gives [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Counselor Troi]] a run for her money. "I am sensing hostility!"
* CargoCult: The animals' treatment of human articles, like pipes, because of their "divine" ability to control water. [[spoiler:Subverted in that the mayor and his followers have at least a practical knowledge of the water system, and have intentionally built religious trappings around them to control the town.]]
* CarnivoreConfusion: '''Lots!''' Notice Tortoise John's lackeys and assistant is a gila monster and a desert fox, which eats lizards, rodents and birds - animals that make up almost the entire town! Also, they're wearing boots, which are made from cow hide (and since no one in their right mind would keep cows in such a sweltering desert wasteland, it enters into FridgeHorror when one has to wonder whether they had to use the skins of the dead to make their products).

** [[spoiler:The climax uses practically everything in the entire film. The road from earlier, Roadkill, the walking cacti, and Spirit of the West, all of which are seen or mentioned at the beginning of the film help Rango out of his HeroicBSOD. They're used again, along with the mole family, Jake's fear of hawks, the hole dug by the moles, the pipe underground, and Rango's "one bullet" each play a huge role in defeating the mayor at the end of the film. The writers practically made everything in the entire film a ChekhovsGun!]]

** Inverted: Interestingly enough, there is no further mention or reference of the huge eye that Rango and his posse obliviously pass by in the underground tunnels, nor the creature that the eye belongs to. (Seriously, what the heck was that thing?)
** The "Spirit of the West". Rango recites it a second time to make sure we don't forget it.

* ClintSquint: Delivered by the man himself (well, his animated counterpart) and Rango.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Every person in the posse sans Rango, Beans and Wounded Bird. [[LargeHam Rango]] and [[MotorMouth Beans]] are still only saner in comparison.

** One of the volunteers for the posse, Sgt. Turley, has ''an arrow through his eye'', and Rango sheepishly points out, "You've, uh, got a little something in your eye there." Turley seems to think Rango is talking about his conjunctivitis.

* TheComicallySerious: [[spoiler:While Rattlesnake Jake definitely [[KnightOfCerebus adds a sinister touch to the movie]], [[HumiliationConga his second faceoff against Rango]] [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes cost him a little]] [[OhCrap of his mystique]]. He is quick to gain it back after [[BullyingTheDragon the mayor screws up a double-cross, however]].]]
* ComicBookFantasyCasting: The Spirit of the West's character design is clearly based on Creator/ClintEastwood. However, he's voiced by Creator/TimothyOlyphant rather than the man himself.
* CommunityThreateningConstruction: It offers a variation of this. The old-fashioned Western town of Dirt is in the midsts of a severe water shortage, and the Mayor is also buying up residents' properties as well. When Rango becomes the new sheriff of Dirt and it falls upon him to investigate the water disappearance, he finds out that the Mayor had been diverting Dirt's water supply to a newer, more modern town he's in the process of building on the spots of the properties he had been buying up.
* ContrivedCoincidence: What forms the film's plot from start to finish. {{Lampshaded}} by Rango at the very start of the film when trying to figure out how to use one to put a conflict in his story, right before the ContrivedCoincidence does just that for the movie.
* ConversationHog: After speaking with the bank manager, Mr. Merrimack III, Beans goes to Rango, who has been newly appointed as Sheriff of the town of Dirt, hoping to have him investigate the ongoing water shortage, which had been causing complete agricultural collapse and resulting in the loss of every ranch in the area, with Beans' ranch being the last holdout. As she tries to get his attention, Rango, being a bit of a ditz, gets distracted with signing autographs, talking about his new suit, and getting Angelique and Beans acquainted (even though they already know each other). Beans soon after gets fed up and gives Rango a very loud tongue lashing.
* CorruptHick: [[spoiler:The mayor, Tortoise John, who's stealing up the water from the townsfolk so he can kick them out and steal their land to use for his currently-in-construction new city.]] Pretty handy [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with a firearm, so it was probably best not to get on his bad side.]]

** Rango's fever dream ends with the air around him suddenly turning to water, causing him to choke. In the waking world, his body has been washed down a drainage pipe.
** The "alabaster chariot" of the Spirit of the West is, in fact, [[spoiler:a golf cart from nearby Las Vegas]].
* CrucifiedHeroShot: After crossing the highway, an emotionally-drained Rango collapses on the side of the road. A bunch of pillbugs scoop him up and carry him off.
* CrypticConversation: Invoked twice -- The Armadillo, and the Spirit of the West.

* CurseCutShort: The toad Rango meets out in the desert after he captured by the hawk: "You son of a b-(hawk screech)!" Doubles as ParentheticalSwearing as the screech of the hawk made it sound like "bitch". Also doubles as a Shoutout to ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''.

* DangerousWorkplace: The Sheriff's office has a high turnover rate.

* DeadpanSnarker: Beans and Priscilla. Also Señor Flan, the leader of the Mariachi owls.
* DeathByLookingUp: The Hawk getting creamed by a water tower.

