Gore Verbinski has directed a large collection of films with varying genres, including the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. For his most recent upcoming film, “Rango,” Verbinski is taking on what he has determined his favorite genre — Western — and a new endeavor: animation.

“Rango” stars a chameleon who dreams of being a hero. He finds himself in a Western town full of bandits and strives to protect it. “Rango” will hit theaters on March 4.

Voicing the part of the main amphibian, Rango, is Johnny Depp, who has starred in several of Verbinski’s films in the past.

Verbinski said Rango’s origins began with an idea sparked from the creatures of the desert and the Western style. The characters were designed to be slightly absurd, and it took discussions with Depp to determine who Rango really was.

“I feel like quite often (Depp will) refer to himself as there’s a little bit of Jack Sparrow, a little bit of Ed Wood, a little bit of Scissorhands in there and my response would be, ‘Well, there’s not much room for Johnny Depp,'” Verbinski said. “You could just see him kind of flinch for a second and like that’s Rango, you know.  With all those characters in there, who is Rango?”

Verbinski said character development is not just about the plot. After stumbling across developing an identity crisis for Rango, it seemed like everything would be “borne out of the Great Pretender.”

Verbinski said that since the two are similar in age with similar musical influences, he was able to develop a language to force the strongest work out of Depp.

“Certainly with Johnny doing so much work together we developed a shorthand — I mean, a lot of times I’ll speak in almost in sound effects and nonsensical words,” he said. “You know, go up between takes, go up and underline one line dialogue and say, ‘more fuzz here,’ ‘more spank on this one.'”

The director also added that a strong trust has developed between himself and the Oscar-winning actor. Verbinski said Depp committed to the part even without reading the script and became excited after seeing how the story would feel.

“I said (to Depp), ‘I’m going to smoke on this animated movie about a lizard with an identity crisis,’ and he just went, ‘fantastic, let’s do that,'” Verbinski said. “He was just in based on trust and knowing that I’m going to try my hardest not to let him down.”

From the very first sketch of Rango, Verbinski was sure the character would be voiced by Depp. The other characters were based on the build of the characters and to assemble the pieces so that no two characters were the same.

“You don’t want two flavors doing the same thing,” he said.  “You know, you want – you want everybody owning their own piece of the pie.”

Being his first animated film, Verbinski admitted it was a task to think in terms of creating everything without an immediate product. He said he has a lot of newly found respect for animation directors and their ability to work from scratch.

“It’s a lot harder than I ever imagined,” he said. “There are no gifts.  Everything is manufactured and created.”

Verbinski added that he will be listening to the sound more. Since Rango will only have a soundtrack added to the animation, he said there is a lot more meticulous editing to scripted lines to create a cadence.

“To see this team of 40 animators really kind of bond together and everybody kind of collaborating and talking about each other’s shots and really knowing what’s going on underneath the skin of the character at any moment in the film, I could ask them questions (and) they can describe and define the emotional state of the character prior to having mechanical discussions,” Verbinski said.

Although stepping out on a limb to work with animation, Verbinski said he enjoys producing Western films after having watched films such as “Duck, You Sucker” and “Once Upon a Time in the West” as a child.

“I saw them probably at an age-inappropriate period and felt like I was, you know, sneaking into a forbidden world,” he said. “And so, I’m a fan of Western but really the most modern Western, The sort of, ‘the myths are dying and it’s the end of an era,’ ‘progress is inevitable for us,’ ‘the railroad’s coming.’ Those sort of things are — have always been — present in my DNA.”

Verbinski has stressed that “Rango” is not only for children. Although he admits animation is considered a genre for “kids and moms,” he worked to break the stereotype and add elements that would appeal to adults as well.

“Why does animation have to be linked with Happy Meals, you know? It’s just a technique to tell a story,” Verbinski said.

He said although “Pirates” was a family film, he does not set out to make a movie for a specific audience, but rather a movie he himself would like to see.

“The stuff that’s not for kids, they wont recognize and  the adults will have some fun enjoying the film,” he said. “There’s plenty of slapstick humor and they seem to really stick with this movie and then particularly in the sections where it becomes more emotional, you really see (children) kind of stop squirming and sort of transfixed by the film.”

Verbinski added that genres were spliced together in “Rango,” “Pirates” and other films he has worked on since single genre films are produced so often. For Rango, the Western and identity quest were spliced because he wanted to portray aspects of both genres.

Verbinski emphasizes his fondness for the Western genre and the minimalistic sense it conveys. He said there is a sense of people longing for a simpler time and the end of a gunslinger era that appeals to him.

The director said the Western landscapr is a great way to get back to primal instincts.

“We’re sort of on this train that is moving, biut forgotten what the destination is supposed to be,” he said. “Things like growth and progress and a better future sort of started happening at that time.”

Verbinski’s experiences with animation has left him eager to return to live action. He said he was lucky to jump into something he was not sure he could do to keep him away from mediocrity. He said he strives to attempt things he isn’t sure he can accomplish and tries to hire talented people who have not had the experience either.

“If every now and then you’ll bump into a crew member, you’re like, ‘Wow, we got to get rid of this guy.  He’s just  punching the clock, showing up doing his job leaving.’ That’s kind of tragic because I think there are either easier ways to make a living,” he said. ” You better love it.  And you better be willing to crawl through broken glass to tell your story.”