Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Ice Age (2002)

3/16/2025

Ice Age (2002) - Fun-filled animated adventure

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Four humorous-looking animal characters are assembled on this bright poster for Chris Wedge and Carlos Sandanha's Ice Age

When the ice age arrives some 20,000 years ago, a small human baby gets left in the care of a ground sloth named Sid and a mammoth named Manfred, who later meet and team up with a sabre tiger named Diego.

Ice Age is written by Michael Berg (The Scratist (2012, short)), Michael J. Wilson (The Tuxedo (2002)) and Peter Ackerman (The Diplomat (2024, TV-series)), with James Bresnahan (Epic (2013)), Doug Compton (Willie Survive (1982-83, director)), Jeff Siergey (Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011)), Michael Thurmeier (Robots (2005, supervising animator)), Galen T. Chu (Rio (2011, supervising animator)) and Xeth Feinberg (Queer Duck (200-02, animator)) contributing story elements, and directed by debuting Chris Wedge (Epic (2013)) and also debuting Carlos Saldanha (Rio (2011)). It is the first film in the Ice Age franchise.

The film is surprisingly funny and charming, driven by a good premise idea with some well animated and clear characters that get plenty of additional life from the voice performances of John Leguizamo (Spawn (1997)), Ray Romano (The Irishman (2019)) and others. The CG animation is a bit dated to look at today, - but not much, - and most importantly, it succeeds in capturing one's imagination. The story becomes episodic, (then this happens; then this happens; and so on), but not in any way that can impede Ice Age from being a refreshing hit.

Ice Age franchise: Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) - Lots of fun in 4th IA chapter

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) or, Ice Age 3: Add Dinosaurs!

Carlos Saldanha: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) or, Ice Age 3: Add Dinosaurs! (co-director)

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 59 mil. $

Box office: 383.2 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 6.49 times its cost)

[Ice Age premiered 12 March (USA) and runs 81 minutes. The film opened #1 to a 46.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 another 5 weekends (#2-#2-#2-#3-#4), grossing 176.3 mil. $ (46 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 34.5 mil. $ (9 %) and the UK with 21.7 mil. $ (5.7 %). It was the 8th highest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing animation of the year. It was nominated for the Best Animation Oscar, lost to Spirited Away. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The characters returned in Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006). Wedge returned with Robots (2005); Saldanha with Gone Nutty (2002, video) and theatrically with Robots. Romano returned in Welcome to Mooseport (2004); Leguizamo in Sesame Street (2002, TV-series), Point of Origin (2002, TV movie) and theatrically in Spun (2002); Denis Leary (The Simpsons (2008, TV-series)) in The Job (2001-02, TV-series) and Crank Yankers (2002, TV-series) prior to his theatrical return in The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002). Ice Age is certified fresh at 77 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ice Age?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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3/16/2025

Ice Age (2002) - Fun-filled animated adventure

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