* DesertSkull: The owl mariachi band stands on one of these while singing about Rango's journey.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Rango at the start.
* DeterminedHomesteader: Beans
* DiagonalCut: When Rango tries to hide from the red-tailed hawk in an outhouse, the hawk slices it to ribbons with one swipe of his talons.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: [[spoiler:Rattlesnake Jake]] is considered to be a Grim Reaper right out of the pits of hell, and he even seems to believe this about himself to some degree. [[spoiler:Rango ultimately defeats him in the end with his wits alone.]] At the end, it becomes more like "Did You Just Save Cthulhu's Ass?" when [[spoiler:Rango prevents the mayor from shooting Jake]].

* DisappointedInYou: After Jake calls Rango out for lying to the townsfolks and runs him out of town, Beans asks him: [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Who are you?]]. Even the four owls were just as dissappointed in Rango too.
* TheDitz: The little boy that was handling Rango's revolver. Pointing it at his own mother like it was a toy, himself, even staring into the barrel.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: Rango mocks the Hawk from inside an empty beer bottle. The Hawk responds by [[NailsOnABlackboard scraping his talons on the glass]], then picking up the bottle and smashing it.
* DontLookDown: Briefly and hilariously done by Rango.

* DramaticDrop: Rango, glass in hand, turns and sees a flattened Armadillo talking to him. SMASH.
* DramaticWind: [[spoiler:After he is being kicked out of the town and had lost hope,]] Rango eventually decided to return to Dirt with the wind blowing on him to show his badassery.

** While not as feared as Jake by the rest of characters,in a twist of Irony, Jake himself is terrified by the hawk. [[spoiler: In fact, the hawk was the only thing keeping him from showing up at Dirt....until Rango accidentally [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes it's demise.]]]]
* DreamLand: Once Rango crosses the highway after Rattlesnake Jake banishes him, he seems to have stepped from the real West into the mythical [[TheWildWest West]] -- which accounts for the encounters with spirits and walking cacti.

* DrowningPit: [[spoiler:The Mayor puts Rango and Beans into a makeshift one via the bank's water vault. Too bad for him it was made of old, non-shockproof glass.]]
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: When Beans [[HeroicBSOD first freezes up]], Rango sniffs her hair, then puts an arm around her shoulders til she snaps out of it. When she does it again later, he uses it as an opportunity to give her a little kiss on the cheek... [[SubvertedTrope and then it turns out that this time she was only pretending]]. The closest he'd come to a female inside his terrarium was a headless Barbie doll, so he doesn't have much of a reference pool for proper behavior.
* EndOfAnAge: Evoked by the Mayer during his ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''-inspired speech.
* EnnioMorriconePastiche: Of course Music/HansZimmer's soundtrack consists mostly of this!

** [[spoiler:The Mayor]] is so corrupt that even Rattlesnake Jake, who claims to be from Hell itself, drags him off after [[spoiler:the mayor]] betrays him. His dialogue calling [[spoiler:Rango]] out on his lies also implies that he has a sense of honor and ''hates'' a liar as well.
** Meanwhile [[spoiler:the Mayor]], despite being willing to throw Rango and Beans in a tank to drown, tries to tell [[spoiler:Rattlesnake Jake]] to back off when he's threatening Beans in his office.
** Even Bad Bill and his gang are visibly disturbed when Jake implies killing her.
** This is more of a case of Even the AlphaBitch Has Standards, but [[spoiler:when the mayor puts Beans and Rango in the drowning tank]], Angelique looks visibly horrified despite clearly not liking Beans.

* EqualOpportunityEvil: Bad Bill's gang have conspicuously non-American accents (British; German; Mexican; [[spoiler:and since they're on the Mayor's side, we'll throw in his French secretary]]) while the people of Dirt all have easily identifiable Western accents and speech patterns. Averted with Ambrose the owl, who has a British accent and is one of the good guys and the creepy moles [[spoiler:who turn out to be NecessarilyEvil and willing to switch sides.]]
* EtTuBrute: When the townspeople finally reach their breaking point and start charging the jail with torch and pitchforks regarding the impending hanging of Baltazar and his two sons, Rango steps out to try and calm everybody down.

(''[[NoisyGuns guns noise]]'')\\
'''Rango:''' All right then...
* EvilCripple: [[spoiler:The mayor is a tortoise in a wheelchair]].
* EvilLaugh: Rattlesnake Jake give a truly epic one to Rango before [[spoiler:he gets ready to duel him in the middle of the town.]] This is all followed with him slithering out into the middle of the town, taking the time to load his gun (Which is followed by a healthy dose of DramaticGunCock), looking over at Rango with a SlasherSmile, and chuckling quietly under his breath. The fact that he's voiced by Bill Nighy when he does this really sells it.
* EvilerThanThou: Rattlesnake Jake and [[spoiler:Tortoise John]] take turns on this one. Utilized first by Jake, who demands a free rein in coercing Beans: later, [[spoiler:Tortoise John gives a "times have changed" speech and attempts to shoot Jake with Rango's gun.]] Flips back to Jake when [[spoiler:Rango defeats Tortoise John and the helpless villain is trying to talk his way out of a well-deserved punishment.]]

** Also the Owl band leader saying Rango is definitely going to die. Well, he is... [[spoiler:Everyone does eventually...]]

** He means [[LaymansTerms follow the pipe]].

* ExpositionDiagram: Using a firelit twig and the night sky, Rango relates the Spirit of the West.

