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Description
"That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other."

Lets continue our Disney/Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary celebration with the first movie from Blue Sky Studios that features a group of unlikely allies as they travel to get a human baby back to his people; Ice Age.

Scrat, a saber-toothed squirrel, attempts to find a place to store his acorn for the winter. Eventually, as he tries to stomp it into the ground, he inadvertently causes a large crack to form in the ice that extends for miles before setting off a large avalanche which nearly crushes him. He barely escapes but finds himself getting stepped on by a herd of prehistoric animals migrating south in order to escape the forthcoming ice age.
Sid, a clumsy ground sloth, is left behind by his family and decides to move on by himself, but is attacked by a pair of Brontotheres after accidentally ruining their meal and making them angry.
Sid is soon rescued by Manny, a bitter woolly mammoth heading north, who fights the rhinos off and continues on his path. Sid joins Manny, not wanting to be alone and unprotected. Manny is annoyed by Sid's outgoing demeanor and wishes to migrate on his own, but Sid nonetheless continues to follow Manny.
Meanwhile, Soto, the leader of a Smilodon pack, wants revenge on a human tribe for killing half of his pack by eating the chief's infant son, Roshan, alive. Soto leads a raid on the human camp, during which Roshan's mother flees with her son.
Cornered by Soto’s lieutenant, Diego, she leaps down the waterfall with Roshan. As punishment for his failure to retrieve the boy, Diego is sent to find and retrieve him while the rest of the pack waits for him at a mountain known as Half-Peak. If he fails, he will be killed in Roshan’s place.
Later, Sid and Manny encounter the mother struggling out of the lake, dying from her plunge. The mother only has enough strength to entrust Roshan to Manny before she dies and disappears into the water.
After much persuasion by Sid, they decide to return the baby, but when they reach the human settlement, they find it deserted. They meet up with Diego, who convinces the pair to let him help by tracking the humans.
The four travel on, with Diego secretly leading them to Half-Peak where his pack is waiting to ambush them.
After encountering several misadventures on their way, the group starts to form a strong bond, and Diego begins to have second thoughts.
Will the group be able to get Roshan back to his people?

The story is very well written as even though it is pretty simple and does suffer from easily predictable, the way it's executed does make it engaging and does have some a good message about working together. Also, the setting of the Ice Age is pretty neat, and up to that point really wasn't explored much in media unlike the Prehistoric times or Medieval times. And on top of that, there is some very funny comedy as well as some good drama and heart, and it has a pretty lighthearted tone with some well handled dark moments.
The movie does have a pretty solid sense of humor as even though not every jokes lands, there are still a good chunk of jokes that do get a good laugh such as some of the witty banter and dialogue between the characters, plenty of the gags and slapstick, some of the snarky remarks, the wacky shenanigans with Scrat, and some of the more dark humor.
The movie also has some pretty well handled drama and heart which does lead to some touching and tear-jerking moments such as Manny's tragic backstory with the cave drawings, the campfire scene, and the ending.
The movie also has some pretty solid action scenes as while most of them are pretty comedic such as Manny fending off the rhinos, the group fighting the dodos just to get a melon, the ice cave chase scene, and the group fighting off Soto's henchmen, there are a few that are more serious such as the tigers attacking the human camp, the lava chasm scene, and the final fight with Soto.
The animation does definitely show it's age, but that doesn't mean it isn't still great. Most of the characters all have pretty solid designs and some pretty fluid movements, the backdrops and settings are amazingly well crafted and have some great details, and there are some very solid effects such as the snow, lava, ice, and rain. However, the design of Roshan does look kinda ugly, and the designs for the other humans are pretty good, so i don't know why Roshan looks a little off.
The characters are all mostly pretty likable and do have some pretty solid chemistry, dynamics, and character development.
Manny, Sid, and Diego are all pretty solid and likable protagonists, and they do have some great chemistry and dynamics thanks to their differing personalities like Manny being more down to earth, Sid being a pretty decent comic relief, and Diego being the most cunning. And Manny and Diego do have some nice character arcs such as Manny starting to open himself up after so long, and Diego starting to warm up to the group and having a change of heart. And as for Roshan, there's not really much to say about him given how he's just a baby, but he does carry most of the film's heart.
Scrat is a pretty funny minor character as his antics with his acorn do result in some pretty good humor, and there's also his nutty and short-tempered personality.
There's really not a whole lot to say about the other characters in the movie like the rhinos(who may or may not be a couple) and the dodos, who don't really serve a purpose other than to get some laughs, but thankfully they do manage to do so. And of course there's the humans, more specifically Roshan's mother and father who are pretty solid minor characters as they do have some of the movie's more dramatic moments, and they are very good and loving parents to Roshan, and would do anything to protect him. And while his mother dying does lead to the trope of dead mothers in family films, her sacrifice was pretty emotional.
Soto and his pack aren't really that impressive as villains as while Soto is the most intimidating and interesting of the pack, and he does have a solid motive for his villainy, at the end of the day, he is just sort of the typical bad guy. And the other members of the pack like the insane Zeke, the deadpan Oscar, and the oafish Lenny, are just the typical henchmen that serve the villain.
The voice acting is pretty well done and does result in some solid performances like Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, Chris Wedge as Scrat, Goran Visnjic as Soto, Jack Black as Zeke, and more.
The music by David Newman is pretty well composed and does really capture the movie's comedic and heartfelt tone.

