Ice Age (2002)

Editor's Note A star-studded cast provides the voices for the prehistoric creatures in this computer-animated feature set 20,000 years ago as the Ice Age approaches. Seemingly anti-social Manny, a woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), acts as if he just wants to be left alone. When he meets Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo), a sloth, the two become unlikely traveling companions. The plot thickens when the duo finds a human infant and decides to try to return the child to its "herd." Manny slowly but surely reveals his heart of gold, while Sid continues to provide comic relief. Diego (voiced by Denis Leary), a saber-tooth tiger with ulterior motives, soon joins them in their search for the humans. Ultimately, this group of misfits becomes its own herd, learning about friendship and loyalty as they brave snow, ice, freezing temperatures, predators, hail, and even boiling lava pits. All the while, a saber-tooth squirrel, Scat, provides comic relief as he valiantly struggles with an acorn. A well-written, humorous script and endearing characters mesh well with the state-of-the-art technology and effects. Other stars lending their voices to the feature include Goran Visnjic, Jack Black, and Jane Krakowski.

	Christopher Meledandri - Producer
	Lori Forte - Producer
	Ray Romano - Voice
	Goran Visnjic - Voice
	John Leguizamo - Voice
	Carlos Saldanha - Co-Director
	David Newman - Composer
	Michael G. Wilson - Screenwriter
	Peter Ackerman - Screenwriter
	Jack Black - Voice
	Denis Leary - Voice
	Brian McEntee - Production Designer
	Michael Berg - Screenwriter
	Diedrich Bader - Voice
	Chris Wedge - Director

New York Times
"...Mr. Wedge and Mr. Saldanha handle the mix of verbal jokes and slapstick well..." 03/15/2002 p.E22

USA Today
"...A delight....ICE AGE deserves to pass animation's survival-of-the-fittest test..." 03/15/2002 p.4E

Total Film
"...ICE AGE has some groundbreakingly realistic digimation and plenty of laughs. Think a prehistoric JUNGLE BOOK..." 04/01/2002 p.106

Box Office
"...There's enough cool fun here to warm the hearts of animation enthusiasts of all ages..." 05/01/2002 p.60

Los Angeles Times
"...Chris Wedge has done nifty, amusing things on the visual side....His style is a kind of storybook photo-realism, giving those characters the unusual look of living and breathing plush toys..." 03/15/2002 p.C25

Sight and Sound
"...The film's stylized, blocky humans and personable, exaggerated creatures have the feel of three-dimensional cartoons....There are emotional resonances beyond the obvious..." 05/01/2002 p.47

Variety
"...There's something matter-of-factly astonishing about the vivid precision of key details....Arresting and often laugh-out-loud funny..." 03/18/2002 p.23-30

Chicago Sun-Times
"...A pleasure to look at....The visuals are rich with character touches for the animals..." 06/02/2002 p.6