MovieChat Forums > Rango (2011) Discussion > Rango and its references, riffs, nods, t...

Rango and its references, riffs, nods, tributes

posted 13 years ago by parrastaka
38 replies | jump to latest

So my friends and I tried to sum up all the references and tributes in this movie... we somehow came to write down this list. In case anyone is interested:

Main references/tributes:

Chinatown (main plot and characters)
Cat Ballou (characters: Hawk, and owl band that also has influences of There's something about Mary)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (characters: Rattlesnake, The Bad, The Man with No Name, The Lizard with No Name, when there is a cursing 'beeped'; by the hawk scream, the finale)
A Fistful of Dollars (main plot), itself inspired by Yojimbo
High Noon
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Destry Rides Again
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (car windscreen cameo)
Once Upon a Time in the West (entering the saloon and street, windmill)
The Shakiest Gun in the West (main character: Rango)
JFK (the single bullet theory, ending speech in the extended cut)
plus probably even more music and details from other great Western movies...

Other/nods have been pointed out later in this thread:

Jurassic Park
The Three Amigos
It’s a Wonderful Life
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Time Machine
The Wild Bunch
Apocalypse Now
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Spider-Man 2
Road Warrior
The Lord of the Rings
Alice in Wonderland
Goldfinger
Alien
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Pirates of the Caribbean At Worlds End/The Matrix Revolutions
True Grit
Blazing Saddles
Raising Arizona
Rio Bravo
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Big Lebowski
Maverick
The Brave Little Tailor
Holes
Zelig
Analyze This

Also:

The big eye scene in the aquifer, is a tribute to Miyazaki
'KISS' can be read (rock band, appears in the fire Rango uses in the firecamp)
The Kingdom (music by Danny Elfman)
Pulp Fiction (credits music)
We don't want to forget the Armadillo, Roadkill, that seems to have just gone out of an animal adaptation of Don Quixote.

Maybe it's too much? maybe we are forgetting some important ones?

I loved the movie, one of my friends too, another one thought it was just ok. I'm sure he will rewatch and love it! haha

Cheers,

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] parrastaka 13 years ago

lol thanks for the reply. I guess they are too many, but most of them were nodded in the movie! At least we thought so!

I even forgot to mention Jurassic Park.

I thought there could be a nod, when Rango hides in the toilet, and the Hawk goes get him...

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/film-oh-crap_8040.png

http://www.infamouskidd.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/jurassic-park-toilet.jpg

Maybe this one is too far... don't know.

Anyhow it was amazing to see some of the nods that I have no doubt, were there with all the intention.

Thumbs up for Rango!!

[–] parrastaka 13 years ago

Two more...

Goldfinger (golfing scene...)
Spider-Man 2 (when the water container jumps over Rango and Beans, slowmotion, just like the car over Pete and MJ)

[–] klownboy 13 years ago

There's another Johnny Depp film reference (Don Juan DeMarco) quite early on where Rango claims to be "The greatest lover in the world".

[–] parrastaka 13 years ago

lol crazy! there are so many!

thanx

[–] fuzzytiger 13 years ago

Did anyone catch the similarities between the Mayor and J.R. Ewing from the show Dallas (2012 version) ..?

[–] Dragon000 12 years ago

Ahhh the mayor reminded me of politician George Wallace, lol.

DRAGON¸.•´¸.•*´¨SWAK¸.•*¨¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨
(¸.•´ ¸.•*¨¸.•´¸.•*´¨(¸.•´ ¸.•´

[–] cockeye991 13 years ago

I got a new one. The mayor ( voiced by Ned Beatty ) references Deliverance in his speech, Beatty's most famous role.

" I've come here to chew bubble gum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubble gum "

[–] halaney 12 years ago

My 12 year old pointed out another one - Singing in the Rain - when Rango's sitting with the mannequin - referencing "Make 'em laugh". Mary

[–] edalberto 12 years ago

the duel when the tower clock sounds also appears in "the quick and the dead"

[–] Professicchio 12 years ago

I would like to add two more reference from previous semi-obscure westerns that came immediately to my mind while watching this:

1) "Johnny Hamlet" (1968) - the hero that ponders through his life's dilemma by reciting Shakespeare was also a stand-out point in that movie.

1) "Dead Man" (1995) - this was Depp's own only previous western; when Rango, again struggling to come to term with his own existence, says: "Who am I? I'm Noboby!", that's pretty much the same line used by one of the main characters in DM.

[–] The-ManWithNoName 12 years ago

I thought the Indian was a nod to Dead Man as well.

I'm not sure if it got mentioned, but the music from Once Apon a time in the West.

[–] cathy-creswell 12 years ago

Maybe this is a stretch, but when the water tower fell over, I instantly thought of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". DiCaprio's character was always climbing water towers and Depp's Gilbert had to coax him down.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] cathy-creswell 11 years ago

Eh, maybe, but i think it's intentional with this one.The water tower climbing plays an important part in "Grape".

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vonziggy 12 years ago

Those are all pretty spot on, also American Pie, when they are at the campfire one of the characters says: "This one time...."