** One of Rango's posse is a chicken with an arrow ''sticking into his right eye and through the back of his head''.

* EyesNeverLie: The only reason Rattlesnake Jake allows Rango to hold a gun right at his nose and dares him to shoot him is he "doesn't see the killer in his eyes". [[spoiler:He gets an OhCrap moment later when he realizes that Rango ''does'' have the killer in his eyes when in the same situation reoccurs at the climax of the film.]]
* FailedASpotCheck: Wounded Bird pointing out the escape hole of the alleged bank robbers.

* FakeUltimateHero: Rango stumbles into the role and enjoys its benefits -- he even runs a few risks out of the sheer joy of it all. Once [[KnightOfCerebus Rattlesnake Jake]] comes to town, Rango must either rise or fall. [[spoiler:He falls. [[CharacterDevelopment At first.]] ]]
* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: Hugely averted, seeing how Creator/GoreVerbinski [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean directed this.]]

* FantasyAmericana
* FateWorseThanDeath: It's not clear what will happen to [[spoiler:the mayor when he's dragged off by Rattlesnake Jake.]] But nobody expects it to be pretty and it's best if that question was left unsaid.
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Mayor Tortoise John]]
* FeatherFingers: Most of the bird characters. It's especially noticeable on the mariachi owls, who use them to play their instruments, and the red-tailed hawk, who operates a vending machine to get at Rango, who is hiding inside.

* FoeRomanceSubtext: Jake's behaviour towards Beans. In his first appearance, Jake almost strangles her and [[LecherousLicking licks]] her face. And in another scene, he almost strangles her again.

* ForDoomTheBellTolls: The town of Dirt has a ClockTower which its bell rings appropriately for the trope [[spoiler:after the sheriff Rango and his posse failed to bring the stolen water back, and during the duel between him and [[SnakesAreSinister Rattlesnake Jake]]. The clock tower is later destroyed when Rango has a plentiful of water finally brought back]].

** During the chase following the raid on the Mole Family compound, Ezekiel has no issue firing on the wagon holding the water from the bank. [[spoiler:Earlier, he had tried to tell Pappy something was wrong; We find out later that the water's already been stolen.]]
** When [[spoiler:the Mayor]] orders his men to call Rattlesnake Jake, they warn him that Jake's a "grim reaper" and, specifically, "never leaves town without taking a soul." The boss waves it off and orders Jake contacted anyway. Jake indeed does not leave town until he "takes a soul" -- [[spoiler:the Mayor himself, who he drags off with him.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: The mariachi owls periodically assure the audience that Rango will die soon. [[spoiler:Turns out to be ExactWords. Everyone dies... eventually... possibly as the result of a household accident?...]]
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The "Spirit of the West". Later confirmed by the wise Armadillo, who muses, "We each see what we need to see."
* ForgotICouldFly: The Hawk stares stupidly as the water tower falls on him, instead of flying away. By the time the hawk looks and realized he's about to get pancaked, it's too late to do much of anything anyway.

** The film has at least one unambiguous reference to alcohol, but in the saloon all they have is cactus juice. It's still somewhat averted since they still ''treat'' it like regular alcohol.
** Interestingly, the Mayor treats his private stash of water as if it were fine vintage wine.
* FullyDressedCartoonAnimal: Rango in his western duds. Also Beans, Priscilla, Spoons and the rest of the townspeople of Dirt.

** It subverts the expected tropes when the walking, talking, cowboy hat-wearing animals still happen to realistically resemble their RealLife counterparts. Jake and Rango qualify for HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: most other folks wear clothes.
** Averted rather interestingly with the hawk, who doesn't talk despite displaying problem-solving intellect and an accessory (his metal beak). Even more confusing considering that the avian residents of Dirt have no problem talking. Given that his sole purpose in coming to town is to find food, it's unlikely that the hawk would be interested in starting a conversation.

** This one happens in the foreground (but not at the center of attention), when the tank of water begins to break, the mayor is seen panicking with his wheelchair for a moment, looking for the lever that moves his chair, and accidentally pulls the one that releases his golf club.

** Actually more of a Funny Back-sound Event. When the posse introduces themselves as thespians, Waffles can be heard singing "la la la" to the tune that the Mariachi Owls are playing.
** Kinda gross actually; in the extended ending, when Beans says: "You come back with all your digits!" there is a gritty-looking child in the back picking its nose.

* FurryConfusion: Lots and ''lots!'' The intelligent animals like Rango, the shrew girl, the townspeople, and the outlaws wear clothing, wield guns, and have their own American West-style society, while at the same time utilizing roadrunners as horses, bats as flying mounts and javelinas to pull wagons (which brings up whole new levels of confusion when a javelina-like ''blacksmith'' was briefly visible in one scene!). One also can't forget the few bits of "bug confusion" that occur between the dead cricket in Rango's enclosure, the life-size pillbugs used as golf balls, and the anthropod denizens that populate the town of Dirt, including in one scene where Rango tries to emulate the walking style of a clothed beetle. See also AnimalsNotToScale above.

