Plot[]
A saber-toothed squirrel (known as Scrat) is trying to find a place to store his prized acorn. Eventually, as he tries to stomp it into the ground, he causes a large crack in the ground that extends for miles and miles and sets off a large avalanche. He barely escapes, but finds himself stepped on by a herd of prehistoric animals. The animals are trying to avoid the ice age by migrating south. Sid, a clumsy ground sloth left behind by his family, decides to move on by himself but is attacked by two Brontops whom he angered by ruining their meal. Sid is soon saved by Manfred ("Manny"), an agitated mammoth who fights them off and is heading north. Not wanting to be alone and unprotected, Sid follows Manny. Meanwhile, Soto, the leader of a Smilodon pack, wants revenge on a group of humans for killing half of his pack, by eating the chief's baby son, Roshan, alive. Soto leads a raid on the human camp, during which Roshan's mother is separated from the rest and jumps down a waterfall when cornered by Soto's lieutenant, Diego. For his failure, Diego is sent to find and retrieve the baby.
Later, Sid and Manny spot Roshan and his mother near the lake, having survived her plunge. The mother only has enough strength to entrust her baby to Manny before she disappears into the water. After much persuasion by Sid, they decide to return Roshan, but when they reach the human settlement, they find it deserted. They meet up with Diego, who convinces the pair to let him help by tracking the humans. The four travel on, with Diego secretly leading them to his pack for an ambush.
After encountering several misadventures on their way, they reach a cave with several cave paintings made by humans. There Sid and Diego learn about Manny's past and his previous interactions with the human hunters, in which his wife and child were killed, leaving Manny a depressed loner. Later, Manny, Sid, Diego and Roshan almost reach their destination—Half-Peak, but encounter a river of lava. Manny and Sid, along with Roshan, make it across safely, but Diego freezes, about to fall into the lava. Manny saves him, narrowly missing certain death by falling into the lava himself. The herd takes a break for the night, and Roshan takes his first walking steps towards Diego, who starts to change his mind about his mission.
The next day, the herd approaches the ambush, causing Diego—now full of respect for Manny for saving his life—to change his mind and confess to Manny and Sid about the ambush. As the pair turn hostile towards him, Diego asks for their trust, and tries to foil the attack. The herd battles Soto's pack, but despite their efforts, Soto's associates manage to corner Manny. As Soto closes in for the kill on Manny, Diego sacrifices himself by jumping in the way and is injured as a result. Manny then knocks a distracted Soto into a rock wall, causing several sharp icicles to fall onto Soto, killing him. Horrified, the rest of the pack retreat. Manny and Sid mourn for Diego's injury, which they believe is fatal, and continue their journey without him.
Soon, Manny and Sid manage to return Roshan to his tribe, and to their surprise, Diego manages to rejoin them, in time to see the baby leave. The group then begin to head off to warmer climates.
20,000 years later, Scrat, frozen in ice, ends up on the shores of a tropical island. As the ice slowly melts, the acorn is washed away. Scrat then finds a coconut and tries stomp it into the ground, only to mistakenly trigger a volcanic eruption.
Cast[]
- Main article: List of Ice Age characters
The characters are all prehistoric animals.
The animals can talk to and understand each other and are voiced by a variety of famous actors.
Like many films of prehistoric life, the rules of time periods apply very loosely, as many of the species shown in the film never actually lived in the same time periods or the same geographic regions.
- Jim Parsons as Oh, a Boov
- Dee Bradley Baker as Daffy Duck
- Billy West as Bugs Bunny
- Mike Myers as Shrek
- Ben Stiller as Alex
Production Edit[]
Writing and character development Edit[]
Writer Michael J. Wilson stated on his blog that his daughter Flora came up with the idea for an animal that was a mixture of both squirrel and rat, naming it Scrat, and that the animal was obsessed with pursuing his acorn. The plan to have Scrat talk was quickly dropped, as he worked better as a silent character for comedic effect. The name 'Scrat' is a combination of the words 'squirrel' and 'rat', as Scrat has characteristics of both species; Wedge has also called him "saber-toothed squirrel." Scrat's opening adventure was inserted because, without it, the first real snow and ice sequence wouldn't take place until about 37 minutes into the film. This was the only role intended for Scrat, but he proved to be such a popular character with test audiences that he was given more scenes. The filmmakers made it so that many of the scenes with Scrat appear directly after dramatic moments in the film.
