Ice Age (franchise)

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.

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 wall that is barely holding a massive body of water that could flood the valley to nearly a mile underwater. 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 fearing 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 begin to 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.

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 an 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.

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 for the worst 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 feisty first mate, Shira, and Manny struggles to accept his daughter may be growing up.

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.

While promoting The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, the Disney+ PR page revealed that another Ice Age film is in development. Ray DeLaurentis is penning the script.[3] It is currently unknown if the film will be the sixth Ice Age film or a spin-off film from the film series like The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.

On the possibility of a potential sixth film in the franchise, in June 2016, Galen T. Chu, co-director of the film, stated that there were some ideas for the next installment.[4] In August 2018, CEO of 20th Century Fox Stacey Snider announced that a television series based on Ice Age and centered around the character Buck is in development.[5][6] In October 2019, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the project was confirmed to be still in development for Disney+.[6] In December 2020, the project was confirmed to have been redeveloped as a film and to be titled Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, centering around Buck going on an adventure in the Dinosaur World with Crash and Eddie.[7]

The film released on January 28, 2022 and features Simon Pegg reprising his role as the title character. All of the other main characters are voiced by different actors.[8] Batu Sener composed the film's score. Unlike the previous Ice Age films released by 20th Century Fox and produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky, the film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, with the animation being outsourced to Bardel Entertainment.[9][10] Manny, Ellie, Sid, and Diego appear in the film as supporting characters. Characters including Scrat, Peaches, Julian, Shira, and Brooke are absent.

Gone Nutty is a 2002 animated short film directed by Carlos Saldanha. It originally released on the Ice Age DVD.[11] The short features Scrat, who is yet again having troubles with collecting his beloved acorns. The film was nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.[12]

No Time for Nuts is a 2006 animated short film directed by Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released on the Ice Age: The Meltdown DVD.[13] The short follows Scrat on a chase after his nut, which has been accidentally sent back in time by a frozen time machine. No Time for Nuts was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.[14]

Surviving Sid is a 2008 animated short film directed by Galen Tan Chu and Karen Disher. It was originally released on the Horton Hears a Who! DVD and Blu-ray.[15] Unlike the first two Ice Age short films, Surviving Sid focuses on Sid, who incompetently "leads" a small group of camping children.

A re-purposed version of opening minutes of Dawn of the Dinosaurs used as a commercial for digital 3D release of the film.

Scrat's Continental Crack-Up is the first of a 2012 two-part animated short film directed by Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released in theaters alongside Gulliver's Travels and Rio.

Scrat's Continental Crack-Up: Part 2 is the second of a 2012 two-part animated short film directed by Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released in theaters alongside Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.

Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe is a 2015 animated short film directed by Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released in theaters alongside The Peanuts Movie. The short once again follows Scrat, who discovers a flying saucer frozen in a block of ice and accidentally powers it on and ends up creating the Solar System through a series of mishaps.

Scrat: Spaced Out is a 2016 animated short film directed by Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released on the Ice Age: Collision Course DVD and Blu-ray. The short once again follows Scrat, trying to get back to Earth after the events in Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe.

In April 2022, some group of animators including Wedge from Blue Sky released a 35 second long short film in which Scrat finally got his acorn as a goodbye to the franchise from Blue Sky Studios.[16]

In the middle of decorating for the holiday season, Sid accidentally destroys Manny's favourite decorations. Sid, convinced by Manny that he is now on Santa's naughty list, takes off with Crash, Eddie and Peaches for the North Pole to get back on the Santa's good side. When on the North Pole, Sid and his crew accidentally destroy Santa's Workshop. When Manny, Ellie and Diego, worried over Peaches's safety, arrive at the North Pole, they must come together and save Christmas.[17]

The special centers on a harried prehistoric bird mom who entrusts her precious, soon-to-hatch egg to Sid. When she recommends him to her neighbors—a condor mother, Cholly Bear and Gladys Glypto—business booms at his new egg-sitting service.

Dastardly pirate bunny Squint, who is seeking revenge on the herd, steals, camouflages and hides all the eggs. Once again, with Squint's twin brother, Clint, assisting, Manny, Diego and the rest of the gang come to the rescue and take off on a daring mission that turns into the world's first Easter egg hunt.

All five films, produced on a total budget of $429 million, have grossed over $3.2 billion worldwide, making Ice Age the 18th highest-grossing franchise of all time, and the third highest-grossing animated franchise worldwide behind Despicable Me and Shrek.[23] The first four films were the highest-grossing animated films in each year they were released, and among the eight highest-grossing films in their respective release years.[24][25][26][27] The fifth film was considered a commercial disappointment and is the lowest-grossing film in both the franchise and Blue Sky's filmography, when adjusted for inflation.[28][29]

While the first film received generally positive reviews, the series has received some criticism for making no attempt to be scientifically accurate[37][38][39] and has experienced a steadily declining critical reception with each succeeding film.