* GeniusDitz: Rango is very aware that he's only digging himself deeper with his lies, but he's also very aware of his surroundings and is able to competently think up solutions to his problems. [[spoiler:He's even able to piece together the mayor's water-hoarding scheme.]]

** One of the many enemies Rango encounters are an entire clan of moles riding bats mounted with little gatling guns.

* GiganticMoon: Hovering huge over Rango's walk of shame.
* GirlishPigtails: Sported by Priscilla.

* GoMadFromTheIsolation: In the opening, Rango definitely looks like he's reached this point, and maybe even surpassed it, to the point where every inanimate object in his glass box has a name (even the dead bug), and personalities attributed to them, and he hears them talking to him. Which really isn't surprising, since he's probably spent his whole life stuck in that cage without anyone to talk to but himself.

* GrotesqueGallery: All the characters barring a few exceptions have a very grimy, dusty, asymmetrical look to them that emphasizes their age, old scars, and poor hygiene. Among them, the moles especially stand out in how ugly they are due to inbreeding.

* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: The Colt Single Action Army revolver used by Rango has a swing-out cylinder, which is not what the gun has in real life.

** Other characters that apply to this include Wounded Bird, Ambrose and Waffles.

* HawaiianShirtedTourist: Rango is wearing a red Hawaiian shirt at the beginning. When he adapts to life in Dirt, he gets himself several sets of cool cowboy outfits.
* HeroicBSOD: Rango in spades [[spoiler:after Rattlesnake Jake calls him out. He walks across a road full of traffic and emerges unscathed. He's brought before the Man with No Name, who finally breaks him out of it.]]

* TheHerosJourney: It's all about Rango's, in a very archetypic way. In the Extended Cut, Priscilla explicitly [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this.

* HollywoodChameleons: Rango averts this; although he ''can'' change his color he can't do it easily, and he certainly can't fool a sharp-eyed hawk. Both of his attempts to blend-in fail.

* HumansAreCthulhu: Subtle, but definitely there. The road and cars, while mundane to humans, are enough of an incomprehensible barrier for the animals to become integral to a spiritual quest. The Mayor talks of controlling water as divine power, and the glimpse of Las Vegas and its sprinklers is like seeing Cthulhu's city. Plus, humans stole the water from the valley in the first place, have enough of it to just dump in the desert, and the CargoCult treatment human artifacts like pipes get.
* HypercompetentSidekick: Wounded Bird, to Rango.

(''SpitTake'')
** Rango also decides to sample the contents of one of Beans' jars.
--->'''Rango''': Mmm, spicy. \\
'''Beans''': You! Eatin! [Daddy's]! Ashes! \\
'''Rango''': AAHH! Ughhh! You carry his remains? \\
'''Beans''': No, his ''ashes''. He loved to smoke. They never found the body.
* IHaveManyNames: The lizard who will become Rango says he has a stage name, a pseudonym, an avatar, and even a maiden name but he never says them on camera. He claims to have all these to gloss over this fact.

'''Rattlesnake Jake:''' Where do you think I ''come from''?

** Rango is a chameleon and Beans is an iguana. Both lizards, but very different species.

* IronicEcho: Comes up with several lines, each of which changes in significance:

* KansasCityShuffle: Rango doesn't go into his final showdown with Rattlesnake Jake without a plan. However, their duel is interrupted by the miraculously revived hawk! Jake is thouroughly [[JustForPun rattled]] by the reappearance of his dreaded nemesis, but catching a window's reflection reveals [[spoiler: that the "hawk" is in fact the Mole Family's bats flying in tight formation. Enraged at the affront to his mystique, Jake [[MoreDakka unloads on the skies, seeking to shoot down every bat he can...]] Which causes him to run out of ammo, allowing Rango to safely walk up to him with his One Bullet and plug him dead. Or at least, that was the plan...]]

* KillingIntent: Rattlesnake Jake blows open Rango's FakeUltimateHero act by daring him to shoot point blank with a revolver, and observing Rango's terrified expression — As Jake puts it, "You got killer in your eyes, son? I don't see it." [[spoiler:In the final confrontation, Rango again has Jake at gunpoint, and while the rattlesnake attempts to call it a bluff, he balks after getting a look at Rango's unflinching stare.]]

* LargeHam: Rango. Not even as Jack Sparrow we've seen so much scenery-chewing from Johnny Depp!
* LawOfConservationOfDetail: Pay attention to literally ''everything''. Almost every plot element comes up again somewhere. See ChekhovsArmoury for more details.

** [[spoiler:No, that isn't Creator/ClintEastwood, it's "The Spirit Of The West". (Unfortunately, it's not him voicing the character either.) Rango did, however, mention that "they used to call you [[Film/DollarsTrilogy the man with no name]]".]]

** Moments before falling out of the car, Rango announces he's had an "epiphany" that what this story needs is something to "[[TemptingFate propel our hero into conflict!]]"

