 They came...they thawed...they conquered the hearts of audiences everywhere in the coolest animated adventure of all time! Heading south to avoid a bad case of global frostbite, a group of migrating misfit creatures embark on a hilarious quest to reunite a human baby with his tribe. Heading south to avoid a bad case of global frostbite, a group of migrating misfit creatures embark on a hilarious quest to reunite a human baby with his tribe. Featuring an all star voice cast, including Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary, Ice Age is the coolest animated adventure of all time! 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. Written by Anna Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman on March 20, 2008 -- Things just got a little chillier. 2002's Ice Age finds itself smack-dab in the middle of the digital animation revolution, sandwiched between the likes of 1995's Toy Story, 1998's A Bugs Life, 2004's The Incredibles, and 2007's Ratatouille. Pixar, obviously, is the big kid on the block when it comes to this style of movie making, but Fox's Ice Age certainly holds its own, raking in more cash at the box office than A Bug's Life, but less than the other three (and substantially less than the two most recent films listed). This first installment in Fox's popular digitally animated franchise also proved popular with critics, though it currently stands well behind on the "freshness" meter at Rotten Tomatoes. It's hard to beat the king, but Ice Age gives it a great effort. The movie is funny, touching, and well-paced. It introduced one of the most beloved animated characters in recent memory, Scrat, and features a cast of lovable, furry heroes who tickle the funny bone and touch the heart. Thousands of years before The Day After Tomorrow, a global crisis is afoot. It seems an Ice Age is coming, one that threatens the very existence of hundreds of exotic species. As much of the Earth's animal population heads south in an attempt to escape the coming Ice Age, a clumsy yet charming sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo, Land of the Dead) accidentally ruins the dinner of two rhinos, a salad consisting of the very last dandelion of the season. He's rescued by a sympathetic wooly mammoth named Manny (Ray Romano, Welcome to Mooseport), and the two become companions by necessity and eventually friends by choice. Meanwhile, a human village is attacked by a group of Saber-Toothed tigers, and in the scramble to survive, one mother runs with her baby, and Sid and Manny find themselves unwittingly entrusted with him. Sid is determined to return the baby to its own tribe and species, seeing smoke over a hill. When one of the tigers, Diego (Denis Leary, Rescue Me), attacks, Sid and Manny protect the child and eventually convince Diego to lead them through Glacier Pass and to the band of human survivors. Little do they know that Diego may not be exactly what he seems, and as he grows closer to his new companions, he'll have to choose between them and his brethren. Scrat is the famous and popular comic relief in the film (not that the movie was in dire need of extra laughs to begin with). He'll pop up from time to time during the movie, interacting briefly with the main characters. His story revolves around his trials and tribulations in getting a scrumptious acorn securely in his hands, away from danger, where he presumably can enjoy it in peace. His adventures provide the most consistent laughs, though save for a few scenes, his adventures play out more like a short film attached to the final product rather than playing as an integral part of the story. Indeed, his two major sequences play as bookends to the film, providing a great way to get you in the mood for comedy and also to provide several laughs at the end after a touching finale to the film itself. Scrat's adventures continue in Ice Age: The Meltdown. Besides its entertaining story and seemingly endless strings of jokes and laughter, perhaps the best thing Ice Age has going for it are the fantastically written characters, their interaction with one another, and the excellent voice work that accompanies each one. The film's writers have done a fantastic job in bringing these characters to life with smart, witty dialogue, and the actors voicing them are all spot-on in tone, and together they make for a fun, believable group of characters. Like any good animated movie, (say the aforementioned Ratatouille), Ice Age delivers a first-rate story, focusing on plot and character developments first and seamlessly integrating the laughs from there. As a result, the jokes come across as natural and very funny, never forced or misplaced. Fox definitely has a fantastic franchise on their hands, with a new movie in the series planned for 2009. I, for one, will gladly stand in line for it, both in real life at the box office and virtually at Amazon.com when it hits Blu-ray. Ice Age is great family fun. There are laughs galore, plenty of action, and several memorable characters. The movie is fast-paced, though almost too short at 81 minutes, but those 81 minutes are jam-packed with some of the funniest scenes yet in a digitally-animated film, well-written characters, and a first-rate story, all of which make for a wonderful viewing experience. The best way to see this fine film is definitely on Blu-ray high definition. Fox has once again delivered a top-notch disc in the video and audio departments, but the supplemental package does leave the viewer wanting a bit. Overall, Ice Age makes for yet another excellent addition to the family section of your Blu-ray collection and is one not to be missed by any member of your herd. Recommended. Cast Notes: Ray Romano (Manfred [voice]), John Leguizamo (Sid [voice]), Denis Leary (Diego [voice]), Goran Visnjic (Soto [voice]), Jack Black [I] (Zeke [voice]), Cedric the Entertainer (Rhino [voice]), Stephen Root [I] (Rhino/Start [voice]), Diedrich Bader (Saber-Toothed Tiger [voice]), Alan Tudyk (Saber-Toothed Tiger/Dodo/Freaky Mammal), [voice]), Lorri Bagley (Female Sloth [voice]), Jane Krakowski (Female Sloth [voice]), Peter Ackerman (Dodo/Freaky Mammal [voice]), P.J. Benjamin (Dodo [voice]), Josh Hamilton (Dodo/Aardvark [voice]), Chris Wedge (Dodo/Scrat [voice]). IMDb Rating (05/19/13): 7.5/10 from 191,218 users
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