Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox Animation, PG
Ages: two and up
Parental Advisory: None
If you thought that the ice age thawed out eons ago, Twentieth Century Fox Animation proves that the era lives and even entertains. Despite its rather unoriginal plot, the gag-laden Ice Age is an enjoyable family film and the DVD offers decent extras.
It's migration time and to avoid frostbite and the wrath of two prehistoric rhinos, a lazy sloth named Sid makes a reluctant partner out of a loner mammoth named Manfred. The two stumble upon an abandoned human baby and agree that they must return it to its family. The third party in this unlikely herd is Diego, a saber-toothed tiger, who is mis-leading the mammoth, sloth, and baby into an ambush.
Ice Age is a classic buddy story within an equally classic road picture. And if Ice Age's plot is somewhat warmed over, it's good enough. The film does have a tendency to recreate scenes that we've seen before in famous movies. There are parts that evoke Bambi, Prince of Egypt, Jungle Book, Dumbo, and more. Even if the plot isn't all that creative, but the rest of the film is.
The animation is very good. The filmmakers did a fine job of creating a world that doesn't look overtly computer generated, and the animals, while their fur doesn't rival that of the Monsters, Inc. critters, do move in fluid, believable ways.
DVD extras include a feature-length audio commentary by director Chris Wedge and co-director Carlos Saldanha, which offers insight into the story and characters. There are segments on the making of Ice Age, which are quite good, six deleted scenes, and three so so games. Particularly fun are Scrat's Missing Adventure, an entertaining new short, and Bunny, another solid animated short.
In all, Ice Age reheats standard fare but offers enough site gags to keep audiences, particularly younger viewers, entertained. This one doesn't leave families out in the cold.
