With Pixar studios holding a monopoly on great animated movies, it was beginning to seem that no other animation studio would be able to compete. Fortunately, Gore Verbinski’s 3-D animation venture “Rango” proved that wrong.

The film stars a lonely lizard played by Johnny Depp who dreams of being the center of attention in an epic adventure. Destiny slips him the card he has been waiting for; Rango is hurdled out of his owner’s car in the Mohave Desert and discovers a town of other creatures barely getting through life.

Taking this opportunity to reinvent himself, the lizard chooses the name Rango and sets himself up as a dangerous man from the far West. Of course, things begin going awry when he is given the job of sheriff and has to face the town’s problems concerning water resources and outlaws.

What’s so great about this film is that it’s not just a spectacular animated film but an incredible Western tale as well. The town of Dirt is occupied by all manner of archetypes from Western films, with some outstanding character design that makes every appearance a joy.

Verbinski definitely earns some cool points for sticking to his guns and not converting this film to 3-D in post-production. Such a change would have been distracting and would have taken away from the canvas-like beauty of the films visuals. “Rango” has to be one of the most, if not the most, beautifully animated film I’ve ever seen.

Besides the aforementioned Depp, the film is peppered with terrific voice acting featuring Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Timothy Oliphant and Alfred Molina. And while their added names might make the posters of the movie look more appealing, in all honesty, they’re not phoning in their performances nor being exploited for their celebrity status. Each and every actor gives 100 percent in terms of bringing their character to life; each infuses their respective character with a sense of weight that many films, including live action, tend to forget when developing characters in a story.

Hans Zimmer scores the film and knocks it right out of the park. Adding a slew of reverberating guitar twangs and sorrowful trumpet solos, the film’s score heartily solidifies itself as a Western by being able to stack up against the best Ennio Marcone could conjure up.

The strange thing about this movie is that while it is a family film, the humor in it can be adult. Innuendos and sly remarks spring up frequently making “Rango” a movie that can be enjoyed by adults on a different level while not ruining the adventure that’s appropriate for the entire family.

Breaking away from the recent tradition of animated films, Verbinski allows “Rango” to breathe by not being a hyperbolic action-adventure story; he gives the characters moments of quiet and dialogue to further develop themselves. This film isn’t afraid to take risks in terms of content, especially when it’s established very early on in the film that death can snatch away any characters on-screen at any time.

Perhaps even more surprising than the adult content is the fact that this film, unlike any animated film in the past few decades, embraces the bizarre. Moments of hallucinations populate the world and make the film feel like a spiritual journey that rides alongside one of an epic Western.

I cannot recommend this film enough. “Rango” is beautiful, smart and an instant animated classic.