Depp to play household pet in new animation flick

Johnny Depp is set to reunite with 'Pirates of the Caribbean' director Gore Verbinksi in a new animated movie.

Depp will lend his voice to a household pet who goes on an adventure in 'Rango', an idea dreamed up by Verbinski.

The project is a collaboration with George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, and Verbinski is promising it will take animation to the next level.

He said: "(Cutting edge techniques) will allow us to capture and translate every aspect of Johnny's performance, using it to drive the computer-generated character in a way that has yet to be seen in an animated feature."

The movie is slated for a 2011 release.