Ice Age is an American media franchise created by Michael J. Wilson, co-developed and based on an idea by Lori Forte. The franchise, centering on a group of mammals surviving the Pleistocene ice age, consists of computer-animated films, short films, TV specials and a series of video games. The first five films were produced by Blue Sky Studios, a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Animation (now 20th Century Animation), and distributed by its then-parent company 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios). The series features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Chris Wedge across all films, with Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Wanda Sykes, Keke Palmer, and Jennifer Lopez joining the main cast in subsequent films. The films center mainly on the adventures of "the Herd," which since the first film consists of at least woolly mammoth Manny (Romano), ground sloth Sid (Leguizamo), and Smilodon Diego (Leary). The franchise also features mostly independent plotlines involving a dialogue-free saber-toothed squirrel named Scrat (Wedge), who ends up in misadventures from trying to retrieve and bury his acorns, the latter act creates a chain of events that sets up the various adventures of the protagonists. Five theatrical films have been released in the series: Ice Age in 2002, Ice Age: The Meltdown in 2006, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 2009, Ice Age: Continental Drift in 2012, and Ice Age: Collision Course in 2016. As of April 2016, the franchise had generated $6 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The franchise's films have received mixed-to-negative critical reviews with exception of the first film. A standalone spin-off film, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Animation without the involvement of Blue Sky and released exclusively on Disney+ in January 2022, with Simon Pegg being the only returning cast member. A sixth film, Ice Age: Boiling Point, is in production under 20th Century Animation without Blue Sky's involvement for release on February 5, 2027, with most of the main cast reprising their roles from previous installments.
Films
Main series
Ice Age (2002)
Sid, a goofy but good-natured sloth, is left behind by his family and the herds of mammals journeying to the south. He meets Manny, a cynical and loner woolly mammoth who is travelling to the north, and decides to follow him, much to Manny's disdain. Along the way, the pair come across a woman who has jumped down the nearby waterfall in a desperate bid to protect her child after their camp was attacked by saber-toothed tigers. She silently pushes the infant towards Manny and Sid before disappearing into the water. The two animals decide to search for the father and return the baby to him. The villainous Soto, leader of the sabers, instructs his second in command, Diego, to bring the baby to him so he can exact his revenge on the child's father, who frequently kills sabers with his tribe for their furs and meat. Diego comes across Manny and Sid and, since they refuse to just give him the child, he pretends to lead them towards the baby's tribe, when really Soto and the rest of the pack wait in an icy mountain range to ambush them, intending on killing Manny and stealing the child. During their journey, the trio bond over the infant and Diego must ultimately decide where his loyalties lie.
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Manny, Sid, and Diego are currently living in a large valley surrounded by an enormously high ice wall on all sides. The trio discovers that the ice wall is actually a dam that is barely holding a massive body of water that could flood the valley. A vulture tells them that there is a boat at the other end of the valley that may save them all, but they only have three days to reach it or die. Manny is also having trouble dealing with the fact that he may be the last mammoth left. Along the way, they meet Ellie, a bubbly female mammoth who thinks she is a possum, and her possum brothers Crash and Eddie. As they travel together, Manny learns, with help from Diego and Sid, that he must move on from his past and open his heart to change. During their journey, Scrat, a sabre-toothed squirrel, has his own adventure.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Manny and Ellie are happily married and expecting their first child. Scrat falls in love with fellow squirrel Scratte. Diego is anxious about how things will change after Manny becomes a father and considers leaving the Herd. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and steals some dinosaur eggs but after the dino mother comes back for her stolen eggs and takes the talkative sloth home with her, the herd must travel to a colourful underground world to rescue him. During the adventure, Manny and the gang meet Buck, an insane one-eyed weasel who aids them on their quest while hunting down Rudy, a dinosaur to whom Buck lost an eye many years before.
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
Taking place sixteen years after the events of the third film, Manny's overprotective nature causes a rift between him and his teenage daughter, Peaches. Scrat's pursuit of acorns has world-changing consequences, separating Manny, Sid, Diego and Sid's cantankerous Granny from the rest of their group. Things take a dangerous turn when the gang come into conflict with a rag-tag pirate crew led by the sadistic Captain Gutt. As the friends embark on an epic adventure in their desperate bid to return home, Diego grapples with his conflicting feelings for Gutt's first mate, Shira, and Manny struggles to accept that his daughter may be growing up.
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Five years after the events of the fourth film, Manny and Ellie are planning the upcoming wedding between their daughter, Peaches and the clumsy but sweet Julian. Manny is reluctant to let his daughter marry Julian as he thinks he is a bit of a goof but Peaches urges her father to get to know him. Scrat's pursuit of his elusive acorn catapults him outside of Earth aboard a UFO, where he accidentally sets off a series of intergalactic events that transform and threaten the planet. To save themselves from peril, Manny, Sid, Diego, and the rest of the gang leave their home and reunite with the adventurous Buck, who leads them on a crazy cosmic journey to find a way to save the planet.
Ice Age: Boiling Point (2027)
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