In a 2012 interview with Jay Leno, Denis Leary's character, Diego the Sabertooth Tiger, originally died near the end of the film. However, it was reported that kids in the test audience bursted into tears when his death was shown. Leary himself warned the producers that something like this would happen. When it was proven true, the scene was re-written to ensure Diego survived.
Originally, Sid the sloth was supposed to be a con-artist and a hustler, and there was even finished scene of the character conning some aardvark kids. His character was later changed to a talkative-clumsy sloth because the team felt the audience would have hated him. There was also an alternate scene of Sid in the hottub with the ladies which shows him saying to them "Let's jump in the gene pool and see what happens." One of the female sloths then kicks him in the groin. This was cut because it was not suitable for children and may have gotten the film a PG-13 rating. Other innuendos with Sid were also cut from the film. Sid was also supposed to have a female sloth named Sylvia (voiced by Kristen Johnston) chasing after him, whom he despised and kept ditching. All the removed scenes can be seen on the DVD.
The fat saber-tooth cat named Lenny was actually described as a scimitar cat in the film's Essential Guide book.
Casting Edit[]
For mammoth Manny, the studio was initially looking at people with big voices.[1] James Earl Jones and Ving Rhames were considered, but they sounded too obvious and Wedge wanted more comedy.[2][3] Instead, the role was given to Ray Romano because they thought his voice sounded very elephant-like. Wedge described Romano's voice as "deep and his delivery is kind of slow, but he's also got a sarcastic wit behind it."[3]
When John Leguizamo was cast as Sid, he tried 30 different voices for Sid. After viewing a documentary about sloths, and learning that they store food in their mouths; this led to Leguizamo wondering what he would sound like with food in his mouth. After attempting to speak as if he had food in his mouth, he decided that it was the perfect voice for Sid.
All the actors were encouraged to improvise as much as possible to help keep the animation spontaneous.
Animation Edit[]
The production team originally thought of turning the 20th Century Fox logo into ice when it appears before the film. Even though it can be seen in one of the trailers, they cut that out and placed the regular logo in the film, but pushed up a bit so it could only be seen in the bottom portion of it.
The drawings of characters during the end credit roll were all done by the children of the animators. The same is true of the picture that Sid draws of himself on a cave wall. Sid's drawing was done by 3 year old Will Shefelman, son of a story artist Dan Shefelman. The story artist working on the scene was having difficulty drawing like a 3 year old so he consulted an expert.
Release Edit[]
Box office Edit[]
The film was released on March 15, 2002, and had a $46.3 million opening weekend, a large number not usually seen until the summer season, and way ahead of Fox's most optimistic projection of about $30 million.
Ice Age broke the record for a March opening and was the then-third-best opening ever for an animated feature—after Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 2.
Ice Age finished its domestic box office run with $176,387,405 and grossed $383,257,136 worldwide, being the 9th highest gross of 2002 in North America and the 8th best worldwide at the time.[4]
Critical reaction Edit[]
Ice Age was met with generally positive reviews from critics (making it the best reviewed film in it's later franchise). Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 77% approval rating, based on 164 reviews. The site's consensus reads: Similar site Metacritic had a score of 60% out of 31 reviews.
The film was nominated an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Spirited Away.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote
CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, cinema audiences gave Ice Age an average grade of on an A+ to F scale.
Home media Edit[]
Ice Age was released on DVD, VHS and D-Theater[5] on November 26, 2002.
Both releases included a short film Gone Nutty, featuring Scrat from the film.
