15 years later, the director of Rango looks back: ‘We didn’t know how to make an animated movie’

Rango tells the story of a pet chameleon who gets stranded in the desert. He soon finds a small town called “Dirt,” which looks like something out of the old west. To fit in, Rango pretends to be an accomplished gunslinger. When he half-accidentally kills a hawk that’s terrorizing the townsfolk, he’s suddenly anointed as sheriff. But when Dirt’s entire water supply is stolen, Rango has to step up and find out who is responsible. (Yes, it’s a blatant Chinatown knockoff, a reference Verbinski happily admits to.)