the hero cannot exist in a vacuum
I've reviewed Rango before . Not specifically as a Western, of course. I described the film as "a little bit Road Warrior (at least in one sequence [others compare the sequence to Star Wars (and Rattlesnake Jake licking Beans' face is framed like Jabba licking Princess Leia)]), a couple parts Chinatown, and a whole lot of parts spaghetti western, though framed in the present day." In fact, aside from the chorus of mariachi owls, Rango is not a Western for a good 20 minutes. Then, it has a habit of referencing other Westerns. Merrimac (Stephen Root) for example, sounds a lot like Colonel Stonehill, the horse trader in True Grit . The windmill squeaks like the one at the beginning of Once Upon a Time in the West . The hawk has a silver beak, like Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou . Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) is modeled on Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) from The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (though his eyes actually resemble the eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings ). It ...