Large guns thrilled 'Rango' for achievement

'Rango'It began like a cool pitch from Gore Verbinski, The Actor-brad Pitt and Graham King: to create Paramount's first homegrown animated feature. It ended up an Oscar champion. "Rango" won best animated feature Sunday evening in the Oscars, despite the fact that it didn't have Pixar juggernaut that to compete, its outdoors-the-box tone and pedigree weren't a stretch for any category that's seen a large spectrum of unusual honors since its beginning in 2001 -- including past those who win "Spirited Away," "Happy Ft," and "Shrek." "This really is crazy!" Verbinski announced. "It had been produced by a lot of adults acting like children." The pic came plus a number of disparate elements: King, a producer most widely known for gritty crime dramas like "The CityInch and "The Departed" Verbinski, a director who had not helmed an animated feature before and Vital, a studio which had spent ten years basically disbursing animated fare, departing production to DreamWorks Animation. "Rango" can also be the very first animated feature produced by George Lucas' special-effects company Industrial Light & Miracle. Verbinski billed with an extensive thank-you list, including Vital -- "nobody let's make a move different." He came to the conclusion by saying, "It does not have any much better than this." "Rango" capped "The Cat in Paris," "Chico & Rita," "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Puss in Boots." Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com