* LetsGetDangerous: Played powerfully in the film's finale.
* LiarRevealed: [[spoiler:Near the film's end, this happens to Rango by Jake.]]
* LimitedWardrobe: Averted with Rango, since he starts with the Hawaiian shirt, gets his hat, then long-johns, a full caballero outfit, and then the cowboy outfit and poncho. True for everyone else, though.
* LineOfSightName: "Rango" isn't the main character's real name. He just saw it on the back of his cactus juice bottle: ''Hecho en Du'''rango''''' ([[BilingualBonus Made in Durango]]). He had no real name before this (according to the DVD Commentary, there was a misconception about his real name being Lars; Lars was actually just another background character Johnny Depp voiced).
* LinkedListClueMethodology: Shoeprints at the site of Mr. Merrimack's murder, and his glasses left behind in an empty water jug.

* LittleNo: Used with a double meaning when Rattlesnake Jake terrifies Rango into a confession. On one level, he's honestly answering "no" (as quietly as possible) to Jake's question; on a deeper level, he knows this is the end - the crushing, self-inflicted end to all the friendships and respect that he received from the citizens of Dirt.
* LockAndLoadMontage: It's a Western.
* LogicalWeakness: Rattlesnake Jake's extreme fear of hawks.[[spoiler:However, it turned out to be bats that shaped like a hawk.]]

* LowClearance: During the bat chase Waffles tangles with one of the moles atop the wagon. The rodent has Waffles pinned and it looks like it's all over for him until Rango accidentally blows up a rock spire, forming a low bridge.
-->'''Waffles:''' ''<points behind the rodent>'' Headache!
* LuddWasRight: [[spoiler:The evil Mayor is trying to create an industrialized city by taking the land from the inhabitants of Dirt.]]
* LukeIAmYourFather: Lampooned by Rango claiming to be Rattlesnake Jake's brother. "Mama had an active social life."

-->'''Rango:''' (''as Wounded Bird scatters feathers into the wind'') I see you're communicating with the great spirits.\\

** He claims to sweeten his coffee with snake venom for "[[BlaseBoast tang]]." This is brought back as Jake delivers Rango a glass of his own venom....
* MessianicArchetype: After Rattlesnake Jake's HannibalLecture, Rango drops his sheriff's badge among the tombstones on Boot Hill; the invented character of "Rango" is dead. He ''crosses to the other side'', and after his encounter with God [[spoiler:-- wait, we mean, the Spirit of the West--]], he returns to the cemetery just as the wind exhumes the badge for him to pick up again in a symbolic resurrection.

* MilesGloriosus: How Rango gets into this mess in the first place.

* MirrorCharacter: Rattlesnake Jake and Rango. Both are [[LargeHam larger-than-life]] "legends" who derive a fair bit of their influence from their fearsome reputations which they themselves have bought into, to a degree. The key difference being that unlike Rango, Jake can actually back his boasting up [[spoiler:at least until the end, when Rango gets serious. Jake even acknowledges this by tipping his hat to Rango after the final fight, one "legend" to another.]]
* MisplacedVegetation: The Saguaro cacti featured throughout the film grow in profusion only in the Sonoran Desert, not the Mojave Desert.

* MouseWorld: Dirt is your typical western town, but for desert critters, and built out of scrap.

** Rango, who is very good at telling tall tales about himself.

(''[[TooMuchInformation Everyone looks at him]]'')

* NearMissGroinAttack: While attempting to board a moving stagecoach, Rango briefly straddles between the coach and his roadrunner steed. A stalagmite-like rock formation protrudes from the ground and he almost runs groin-first into it before narrowly jumping to avoid it.
* NeverSayDie: Averted.

* NobleDemon: [[spoiler:Rattlesnake Jake is bloodthirsty and murderous... but he is true to his word and genuinely admires the few who are willing to stand up to him]].
* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Rango strikes a cactus pose to hide from the Hawk. A badly-dressed cactus.
* NonMammalianHair: Lizards, birds, reptiles, amphibians... All the citizens have hair. This also leads to...

** Plenty of 'em on all the women regardless of species.

* NotUsedToFreedom: Rango the lizard lives in a box but then is forced to live in the desert. He has trouble both fitting in and [[NotHyperbole surviving]].

* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:The mayor]]. Must be the voice. [[spoiler:Especially when he sounds and dresses like [[Film/{{Chinatown}} Noah Cross]].]]
* OfficeGolf: Tortoise John, using pillbugs as golf balls. Later, he invites Rango to join him out on the green.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: When Rango claims to have killed the Jenkins Brothers [[OneHitPolyKill with a single bullet]], a patron asks him how he was able to do so, seeing as there were seven of them. The next time we see Rango, he's just finished telling an elaborate tall tale, which he made up on the spot, explaining how the bullet killed each brother, and everyone present is fully convinced by it.
* OhAndXDies: Subverted; The musician birds say many times all through out the film that Rango is going to die, [[spoiler:but he doesn't. At the end, [[MetaphoricallyTrue they justify it by saying]] that [[LifeWillKillYou (obviously)]] he ''will'' die ... someday.]]

