Using live action footage as a reference for animators has been around since the time of Snow White. However it seems with Rango, director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of thre Caribbean) went a little further, getting the likes of Johnny Depp and Bill Nighty onto a soundstage and then filming much of the movie on simple sets, so the animators really had something to work with once they started building the CG, animal-filled world. The newly released featurette, Natural Acting Abilities, which you can see below, shows you just how much of Depp was incorporated into his chameleonic character in the movie. And if nothing else, it certainly looks like they had fun. Rango is a pet chameleon having an indenity crisis, who heads off on an adventure into the desert. He wants to be a swashbuckling hero, and is forced to become that – despite his lack of experience – when he enters a Western town plagued by bandits. The film will be in cinemas next spring.