Ice Age (2002)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Chris Wedge
Carlos Saldanha (co-director)

Writers:

Michael J. Wilson (story)
Michael Berg (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 March 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family

Tagline:

The Coolest Event In 16,000 Years.

Plot:

Set during the Ice Age, a sabertooth tiger, a sloth, and a wooly mammoth find a lost human infant, and they try to return him to his tribe.

Plot Keywords:

Ice Age | Baby | Ice | Sloth | Mammoth

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

Ray Romano	...	Manfred (voice)
John Leguizamo	...	Sid (voice)
Denis Leary	...	Diego (voice)
Goran Visnjic	...	Soto (voice)
Jack Black	...	Zeke (voice)
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Carl (voice)
Stephen Root	...	Rhino / Start (voice)
Diedrich Bader	...	Saber-Toothed Tiger (voice)
Alan Tudyk	...	Oscar / Dab the Dodo (voice)
Lorri Bagley	...	Female Sloth (voice)
Jane Krakowski	...	Female Sloth (voice)
Peter Ackerman	...	Dodo / Macrauchenia (voice)
P.J. Benjamin	...	Dodo (voice)
Josh Hamilton	...	Dodo / Aardvark (voice)
Chris Wedge	...	Dodo / Scrat (voice)

Also Known As:

The Ice Age (Canada: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild peril.

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:6 (canton of the Grisons) | Denmark:A | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Australia:G | USA:PG | Portugal:M/6 | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Argentina:Atp | Brazil:Livre | Canada:G | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:I | India:U | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Philippines:G | Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:U | Indonesia:SU

Company:

Blue Sky Studios

Trivia:

Originally, Sid was supposed to be a con-sloth and a hustler, and there were even two finished scenes of the character conning some aardvark kids and a very suggestive scene with two female sloths later in the movie. Sid was also supposed to have a female sloth named Sylvia chasing after him, whom he despised and kept ditching. All the removed scenes can be seen on the "Super Cool Edition" DVD.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first camp-out scene with Diego, Diego is sleeping close to the rock wall when Sid returns. There is an overhead shot, and he is only a few feet away from Manny and Sid. Later, in another shot, just before he gets up, he is back by the wall.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Freaky Mammal: Well, why don't they call it The Big Chill? Or The Nippy Era? I'm just sayin', how do we know it's an Ice Age?
Freaky Mammal: Because... of all the ice.
Freaky Mammal: Well, things just got a little chillier.

Movie Connections:

References Titanic (1997)

Soundtrack:

Send Me on My Way

cute, clever, entertaining

`Ice Age' emerges as one of the better animated films of recent years, cleverly designed and even more cleverly written. Scenarists Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson and Peter Ackerman have devised a story set 20,000 years ago about an unlikely trio of companions who find themselves making a long trek through a harsh environment in an effort, ostensibly, to return a baby human to the tribe from which he has become separated. The triumvirate is made up of a deadpan, cynical mammoth, a wisecracking, over-the-top sloth (whose mile-a-minute mouth more than makes up for his legendary slowness) and a malevolent saber-tooth tiger, who learns a thing or two about friendship and teamwork before the adventure is over.

`Ice Age' is at its most amusing in those scenes in which the characters make prescient jokes about their own place in the evolutionary scheme of things. One particularly clever scene involves the three travelers discovering what looks like an underground museum of natural history encased in ice, replete with ancient creatures caught in naturally occurring, chain-of-life exhibits. Like most animated films set in the past, `Ice Age' derives much of its humor through the use of anachronism. We chuckle to hear these creatures applying modern, scientific knowledge to the pre-scientific era in which they are living.

The animators and designers have done a beautiful job in achieving just the right look for this tale. The backgrounds have a colorful, clean, streamlined look to them, and the animals themselves, in their appearance and design, provide a witty commentary on evolutionary history. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary do superb voiceover work, each achieving just the right tone for the character he has been assigned to play. One could wish, perhaps, for a bit less sentimentality at the end, but that is a minor quibble in a film that works so well for both children and adults. The kids will revel in the cuteness of the animals and the clever action sequences, while adults will savor the sly knowingness of the evolutionary and historical in-jokes. Not bad in an era when most films can't find a way to please even ONE audience demographic.