The Hero's Journey in Rango

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Recommended: Elements of a hero's journey

Heroes help us escape life's harsh realities and provide us with the strength to dream and to believe in ourselves. Many people find it easy to relate to heroes in myths because they share a journey similar to the one we take in real life. Linda Seger suggests in her essay “Creating the Myth” that there are many similarities between hero stories among different cultures. Seger explains, “Many of the most successful films are based on these universal stories. They deal with the basic journey we take in life. We identify with the heroes because we were once heroic or because we wish we could do what the hero does” (123). These mythical archetypes are recognized universally even in movies. They continue to capture our imaginations and inspire us because every person secretly desires to be recognized as a hero one day. The movie Rango illustrates an adventure of a sheltered pet lizard that lives as an ordinary family pet. After he gets accidently lost in the desert, he finds himself facing a major identity crisis. The movie is based on the same plots that Seger suggests when creating hero myths.

The journey introduces the hero in an ordinary mundane world, where everything seems normal. Yet, there is something different that makes the hero a special person and tells him that there should be something more. In the movie Rango, the hero is introduced as a non-hero, an ordinary pet lizard who is living a safe and fairly boring life. He is riding in the back of a car, as his family is relocating across country. However, Rango’s character reveals something special about himself as he is introduced in the opening scene: Rango is very literate in Greek mythology and Shakespeare, and he dreams of becoming a hero one day.

The fi...

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...pecial talents. After he survives and achieves the boon, the hero might return to his ordinary world with this boon or he might choose not return. Eventually, the hero achieves the boon that he uses to improve the world. Actually, heroes’ stories exhibit a wonderful reflection of different stages in our lives that teach us a powerful and a life-changing lesson. Furthermore, these stories might turn out to be a great tool that helps us on our own journeys.

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New World: Princeton Press, 1973. Print

Rango, Dir. Gore Verbinski. Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Bill Nighy, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Harry Dean Stanton. Paramount Pictures, 2011. DVD

Seger, Linda. “Creating the Myth.” Rites of passage: A Thematic Reader. Catharine Fraga and Hudie Rae. Heinle and Heinle, Australia 2002. 123-131. Print

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