History WesternAnimation / Rango

* 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.]]

* StuffBlowingUp: While not ''actually'' exploding, [[spoiler: the destruction visited upon Dirt by unstopping the valves and letting a flood of backed-up water inundate the town]] invokes the image, with it bursting out of every weak patch of ground or construction it can get to.

* MagicRealism: It's all over the place, from a giant eye underground to [[spoiler:walking cacti.]]

* DreamLand: When Rango crosses the highway after Rattlesnake Jake banishes him from Dirt, he seems to have stepped from the real West into the mythical [[TheWildWest West]] -- which accounts for the encounters with spirits and walking cacti.

* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: The opening of the movie shows Rango in a terrarium that is grossly unfit for a chameleon for several reasons.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

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 town mayor Tortoise John. But Dirt has its own problems; the town is going through a drought and its water supply is disappearing, and it's up to Rango in his newly-appointed position as the law in Dirt to find the cause.

-->'''Priscilla:''' Ya got any [[GoldTooth gold fillin's]]?

** Chameleons are notoriously hard to care for due to the fact that they don’t handle captivity well at all, and can actually die from stress because of this, so a few toys and a small puddle of water are not sufficient enough accommodations for them to adapt well to captivity.

** The lady frog in the bar has GagBoobs.

* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: After beating the BigBad, he shoves him towards TheDragon upon whom the BigBad just tried to pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness.

--'''Rattlesnake Jake:''' What was that you said? Pretty soon, no one will even believe you ever existed.

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

* AffectionateParody: Of the SpaghettiWestern. Basically, ''Rango'' is to Spaghetti Westerns as ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' is to the MartialArtsMovie.

* AnalogyBackfire: "Why, we'd turn on each other like a bunch of animals!" Rango is, of course, an anthropomorphic animal speaking to an entire town of anthropomorphic 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.]]

* BerserkButton: Don't you dare say anything bad about Beans's [[DisappearedDad father]]. Heck, just don't say anything about him ''at all''. Even if it's perfectly respectful, she'll take it the wrong way.

** [[spoiler:Heck, even the little play Rango does at the beginning of the movie turns out to be a plot point during the canyon scene.]]
** 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 is that thing?)

* TheDitz: The little boy that handles Rango's revolver in the clothing store, pointing it at his own mother and himself like it's a toy and even staring into the barrel.

* EnnioMorriconePastiche: Of course Music/HansZimmer's soundtrack consists mostly of this! After all, the movie itself consists partially of one too.

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

* LawOfConservationOfDetail: Pay attention to literally ''everything''. Almost every plot element will come up again somewhere. See ChekhovsArmoury for more details.

** "What we need is an unexpected, ironic event that will propel the hero into conflict!"

* EtTuBrute: When the townspeople finally reach their breaking point and start charging the jail with torch and pitchforks to speed up the impending hanging of Baltazar and his two sons, Rango steps out to try and calm everybody down.

* 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.]] He's pretty handy [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with a firearm, so it's probably best not to get on his bad side.]]

* 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.

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

* WholesomeCrossdresser: Rango, as a part of his disguise in the mole family plan. Hardly has a male hero kicked so much butt while wearing andress.

* RecurringExtra: Even the townspeople who don’t speak or interact with Rango, like the javelina blacksmith, tend to recur in several scenes throughout the film.