Ice Age (2002)

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.

Directors:

Chris Wedge, Carlos Saldanha

Writers:

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

Stars:

Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Ray Romano

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Frank / Start (voice)
Diedrich Bader	...	Saber-Toothed Tiger (voice)
Alan Tudyk	...	Lenny / Oscar / Dab (voice)
Lorri Bagley	...	Jennifer (voice)
Jane Krakowski	...	Rachel (voice)
Peter Ackerman	...	Dodo / Macrauchenia (voice)
P.J. Benjamin	...	Dodo (voice)
Josh Hamilton	...	Dodo / Aardvark (voice)
Chris Wedge	...	Dodo / Scrat (voice)

Storyline

Back when the Earth was being overrun by glaciers, and animals were scurrying to save themselves from the upcoming Ice Age, a sloth named Sid, a woolly mammoth named Manny, and a saber-toothed tiger named Diego are forced to become unlikely heroes. The three reluctantly come together when they have to return a human child to its father while braving the deadly elements of the impending Ice Age.

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Plot Keywords:

Baby | Ice Age | Ice | Sloth | Sabertooth Tiger | 

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Taglines:

The Coolest Event In 16,000 Years.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild peril

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] Twentieth Century Fox [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Croatian

Release Date:

15 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

La era de hielo

Box Office

Budget:

$59,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$357,575 (Japan) (9 August 2002)

Gross:

$4,158,805 (Japan) (30 August 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first movie produced by Fox Animation since Titan A.E..

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Goofs

At the start of the cave drawings scene, the baby babbles, but his mouth doesn't move.

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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...
[shouts]
Freaky Mammal: the *ice*!
Freaky Mammal: Well, things just got a little chillier.

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Crazy Credits

At one point in the credits it says "Ice Age Babies" and lists all the babies born to the crew during the course of production. This feature is copied from Pixar's animated films, which always list the "Production Babies" during their credits.

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Connections

Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #27.11 (2002)
reviewed + footage used

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Soundtracks

"Sound Off (Duckworth Chant)"
Written by Willie Lee Duckworth (as Willie Duckworth) and Bernard Lentz

User Reviews

A time in history when animals could talk, but humans couldn't yet!

In what amounts to a throw-back to the early, manually-animated cartoons, "Ice Age" chooses a very simple story around which is wrapped clever and exciting animation. Highly intelligent sabre-tooth tigers want to get revenge for the killing of one of their pack, so plot to steal the baby son of the human tribe leader. A goofy sloth (Lugiezamo) and a kind wooly mammoth (Ray Romano) rescue the child and attempt to find his parents, joined by a sly tiger (Denis Leary) who at first is planning to lead all of them into a corner so his tiger friends can help get the child back and eat the mammoth. But a series of events, and the tiger's being saved by the mammoth, causes all of them to "bond".

The DVD is flawless. The Dolby surround sound is remarkably good, truly surrounding you with sound. The direct digital to DVD video transfer is as good, colorful, and sharp as the other recent ones like "Toy Story 2", "Shrek", and "Monsters Inc." There is a whole second disk of "extras" which take you through the whole animated film-making process. Also a short animated film "Bunny" which won an oscar in 1998. Plus another "short" which shows the little squirrel, 20,000 years later, in an ice block drifting onto a deserted island, and his pounding of a coconut into the ground triggering the continental drift which resulted in the present day continents! Very inventive and funny.

Watching "Ice Age", my wife and I noticed that much of the action and pratfalls reminded us of the old "Roadrunner" cartoons. In the DVD extras the director mentions that those old cartoons of Chuck Jones were the insriration of many of the scenes. Yes, a throw-back to the old manually-animated cartoons, and a worthy tribute.