Big Picture Big Sound

Paramount Home Entertainment has announced that their recent hit animated movie Rango will be released in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack with Digital Copy on Friday, July 15, 2011. Johnny Depp voices the title character, a chameleon living as an ordinary family pet but dreaming of life as a fearless hero, and in short order he is challenged to become just that when he inadvertently becomes the sheriff of a lawless desert town called Dirt.

The PG-rated adventure/comedy is directed by Gore Verbinski, who also helmed (and continues to helm) the ongoing, Depp-starring Pirates of the Caribbean series. The impressive cast also includes the vocal talents of Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton, Ray Winstone and Timothy Olyphant. I haven't seen the movie (our Joe Lozito has, read his review here) but I'm looking forward to it.

If nothing else, this first animated film to harness the technical wizardry of George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) should look phenomenal on Blu-ray. Rango will be presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio--plus assorted Dolby Digital options--in addition to copious international subtitles. And Paramount is also lining up quite an array of bonus features for this two-disc set.

The Blu-ray contents break down as follows:

• Both Theatrical and Extended Versions of the feature film
• Audio Commentary by director/co-writer/producer Gore Verbinski, head of story James Ward Byrkit, production designer Mark "Crash" McCreery, animation director Hal Hickel and visual effects supervisor Tim Alexander (on Extended Version only)
• Storyboard Reel Picture-In-Picture Mode (Bonus View): Enhance your movie-viewing experience by watching the entire feature with picture-in-picture images of the artists' production storyboards (on Theatrical Version only)
• "Breaking The Rules: Making Animation History": Discover how Gore Verbinski and Industrial Light & Magic prepared for their first animated movie by following every step the filmmakers made to create this new kind of animated film:
  • "The Stage Is Set" (Part 1)
  • "Now We Ride" (Part 2)
• "Real Creatures of Dirt": In this fun and educational segment, animal experts talk about the real creatures that inspired the characters of Rango, and the filmmakers explain why they chose specific animals to reflect certain personalities
• "A Field Trip to Dirt": This user-guided, interactive tour combines the technology and footage from ILM's special camera, allowing viewers to control their own exploration of the ton of Dirt. They can select the streets they want to explore and the characters they'd like to interact with, discovering trivia and other bonus footage along the way.
• Deleted Scenes: Including a never-before-seen alternate ending

Disc Two, a hybrid DVD, contains:

• The Theatrical Version of the film in standard definition
• A Digital Copy for computers and portable media players

The Rango Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack will carry a suggested retail price of $44.99, although Amazon has it listed at their usual substantial discount as a pre-order.

Where to Buy:

• Rango Blu-ray Combo Pack on Amazon.com