The film was released on Blu-ray on March 4, 2008, and beside Gone Nutty, it included 9 minutes of deleted scenes.[6]
Awards Edit Edit[]
Academy Awards, USA 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedOscar | Best Animated Feature
Chris Wedge |
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedMovies for Grownups Award | Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up |
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedSaturn Award | Best Animated Film |
Annie Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedAnnie | Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature |
| Outstanding Character Animation
Mike Thurmeier | |
| Outstanding Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Peter DeSève | |
| Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Chris Wedge Carlos Saldanha(co-director) | |
| Outstanding Music in an Animated Feature Production
David Newman | |
| Outstanding Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Brian McEntee | |
| Outstanding Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Michael Berg Michael Wilson Peter Ackerman |
Awards Circuit Community Awards 2002Edit Edit[]
| 2nd placeACCA | Best Animated Feature Film |
BMI Film & TV Awards 2002Edit Edit[]
| WonBMI Film Music Award | David Newman |
Bogey Awards, Germany 2002Edit Edit[]
| WonBogey Award in Platin |
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedCritics Choice Award | Best Animated Feature |
DVD Exclusive Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedDVD Premiere Award | Best Overall New Extra Features, New Release
John C. Donkin Sean Anderson For the special edition. |
| Best New, Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie Scenes
Carlos Saldanha(director) John C. Donkin(producer)For Gone Nutty (2002). | |
| Original Retrospective Documentary, New Release
Sean Anderson For "The Making of Ice Age". | |
| Best Audio Commentary, New Release
Chris Wedge Carlos Saldanha For the Special Edition. |
Gold Derby Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedGold Derby Award | Animated Feature |
Golden Schmoes Awards 2002Edit Edit[]
| WonGolden Schmoes | Best Animated Movie of the Year |
International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA) 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedINOCA | Best Animated Feature
Chris Wedge |
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 2003Edit Edit[]
| WonSilver Ribbon | Best Dubbing (Migliore Doppiaggio)
Pino Insegno For The Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersFor the voices of Viggo Mortensen and Denis Leary. |
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards 2002Edit Edit[]
| WonKCFCC Award | Best Animated Film |
Kids' Choice Awards, USA 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedBlimp Award | Favorite Movie |
| Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
Denis Leary | |
| Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
Ray Romano |
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedGolden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing in Animated Features
Sean Garnhart(supervising sound editor) Steven Visscher(supervising foley editor) Paul Urmson(sound effects editor)Lewis Goldstein(sound effects editor) Craig Berkey(sound effects editor) Frank Kern(foley editor) Kam Chan(foley editor) Albert Gasser(dialogue editor) Marissa Littlefield(dialogue editor) Nicholas Renbeck(dialogue editor) Kenton Jakub(dialogue editor) |
| Best Sound Editing in Animated Features - Music
Richard A. Harrison(music editor) |
Online Film & Television Association 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedOFTA Film Award | Best Animated Picture
Lori Forte |
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedOFCS Award | Best Animated Feature |
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedPFCS Award | Best Animated Film |
Satellite Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedGolden Satellite Award | Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media |
| Best Youth DVD |
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards 2002Edit Edit[]
| NominatedWAFCA Award | Best Animated Film |
Young Artist Awards 2003Edit Edit[]
| NominatedYoung Artist Award | Best Family Feature Film - Animation |
SequelsEdit Edit[]
- The first sequel, Ice Age: The Meltdown was released March 31st 2006. The film focuses on the gang racing to escape an impending flood.
- The second sequel, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was released July 1st 2009. The film focuses on the gang discovering dinosaurs underground.
- The third sequel, Ice Age: Continental Drift was released July 13th 2012, ten years after the original. The film focuses on the gang surviving the continental drift on Earth.
- A fourth sequel, Ice Age: Collision Course was released July 22nd 2016. The plot focuses on the gang facing some cosmic adventures.
Other media Edit[]
- Main article: Jungle Age: The Video Game
A video game based on the film was released on the GBA.
Cartoon Network Website PromotionEdit Edit[]
Cartoon Network promoted Ice Age with commercials for the Frozen Fantasy Sweepstakes in 2002, and the Ice Age video game for the GBA was the prize. The sweepstakes was at CartoonNetwork.com, but expired on March 18, 2002.
Trivia Edit[]
- Chris Wedge regretted not putting Bunny as an Easter egg in the film.
- Ice Age is the first Blue Sky Studios film to use human characters after Titan A.E. (2000)
- it's also the only Ice Age movie to have humans.
- Most of the characters in the sequels were intended to be in this film but were scrapped and used later.
- After the failure of Titan A.E. (a film made by 20th Century Fox) this film became a huge success.
- Sid was originally going to be a sneaky contain like sloth who'd rip off other animals, but instead was made into what he is today.
- John Leguizamo, who voiced Sid, previously voiced Gune.
- This Is The Second 20th Century Fox film to be composed by David Newman, The First Was Anastasia.
- This is Blue Sky Studios' first film not to be scored by John Powell, as the film was scored by David Newman, followed by Epic.
- When The Film Aired On Nick And NickAtNite The On My Way Song (From the Travel Clip) Was Shortened.
- This might be possibly because travel montages are boring.
- Another possible reason is the film was too make the time for a 90 minute movie.
- This was the first film to use Blue Sky Studios shield logo.
- This is first Blue Sky Studios film to be rated PG by the MPAA.
- This was The First Blue Sky Studios film to use "Twentieth Century Fox Animation presents" credit since Titan A.E. (2000).
- This is the only film in the Ice Age series to receive positive reviews.
Gallery Edit[]
Theatrical release poster