Ice Age (franchise)

Ice Age is an American media franchise created by Michael J. Wilson, centering on a group of mammals surviving the Pleistocene ice age. It consists of computer-animated films, short films, TV specials and a series of video games. The first five films were produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by its then parent company 20th Century Fox (now known as 20th Century Studios), which is now a subsidiary of Disney. The series features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Chris Wedge across all films, with Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Wanda Sykes, Keke Palmer, and Jennifer Lopez joining the main cast in subsequent films. The films center mainly on the adventures of "the Herd," which since the first film consists of at least woolly mammoth Manny (Romano), ground sloth Sid (Leguizamo), and Smilodon Diego (Leary). The franchise also features mostly independent plotlines involving a dialogue-free saber-toothed squirrel named Scrat (Wedge), who ends up in misadventures from trying to retrieve and bury his acorns, the latter act creates a chain of events that sets up the various adventures of the protagonists.
Five theatrical films have been released in the series: Ice Age in 2002, Ice Age: The Meltdown in 2006, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 2009, Ice Age: Continental Drift in 2012, and Ice Age: Collision Course in 2016. As of April 2016, the franchise had generated $6 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
A standalone spin-off film, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, was produced by Walt Disney Pictures without the involvement of Blue Sky and released exclusively on Disney+ in January 2022; Simon Pegg was the only returning actor. A sixth film, Ice Age 6, is in production for release on December 18, 2026, with most of the main cast reprising their roles from previous installments and without Blue Sky’s involvement, instead with 20th Century Animation’s control.
Sid, a goofy but good-natured sloth, is left behind by his family and the herds of mammals journeying to the south. He meets Manny, a cynical and loner woolly mammoth who is travelling to the north, and decides to follow him, much to Manny's disdain. Along the way, the pair come across a woman who has jumped down the nearby waterfall in a desperate bid to protect her child after their camp was attacked by saber-toothed tigers. She silently pushes the infant towards Manny and Sid before disappearing into the water. The two animals decide to search for the father and return the baby to him.
The villainous Soto, leader of the sabers, instructs his second in command, Diego, to bring the baby to him so he can exact his revenge on the child's father, who frequently kills sabers with his tribe for their furs and meat. Diego comes across Manny and Sid and, since they refuse to just give him the child, he pretends to lead them towards the baby's tribe, when really Soto and the rest of the pack wait in an icy mountain range to ambush them, intending on killing Manny and stealing the child. During their journey, the trio bond over the infant and Diego must ultimately decide where his loyalties lie.
Manny, Sid, and Diego are currently living in a large valley surrounded by an enormously high ice wall on all sides. The trio discovers that the ice wall is actually a dam that is barely holding a massive body of water that could flood the valley. A vulture tells them that there is a boat at the other end of the valley that may save them all, but they only have three days to reach it or die. Manny is also having trouble dealing with the fact that he may be the last mammoth left. Along the way, they meet Ellie, a bubbly female mammoth who thinks she is a possum, and her possum brothers Crash and Eddie. As they travel together, Manny learns, with help from Diego and Sid, that he must move on from his past and open his heart to change. During their journey, Scrat, a sabre-toothed squirrel, has his own adventure.
Manny and Ellie are happily married and expecting their first child. Scrat falls in love with fellow squirrel Scratte. Diego is anxious about how things will change after Manny becomes a father and considers leaving the Herd. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and steals some dinosaur eggs but after the dino mother comes back for her stolen eggs and takes the talkative sloth home with her, the herd must travel to a colourful underground world to rescue him. During the adventure, Manny and the gang meet Buck, an insane one-eyed weasel who aids them on their quest while hunting down Rudy, a dinosaur to whom Buck lost an eye many years before.
Taking place sixteen years after the events of the third film, Manny's overprotective nature causes a rift between him and his teenage daughter, Peaches. Scrat's pursuit of acorns has world-changing consequences, separating Manny, Sid, Diego and Sid's cantankerous Granny from the rest of their group. Things take a dangerous turn when the gang come into conflict with a rag-tag pirate crew led by the sadistic Captain Gutt. As the friends embark on an epic adventure in their desperate bid to return home, Diego grapples with his conflicting feelings for Gutt's feisty first mate, Shira, and Manny struggles to accept that his daughter may be growing up.
Five years after the events of the fourth film, Manny and Ellie are planning the upcoming wedding between their daughter, Peaches and the clumsy but sweet Julian. Manny is reluctant to let his daughter marry Julian as he thinks he is a bit of a goof but Peaches urges her father to get to know him. Scrat's pursuit of his elusive acorn catapults him outside of Earth aboard a UFO, where he accidentally sets off a series of intergalactic events that transform and threaten the planet. To save themselves from peril, Manny, Sid, Diego, and the rest of the gang leave their home and reunite with the adventurous Buck, who leads them on a crazy cosmic journey to find a way to save the planet.
On the possibility of a sequel, co-director Galen T. Chu stated in June 2016 that there were some ideas for the sixth installment. In July 2016, Bustle noted that the chances of a sixth entry were relatively high but would depend on the box office performance of the fifth film.
In February 2022, Forte discussed the possibility of a sequel while promoting The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, saying, "I think it's a little premature. We hope that people will respond to this, and that will promote us to be able to do another movie. If the audiences want it, we've got plenty of ideas. There's no end to ideas and adventures and characters, so we're ready if they're ready."
