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:

Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary

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:

Licensed To Chill

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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 [France] Twentieth Century Fox [United States]

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 only stipulation that consulting anthropologists from the American Museum of Natural History in New York insisted on with the production was that there should be no dinosaurs. They would have been long gone 20,000 years ago, though a great deal of the animals shown in the film didn't live in the same eras or locations as the main characters. Dinosaurs were finally included in the second sequel, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the explanation being that they survived extinction in underground caves.

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Goofs

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.

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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

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: Rio (2011)

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Soundtracks

"The Comedians"
Written by Dmitri Kabalevsky

User Reviews

Wish All Animated Films Were This Good!

I'd have to say this is one of the best animated films I've ever seen. I liked it the first time but really appreciated it on the second viewing, just a few weeks ago. I can see why sequel is doing such great business at the box office. Apparently, a lot of people liked this movie.

A gorgeous color palette (man, this looks good) and a lot of good adult (but clean) humor make this a big winner. The opening 3-4-minute scene with "Scat," is excellent as are subsequent interludes with him. "Sid" the sloth (voiced by John Leguizano), however, provides the main humor in the movie. He usually has something funny to say throughout the movie.

Ray Romano is the voice of the mammoth, the big character of the film, literally, while Denis Leary is the ferocious bad-guy-turned-good sabertooth tiger

This isn't just humor and pretty colors but a nice, sentimental story of how a little baby softens up a couple of tough characters. This isn't interrupted with a lot of songs, either: one only brief one and there is nothing offensive, language-wise.

If more animated movies were this good, I'd own more.