** The hawk has one just before he's smashed by the falling water tower.

** The Mayor after doublecrossing [[TheDreaded Jake]], when he discover that his gun is empty.
* OneBulletLeft: A running theme in the movie based off Rango's lie that he killed seven men with one bullet (sorta... the seventh one "died from infection"). [[spoiler:During the hawk chase scene in town, he accidentally kills it by shooting the licorice that was wrapped around him. The bullet ricochets and hits the tower causing it to fall on the bird. During the climax, Rango uses it to intimidate Jake, then shortly after uses it to get out of the drowning pit the mayor put him and Beans into. Jake also uses this line when it comes to giving Tortoise John his due.]]
* OneDialogueTwoConversations: After apprehending the "bank robbers", Rango has a [[GoKartingWithBowser "friendly" game of golf]] with The Mayor and his staff. The difference in skill levels is obvious from the start, which is commented on, and these comments can also apply to both Rango and The Mayor's skill in political influence.
--> '''''Rango:''' You've... Obviously mastered this game.''
--> '''''The Mayor:''' Well. I've been playing it for many years, sir.''
* OneHitPolykill: Rango claims to have killed the Jenkins Brothers with one bullet. All seven of them. The last one [[MundaneSolution died of infection.]]
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Rattlesnake Jake's dialect tends to briefly slip into something vaguely resembling Irish.

* PersonalityPowers: In Rango's case, he has a (rarely used) ability to change color and a stretchy tongue; he's also a MotorMouth actor who punctuates his arrival in Dirt by trying to ''blend in'' with the town personalities.

--->'''Rattlesnake Jake:''' If I ever ''see'' you again I'll take your soul straight down to '''HELL!'''"
* PrematurelyMarkedGrave: After Rango takes on the job of the new sheriff of Dirt, the citizens already prepare for his demise, including the undertaker constructing a new coffin for him.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Scan for '''''D! N! A!'''''

--->[[spoiler:'''Furgus:''' "This water thing's ''great''."]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Buford:''' "I'm urinating right now."]]
* QuestForIdentity: Isolated to [[SmallSecludedWorld his terrarium,]] the chameleon has no true identity of his own until he is thrust into TheOutsideWorld. His (and the film's) ultimate DrivingQuestion is "Who am I?"
* TheQuietOne: Wounded Bird
* RailingKill: During the final showdown between Rango and Rattlesnake Jake, Wounded Bird attempts to shoot Jake from the clock tower. Jake shoots him and he topples over the railing and falls to the ground. Wounded Bird's comment?

* RainDance: To Hank William's "Cool Water".

* ReCut: The film has an extended version with an ending that makes much more sense.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Rattlesnake Jake

** Rango's final showdown with Jake. [[spoiler:He scares Jake by having the bat-riding moles fly in a hawk formation and when Jake figures it out he gets cocky and empties his ammo into the sky, allowing Rango to stroll right up to him and point his revolver right between his eyes.]]
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Played with. Rattlesnake Jake, Bad Bill, [[spoiler:and the mayor]] are evil, and their reptilian features emphasize that. On the other hand, the protagonist Rango and his love interest Beans are also reptiles.

** So who ''did'' kill the seven Jenkins brothers? Bad Bill’s reaction when he’s told Rango did it implies he at least knows who it was, but whether it was Bill himself, Jake or someone else is left unsaid.

* RidingIntoTheSunset: It's a Western, so of course (although only in the deleted ending). Even receives a [[LampshadeHanging lampshade.]]
* RuleOfCool: Moles riding bats. That have gatling guns. And ''explode''. While Ride of the Valkyries plays. ''On banjos''.
* RunOrDie: Rango's stratagem when dealing with the Hawk.

* ScavengedPunk: The town runs entirely on this trope. It's never alluded to, but the whole town seems to be scavenged.
* SceneryPorn: There are many absolutely stunning settings -- lots of mesas in the sunset and such. One notable scene is a salt flat with the silhouettes of clouds blowing across it.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: TheMovie. A plethora of seldom-used desert critters play prominent roles, including a chameleon, a gecko, an armadillo, a tortoise, moles and many more.

* ShoutOut: So many, [[ShoutOut/{{Rango}} they have their own page]].

** Rango -- out of desperation -- becomes TheMunchausen to get the rougher element in Dirt to regard him as too dangerous to handle.

* SneezeOfDoom: After tricking the Hawk into barreling straight into a soup can, Rango stealthy tiptoes away. And steps on a twig.

** Rango's tank at the beginning of the film is a horrible environment for a chameleon. Then again, why do you think he starts the film crazy?

* SoundEffectBleep: As the unlucky toad is being carried away he cries, "You son of a bi--"[hawk screech]
* SpaghettiWestern: Despite being a family animated film, it's a straight-up love letter to all those classic Spaghetti Westerns.
* SpontaneousChoreography: When the townsfolk do the Water Dance.
* StandardSnippet: "Music/RideOfTheValkyries" during an aerial chase. It's even [[SorryILeftTheBGMOn in-universe]], as the moles start playing it as they ride the bats. Played on ''[[EverythingIsAnInstrument banjoes and moonshine jugs]]''.
* StayInTheKitchen: Rango's out-of-control ego manifests in telling Beans she'd clean up real nice if she put some effort into it.

** When Rango first arrives in Dirt, he makes it a point to imitate the walking style of whoever he sees so he can fit in with his Western surrounding. In other words, Rango's trying to ''get into his stride''.
** A quite clever, very easy-to-miss one. When Rango is getting his new clothes before the water ceremony, he tells Bean he got "a ten-gallon hat marked down from fifteen." The citizens of Dirt use water, which is measured in gallons, as currency.