In September 2024, while making a guest appearance on the Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! podcast, Leguizamo stated "We’re about to do Ice Age 6!", though he did not expand on the comment. On November 8, the film was confirmed to release in 2026 with Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, and Simon Pegg returning. The following week, on November 15, the film was given the release date of December 18, 2026, taking over the slot of an untitled Star Wars film.
On the possibility of a potential sixth film in the franchise, in June 2016, Galen T. Chu, co-director of the film, stated that there were some ideas for the next installment. In August 2018, CEO of 20th Century Fox Stacey Snider announced that a television series based on Ice Age and centered around the character Buck is in development. In October 2019, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the project was confirmed to be still in development for Disney+. In December 2020, the project was confirmed to have been redeveloped as a film and to be titled Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, centering around Buck going on an adventure in the Dinosaur World with Crash and Eddie.
The film released on January 28, 2022 and features Simon Pegg reprising his role as the title character. All of the other main characters are voiced by different actors. Batu Sener composed the film's score. Unlike the previous Ice Age films released by 20th Century Fox and produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky, the film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, with the animation being outsourced to Bardel Entertainment. Manny, Ellie, Sid, and Diego appear in the film as supporting characters. Various prominent characters were absent from the film without explanation, including Scrat, Peaches, Julian, Shira, and Brooke.
In the middle of decorating for the holiday season, Sid accidentally destroys Manny's favourite decorations. Sid, convinced by Manny that he is now on Santa's naughty list, takes off with Crash, Eddie and Peaches for the North Pole to get back on the Santa's good side. When on the North Pole, Sid and his crew accidentally destroy Santa's Workshop. When Manny, Ellie and Diego, worried over Peaches's safety, arrive at the North Pole, they must come together and save Christmas.
The special centers on a harried prehistoric bird mom who entrusts her precious, soon-to-hatch egg to Sid. When she recommends him to her neighbors—a condor mother, Cholly Bear and Gladys Glypto—business booms at his new egg-sitting service.
Dastardly pirate bunny Squint, who is seeking revenge on the herd, steals, camouflages and hides all the eggs. Once again, with Squint's twin brother, Clint, assisting, Manny, Diego and the rest of the gang come to the rescue and take off on a daring mission that turns into the world's first Easter egg hunt.
In May 2021, it was rumored that a short series produced by Blue Sky Studios known as Scrat Tales would be coming to Disney+. The series would follow the titular Scrat, who discovers that he has a son. Footage of the series was later leaked onto YouTube, with former Blue Sky animators revealing that the series would be coming to Disney+ in 2022 after The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. A plush for the character of Scrat's son was unveiled via Just Play Products’ website, with the second image featuring a blue tag containing the logo for Scrat Tales, although the listing was retitled under The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild to promote the new film.
The series was released as a Disney+ original series in April 2022. The soundtrack album for the show was released in March 2022 by Hollywood Records. Music for the series is composed by Batu Sener and End Titles music is provided by John Powell.
All five films, produced on a total budget of $429 million, have grossed over $3.2 billion worldwide, making Ice Age the 18th highest-grossing franchise of all time, and the third highest-grossing animated franchise worldwide behind Despicable Me and Shrek. The first four films were the highest-grossing animated films in each year they were released, and among the eight highest-grossing films in their respective release years. The fifth film was considered a commercial disappointment and is the lowest-grossing film in both the franchise and Blue Sky's filmography, when adjusted for inflation.
While the first film received generally positive reviews, the series has received some criticism for making no attempt to be scientifically accurate and has experienced a steadily declining critical reception with each succeeding film.
Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure is a live arena ice show that combines ice skating, aerial arts, puppetry and film, and tells a new story based on the first three Ice Age films. The plot begins with baby mammoth Peaches being kidnapped by an evil hawk-like creature called Shadow. Her father Manny sets off to rescue Peaches, accompanied by Sid and Diego. Their mission is successful, but on the way home they encounter avalanches and rockfalls, diverting them into a fantasy underground kingdom.
It is being produced by Stage Entertainment Touring Productions, and directed by Guy Caron and Michael Curry. The music and lyrics were written by Ella Louise Allaire and Martin Lord Ferguson. With the preview shows from October 19 to 21, 2012, in Cardiff, and from October 25 to 28, 2012, in Nottingham, A Mammoth Adventure officially premiered on November 2, 2012, during its three-day tour from November 1 to 3 at Wembley Arena in London. It continued in Germany in November 2012, with a plan to visit more than 30 countries in its five-year worldwide tour. In August 2016, Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure concluded its world tour and was replaced in North America by Ice Age On Ice.
Ice Age inspired rides and attractions first opened at Movie Park Germany. In 2012, a new Ice Age 4D experience opened at Alton Towers. In 2014, new Ice Age rides opened at Dufan Ancol, Jakarta that introduced 2 Ice Age themed rides named Ice Age: Sid's Arctic Tours and Kontiki. In 2021, Ice Age attractions are featured at the first 20th Century Fox theme park, called Genting SkyWorlds, which opened in 2021 as part of Malaysia-based Resorts World Genting.
Jakks Pacific produced toys based on the property.