Thursday, February 3, 2011

Listen: The Los Lobos Theme Song To 'Rango,' Starring Johnny Depp

Re-teaming director Gore Verbinski with Johnny Depp in the wild world of animation has most of us incredibly curious about Rango, which opens March 4. The film is about a chameleon who fancies himself a hero in a wild-west town that is not hero friendly. To give the film an authentic southwestern feel, Verbinski, along with composer Hans Zimmer, searched high and low for just the right sound. Enter Los Lobos, the Grammy-award winning band best known for their smash hit cover of 'La Bamba,' recorded for the movie of the same name. They came in and recorded a ton of music for the film including the theme song called Rango. Hear that and read more about the collaboration after the break.

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times for the info, with a heads up from Geek Tyrant.

Here's the song. Feel free to listen while you read the rest of the article.

Los Lobos – Rango Theme Song by antirecords

Zimmer had been trying to come up with some music himself but when he couldn't nail it, it was his idea to bring in Los Lobos. "They could do it on their own, but it sounded funny," Los Lobos front man David Hidalgo told the LA Times. "It didn't sound authentic. So they needed some Mexicans in there. That doesn't sound kosher and it doesn't sound right to say it that way, but in a way it is. You need someone who knows this music, someone to play it properly and get the real effect. That's why they called us in."

According to Hidalgo, he was directed to make the song "more ethnic sounding" in order to really grasp the feeling of the character. "They would say, 'Can you make it more ethnic sounding?' They didn't want to say, 'Sing it like a Mexican.' I told them not to worry, it will come out that way," he said.

"It was all in good fun," Hidalgo continued in his interview with the Times "We were all laughing during this. I'd say, 'You want me to sing it like Cheech?' It wasn't a racist thing, though. I understood. This is for kids. We had to mug it up. You want to mug it up a little so the kids don't get bored."

There much more in the LA Times interview, which you can read by clicking here.

In addition to the theme song, Los Lobos recorded a bunch of different music for the movie but they don't know how much will be used. If it sounds like this theme song, though, this movie is gonna be pretty awesome.

Do you like the song? Are you excited for the film?

  • Watch How Johnny Depp Performed 'Rango' – Could This Be The Future of How Animated Movies Are Made?
  • 'Rango' Trailer
  • Rango Movie Trailer
  • First Look: Rango, the Star of Gore Verbinski's Animated Film
  • Teaser Trailer: Gore Verbinski's Rango
  • Johnny Depp To Star in Gore Verbinski's ILM CG Animated Film Rango

read more ..