--->'''Rango:''' (''to Wounded Bird'') As my deputy, you'll be in charge of all tracking and finding abilities, using your well-developed sense of ''Injun''-uity. No offense taken.

** After Beans accidentally swallows the bullet during [[spoiler:the water tank escape]], Rango quips "No need to panic, but I think you just swallowed Plan B." Like the birth control pill.

* SuperPersistentPredator: Double subverted. The metal-beaked hawk pursues Rango all-out at first, until [[spoiler:he ends up grabbing the desert toad instead. Later, the hawk makes a return appearance, chasing him through the town until Rango's one-bullet accident drops the town's water tower on him]].

* TakeOffEveryZig: A squadron of bats.
* TakeTheWheel: Rango handing the reigns of the wagon over to Beans.

* TapOnTheHead: Rango clocking a woman in the face during the rain dance. He's [[ApologeticAttacker very apologetic]].

** You keepin thinkin' like that, and your hat's gonna catch on fire!
* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Beans, as she only wears a dress and has female hair(?!)

* TonightSomeoneDies: Parodied shamelessly. [[spoiler:At the start of the film, the lead mariachi who serves as the narrator informs us that Rango is going to die. At the end, Rango is still alive and well, and the narrator simply points out that his prediction will come true sooner or later, since Rango is as mortal as the next guy.]]

* TrailersAlwaysLie: A rather bizarre example. In one of the trailers, Rango is showing talking to the one-armed torso of a Barbie doll which has a bra covering its chest. In the movie, it's not wearing anything.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: One trailer all but confirms that [[spoiler:the mayor is a bad guy.]] It's not a huge spoiler, since we find out [[spoiler:there's something fishy about him in the first scene he appears.]]

* {{Tsundere}}: Beans.

* UnflinchingWalk: Used in conjunction with HeroicBSOD during Rango's walk across the highway. Used in conjunction with LetsGetDangerous during the final showdown.
* UnPaused: A variation. A couple of times when she comes out of her trances, Beans says something that sounds random but might ''just'' be related to whatever she was saying beforehand.
* UnreliableNarrator: The mariachi owls, see OhAndXDies.

(''Rango leans against the jug, causing the water to shrink down to the five day mark'')\\

** Angelique, the only real attractive character in the entire film, is a fox.
** The MagicalNativeAmerican might be from the Crow reservation.

** The Dirt Post Office is a mailbox.

* VillainRespect: [[spoiler:After Rango escapes the bank's vault filled with water by using a single bullet to shatter the glass, and in doing so saving Rattlesnake Jake from being killed by the Mayor, Rattlesnake Jake develops a respect for Rango, enough for Rattlesnake Jake to salute him.]]

'''Rango:''' You got a funny-looking '''[[LameComeback FACE]]'''!
** Plainly, Beans and Angélique aren't the best of friends. Tart. Floozy. Trollop.
* WakingNonSequitur: Beans has occasional catatonic fits. When she snaps out of them, she never quite seems to be carrying on the same conversation she left off.
* WaterTowerDown: Used against the hawk. [[spoiler:It doesn't contain water, just dirt, but it's more than heavy enough to crush him]].
* WeAllDieSomeday: [[spoiler:The Mariachi Owls insist from beginning to end that Rango is going to die...naturally because everyone does eventually, often from household accidents. Which is what they say when he reaches the end of the film very much alive.]]

* TheWestern: The film largely takes place in TheWildWest town of Dirt in a WeirdWest setting but the film has elements of the NewOldWest in particular [[spoiler:the Mayor and the sight of Vegas]].

** Angelique kinda disappears at the end, although she does show up before [[spoiler:the mayor puts Rango and Beans in the vault to drown. Despite all the bickering she and Beans took part in before, she genuinely seems horrified that her boss is about to kill them.]] She appears again in the Blu-Ray version's extended ending, apparently getting along fine with everyone else... apart from the fact that there's a porcupine enjoying the rapidly-deflating kiddie pool.

** The GiantEyeOfDoom that they all just casually dismiss down in the caverns. But that was meant to be more of a throwaway gag probably.
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Thoroughly subverted -- almost none of the characters, good or bad, could be called "cute" or "cuddly", with the possible exception of Abigail Breslin's aye-aye character, but the nice ones are still very likable. Though there did seem to be very few carnivores amongst the town people, most were herbivores or insectivores, while carnivores were treated as villains and brigands. So there is a bit of an edge case of this in the movie, as carnivores are seldom seen as "cute" and the only two carnivores are "cute carnivores" (cat and fox).

* WhatTheHellHero: Delivered by Rattlesnake Jake to Rango, when he calls him out on lying to the good people of the town about his exploits and making them believe in a fraud.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Rango, as a part of disguise. And hardly has a male hero kicked so much butt while wearing a ''dress''.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Ironically, Rattlesnake Jake. [[spoiler:He is deathly afraid of hawks, what with them being his natural predator. This is used against him in the climax; the moles and their bats ride in a formation that looks like a hawk. It works initially, but Jake sees through it pretty quickly.]]
* WildWestArmadillo: An armadillo wearing a sombrero is among the first characters the titular protagonist meets early on.

