Rango is a pet chameleon, traveling with his owners throughout the Southwest, when a car mishap causes him to be tossed off, stranded in the heat. An armadillo named Roadkill tells him of a town out west called Dirt where water can be found. A rancher's daughter named Beans, who occasionally gets so riled up that she zones out for minutes at a time, finds him and takes him to Dirt. Rango fancies himself an authentic cowboy, and he walks into a saloon pretending to be a fancy gunslinger, taking credit for unsolved murders and impressing all the locals with his tough guy act. When he accidentally kills a nearby hawk, the mayor of the town makes Rango the new sheriff of Dirt. Once named sheriff, he inadvertently helps a group of animals steal the town's water supply, which leads to a town-wide investigation of the disappearance of the water. Rango gathers up a group of the town folk to track down the thieves, and when they finally catch up with the villains, the water jug is empty. The thieves insist when they stole the jug, they found the jug as empty as it is now, leading them to realize that someone else had pilfered the precious water. When Rango accuses the mayor of stealing the water, the mayor calls into town Rattlesnake Jake, a vicious killer with a hunger for animal flesh. When Jake reveals Rango is a fraud to the people of Dirt, Rango must find a way to summon up bravery, take out the rattlesnake, and save the town.
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Best part of story, including ending:
Rango is hilarious, action-packed, and gorgeously animated. For fans of the Western genre, there is plenty of parody, but also plenty of legit beautifully-drawn character work.
Best scene in story:
Rango attacks the thieves, and a huge aerial battle riding bats takes place. This is as inventive an action sequence as I've seen in any film, animated or not.
Opinion about the main character:
Rango is a dreamer who gets in way over his head, but he still has the courage to stand up and do what is right. On top of that, he is incredibly well-animated.