Overall, for Blue Sky's first movie, they really nailed it as this is a very well crafted and enjoyable movie that really is worth checking out.

Cast:
Ray Romano as Manny
John Leguizamo as Sid
Denis Leary as Diego
Goran Višnjić as Soto
Jack Black as Zeke
Cedric the Entertainer as Carl
Stephen Root as Frank
Diedrich Bader as Oscar
Alan Tudyk as Lenny
Jane Krakowski as Rachel
Lorri Bagley as Jennifer
Chris Wedge as Scrat
Tara Strong as Roshan

Crew:
Directed by Chris Wedge
Screenplay by Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson, and Peter Ackerman
Story by Michael J. Wilson
Produced by Lori Forte
Music by David Newman

Misc.
Production companies: Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date: March 15, 2002
Running time: 1 hour, 21 minutes

Description
"That's what you do in a herd. You look out for each other."

Lets continue our Disney/Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary celebration with the first movie from Blue Sky Studios that features a group of unlikely allies as they travel to get a human baby back to his people; Ice Age.

Scrat, a saber-toothed squirrel, attempts to find a place to store his acorn for the winter. Eventually, as he tries to stomp it into the ground, he inadvertently causes a large crack to form in the ice that extends for miles before setting off a large avalanche which nearly crushes him. He barely escapes but finds himself getting stepped on by a herd of prehistoric animals migrating south in order to escape the forthcoming ice age.
Sid, a clumsy ground sloth, is left behind by his family and decides to move on by himself, but is attacked by a pair of Brontotheres after accidentally ruining their meal and making them angry.
Sid is soon rescued by Manny, a bitter woolly mammoth heading north, who fights the rhinos off and continues on his path. Sid joins Manny, not wanting to be alone and unprotected. Manny is annoyed by Sid's outgoing demeanor and wishes to migrate on his own, but Sid nonetheless continues to follow Manny.
Meanwhile, Soto, the leader of a Smilodon pack, wants revenge on a human tribe for killing half of his pack by eating the chief's infant son, Roshan, alive. Soto leads a raid on the human camp, during which Roshan's mother flees with her son.
Cornered by Soto’s lieutenant, Diego, she leaps down the waterfall with Roshan. As punishment for his failure to retrieve the boy, Diego is sent to find and retrieve him while the rest of the pack waits for him at a mountain known as Half-Peak. If he fails, he will be killed in Roshan’s place.
Later, Sid and Manny encounter the mother struggling out of the lake, dying from her plunge. The mother only has enough strength to entrust Roshan to Manny before she dies and disappears into the water.
After much persuasion by Sid, they decide to return the baby, but when they reach the human settlement, they find it deserted. They meet up with Diego, who convinces the pair to let him help by tracking the humans.
The four travel on, with Diego secretly leading them to Half-Peak where his pack is waiting to ambush them.
After encountering several misadventures on their way, the group starts to form a strong bond, and Diego begins to have second thoughts.
Will the group be able to get Roshan back to his people?