--->'''Rattlesnake Jake:''' "I tip my hat to you. One legend to another."
* XanatosGambit: Rango himself pulls one off in the climax: [[spoiler:even though Rattlesnake Jake eventually realizes the "hawk" is actually a flock of bats, Rango ''still'' succeeded in making him waste all his ammo.]]
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:The Mayor tries to pull this on Rattlesnake Jake]] at the end of the film. It doesn't work...

* YouWouldntShootMe: Jake pulls this on Rango the first time they face-off, knowing he doesn't have the nerve to pull the trigger. [[spoiler:When they end up in that situation again, he now sees that Rango ''does'' have the nerve and backs off.]]
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Rango looks uneasy during Spoons's prayer to the Spirit of the West, thanking him for sending a brave sheriff to town.

* NiceHat: Just about everybody has one. Par the course for a western setting.

* RiddleForTheAges: So who ''did'' kill the seven Jenkins brothers? Bad Bill’s reaction when he’s told Rango did it implies he at least knows who it was, but whether it was Bill himself, Jake or someone else is left unsaid.

* DissapointedInYou: After Jake calls Rango out for lying to the townsfolks and runs him out of town, Beans asks him: [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Who are you?]]. Even the four owls were just as dissappointed in Rango too.

* FurryConfusion: Lots and ''lots!'' The intelligent animals like Rango, the shrew girl, the townspeople, and the outlaws wear clothing, wield guns, and have their own American West-style society, while at the same time utilizing roadrunners as horses, bats as flying mounts and javelinas to pull wagons (which brings up whole new levels of confusion when a javelina-like ''blacksmith'' was briefly visible in one scene!). One also can't forget the few bits of "insect confusion" that occur between the dead cricket in Rango's enclosure, the life-size pillbugs used as golf balls, and the insect (including a spider and a scorpion -- although they're not really insects but that's beside the point since neither are pillbugs) denizens that populate the town of Dirt, including in one scene where Rango tries to emulate the walking style of a clothed beetle. See also AnimalsNotToScale above.

* FateWorseThanDeath: It's not clear what will happen to [[spoiler:the mayor when he's dragged off by Rattlesnake Jake.]] But nobody expects it to be pretty.

** [[spoiler:When the Mayor is telling Rattlesnake Jake that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness he has outlived his usefulness]], you can see Rango and Beans in the drowning tank behind him, Rango shaking a catatonic Beans and then administering the Heimlich.]]

* LiarRevealed: [[spoiler:Near the film's end, this happens to Rango.]]

* LogicalWeakness: Rattlesnake Jake's extreme fear of hawks.

* WeCanRuleTogether: With Rango ousted and the town in shambles, [[spoiler:the Mayor]] offers Beans one last chance to sell her ranch. She responds by tossing [[FoodSlap a glass of water in his face]].

-->'''Rango:''' Unless he controls the water... like a [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys monkey's]] bladder!\\

** While not as feared as Jake by the rest of characters,[[Irony Jake]] himself is terrified by the hawk. [[spoiler: In fact, the hawk was the only thing keeping him from showing up at Dirt....until Rango accidentally [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes it's demise.]]]]

** While not as feared as Jake by the rest of characters,[[Irony Jake himself]] is terrified by the hawk. [[spoiler: In fact, the hawk was the only thing keeping him from showing up at Dirt....until Rango accidentally [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes it's demise.]]]]

** One for the tie-in video game, as Beans mentions in her first scene that her father was [[AlienAbdustion kidnapped by the people of Andromeda 5]]. Come the game, it turns out [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight she was right.]]

* BadassMustache: Rattlesnake Jake may not have any hair, but the scales on the front of his face have a mustachioed pattern.

An unnamed pet chameleon with an identity crisis falls out of the back of a car and wanders the desert, eventually reaching the town of Dirt. In an effort to impress the locals, the chameleon concocts a badass backstory, adopting the name Rango along the way; this impresses everyone and gets him hired as sheriff by the mayor. But Dirt has its own problems; namely, the town is going through a drought and its water supply is disappearing, and it's up to Rango to find the cause.

An unnamed chameleon with an identity crisis falls out of the back of a car and wanders the desert, eventually reaching the town of Dirt. In an effort to impress the locals, the chameleon concocts a badass backstory, adopting the name Rango along the way; this impresses everyone and gets him hired as sheriff by the mayor. But Dirt has its own problems; namely, the town is going through a drought and its water supply is disappearing, and it's up to Rango to find the cause.

* TheSevenWesternPlots: The film is a Marshal story, where the titular character becomes the sheriff of [[UnfortunateNames Dirt]] and [[MilesGloriosus tries to uphold his image as a badass gunslinger when he's really just a former housepet in over his head]].

* NotSoDifferent: Rattlesnake Jake and Rango. Both are [[LargeHam larger-than-life]] "legends" who derive a fair bit of their influence from their fearsome reputations which they themselves have bought into, to a degree. The key difference being that unlike Rango, Jake can actually back his boasting up [[spoiler:at least until the end, when Rango gets serious. Jake even acknowledges this by tipping his hat to Rango after the final fight, one "legend" to another.]]