Many cartoons have too many characters that are overly cutesy to be loved by anyone other than a child. Others have themes that are perhaps too mature for anybody other than adults to understand or enjoy. There are few, a precious few, that manage to be cutesy, while also having more… More
Many cartoons have too many characters that are overly cutesy to be loved by anyone other than a child. Others have themes that are perhaps too mature for anybody other than adults to understand or enjoy. There are few, a precious few, that manage to be cutesy, while also having more mature characters that aren't cutesy at all, but more on the serious side. A combination like this is likely to appeal to both the young, middle-aged, and old. "Ice Age" is one of the latter.
It doesn't seem likely, but somehow, a herd consisting of a mammoth, a sloth, and a tiger have all come together as one to take a baby human back to its family, or have they? Tigers eat mammoths, and possibly humans as well. Humans hunt mammoths because they love their ivory tusks. How can it possibly work out in the end??
As said, "Ice Age" succeeds in having characters that are cutesy and funny, while also having more serious minded characters. Manny the mammoth couldn't be much more serious. He doesn't laugh much at all, and he thinks the silly, airheaded antics of the hilarious Sid the sloth are just that. Silly. Diego the sabretooth tiger tries to play nice, but he isn't half as nice as he seems...or is he? Scrat the squirrel doesn't really play into the story at all, other than to just pop out of nowhere to chase a precious acorn around as if he couldn't live without it; he never once ceases to be amusing with his screams and the troubles he always seems to run into.
As you're watching the movie, you'll be laughing your blank off while you also get into the plot and root for the good guys. This is because each and every one of the characters are interesting, entertaining, etc. You'll be amazed by the spectacular animation, especially when it comes to the characters; they really seem to come alive. Not to mention that many parts of the landscape, such as the drowning waterfalls, are so well animated that they appear realistic, to say the least. "Ice Age" is an all-around great movie. As much as I liked other films that are somewhat like it, such as "Toy Story" and "Dinosaur", I'd have to say that I like "Ice Age" the best so far; I have yet to see "Shrek" or "Monsters, Inc."
Usually, when I finish watching a DVD, no matter how good or bad the movie was, I keep procrastinating when it comes to checking out the special features. This wasn't the case with "Ice Age." Upon finishing the movie and reading about the special features on the back of the case, I couldn't wait to check out the boat loads of features on the second disc. You'll see what I mean when you watch the movie; you'll want to see more of that mysterious little squirrel, Scrat. He has his own animated short, "Scrat's Missing Adventure". Along with this, there are six deleted scenes, an award-winning animated film: "Bunny" (very nice!), the HBO Behind the Scenes special of "Ice Age", scene-specific commentary by John Leguizamo as Sid, etc. You can also see how the characters were animated, play a few games (i.e., find where Scrat is hiding, find the best match, etc.), and much more.
To get down to the nitty gritty, the "Ice Age" DVD is worth buying just for the movie by itself, but with the tons of special features that are included, it's an even better value. It's the must-have animated film of the year. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2003.