Summary

• The Ice Age franchise has raked in $3.2 billion at the box office, but the quality of movies varies significantly.
• The latest spinoff, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, caters to a younger demographic and lacks fan-favorite character Scrat.
• Disney's closure of Blue Sky Studios might have killed the Ice Age franchise's future potential for storytelling.

The Ice Age franchise has been around for 20 years, becoming one of the most popular animated series, yet looking at the Ice Age movies ranked can make it difficult to find the best. The franchise managed to amass an impressive total of $3.2 billion at the box office (via Forbes), even if the quality of the Ice Age movies varies significantly over the six installments released so far. At its height, Ice Age was a wonderful family-friendly adventure with memorable characters. At its lowest, it was a disappointing recycling of ideas with a franchise that wore out its welcome.

The first Ice Age movie was released back in 2002 by Blue Sky Studios as their first feature-length film. The movie centered on a trio of prehistoric animals, Manny (Ray Romano) the woolly mammoth, Sid (John Leguizamo) the sloth, and Diego (Denis Leary) the saber-tooth tiger, as they set out to return human baby Roshan to his tribe. It kick-started the long-running animated franchise that also included short films, TV specials, and a TV series. However, many feel the rest of the movies, despite some bright spots, have failed to live up to the original Ice Age movie.

The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild (2022)

A Spinoff Focusing On Less Lovable Characters

The latest Ice Age movie also happens to be the first feature-length spinoff that doesn't include Manny, Sid, and Diego as the main characters. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild has Simon Pegg back as Buck, but despite the movie's title, he's not the focus as Crash and Eddie are the stars. The film aims for a younger demographic than the previous movies, largely alienating older audience members who grew up with these characters. A few gags land, but most don’t, and the lack of appearance from Ice Age's Scrat is a bizarre creative choice given his popularity.

The step-down from Blue Sky’s high animation standards was obvious and distracting.

Perhaps its biggest disappointment is that the animation itself (both in terms of the movement and rendering) isn't up to par. While branded as a Disney movie, the animation was outsourced to Bardel Entertainment, and the step-down from Blue Sky’s high animation standards was obvious and distracting. Prior to this, even the lesser Ice Age movies were visually impressive. Overall, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild caters to a very young audience, with little to offer anyone over single digits.

Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)

An Overstuffed And Unfulfilling Sequel

Being the last Ice Age movie to get a theatrical release, Ice Age: Collision Course showed that the franchise was growing out of its own control. There are so many characters in the series at this point that its short runtime doesn't have space to dedicate enough time to any. The main trio is lost in the mix, and new characters are underused and underdeveloped.

While the Ice Age series was never known for its realism, Scrat going into space in an alien ship feels like a step too far.

A small consolation is found with the welcome return of star Simon Pegg from Ice Age 3, but unfortunately, even he can't elevate a series that by this point is running out of ideas. While the Ice Age series was never known for its realism, Scrat going into space in an alien ship feels like a step too far. The prehistoric animal designs remain visually pleasing and everything looks very appealing, but the narrative content can't match the action.

Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

A Mixed Storyline Elevated Slightly By A Memorable Villain