The story is very well written as even though it is pretty simple and does suffer from easily predictable, the way it's executed does make it engaging and does have some a good message about working together. Also, the setting of the Ice Age is pretty neat, and up to that point really wasn't explored much in media unlike the Prehistoric times or Medieval times. And on top of that, there is some very funny comedy as well as some good drama and heart, and it has a pretty lighthearted tone with some well handled dark moments.
The movie does have a pretty solid sense of humor as even though not every jokes lands, there are still a good chunk of jokes that do get a good laugh such as some of the witty banter and dialogue between the characters, plenty of the gags and slapstick, some of the snarky remarks, the wacky shenanigans with Scrat, and some of the more dark humor.
The movie also has some pretty well handled drama and heart which does lead to some touching and tear-jerking moments such as Manny's tragic backstory with the cave drawings, the campfire scene, and the ending.
The movie also has some pretty solid action scenes as while most of them are pretty comedic such as Manny fending off the rhinos, the group fighting the dodos just to get a melon, the ice cave chase scene, and the group fighting off Soto's henchmen, there are a few that are more serious such as the tigers attacking the human camp, the lava chasm scene, and the final fight with Soto.
The animation does definitely show it's age, but that doesn't mean it isn't still great. Most of the characters all have pretty solid designs and some pretty fluid movements, the backdrops and settings are amazingly well crafted and have some great details, and there are some very solid effects such as the snow, lava, ice, and rain. However, the design of Roshan does look kinda ugly, and the designs for the other humans are pretty good, so i don't know why Roshan looks a little off.
The characters are all mostly pretty likable and do have some pretty solid chemistry, dynamics, and character development.
Manny, Sid, and Diego are all pretty solid and likable protagonists, and they do have some great chemistry and dynamics thanks to their differing personalities like Manny being more down to earth, Sid being a pretty decent comic relief, and Diego being the most cunning. And Manny and Diego do have some nice character arcs such as Manny starting to open himself up after so long, and Diego starting to warm up to the group and having a change of heart. And as for Roshan, there's not really much to say about him given how he's just a baby, but he does carry most of the film's heart.
Scrat is a pretty funny minor character as his antics with his acorn do result in some pretty good humor, and there's also his nutty and short-tempered personality.
There's really not a whole lot to say about the other characters in the movie like the rhinos(who may or may not be a couple) and the dodos, who don't really serve a purpose other than to get some laughs, but thankfully they do manage to do so. And of course there's the humans, more specifically Roshan's mother and father who are pretty solid minor characters as they do have some of the movie's more dramatic moments, and they are very good and loving parents to Roshan, and would do anything to protect him. And while his mother dying does lead to the trope of dead mothers in family films, her sacrifice was pretty emotional.
Soto and his pack aren't really that impressive as villains as while Soto is the most intimidating and interesting of the pack, and he does have a solid motive for his villainy, at the end of the day, he is just sort of the typical bad guy. And the other members of the pack like the insane Zeke, the deadpan Oscar, and the oafish Lenny, are just the typical henchmen that serve the villain.
The voice acting is pretty well done and does result in some solid performances like Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, Chris Wedge as Scrat, Goran Visnjic as Soto, Jack Black as Zeke, and more.
The music by David Newman is pretty well composed and does really capture the movie's comedic and heartfelt tone.

Overall, for Blue Sky's first movie, they really nailed it as this is a very well crafted and enjoyable movie that really is worth checking out.

Cast:
Ray Romano as Manny
John Leguizamo as Sid
Denis Leary as Diego
Goran Višnjić as Soto
Jack Black as Zeke
Cedric the Entertainer as Carl
Stephen Root as Frank
Diedrich Bader as Oscar
Alan Tudyk as Lenny
Jane Krakowski as Rachel
Lorri Bagley as Jennifer
Chris Wedge as Scrat
Tara Strong as Roshan

Crew:
Directed by Chris Wedge
Screenplay by Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson, and Peter Ackerman
Story by Michael J. Wilson
Produced by Lori Forte
Music by David Newman

Misc.
Production companies: Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date: March 15, 2002
Running time: 1 hour, 21 minutes