Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild

The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild
Film Information Director John C. Donkin Producer Lori Forte Writer Jim Hecht Ray DeLaurentis William Schifrin Music Batu Sener Release Date January 28, 2022 Run Time 82 minutes Country United States Language English Rating PG Preceded By Ice Age: Collision Course Followed By Untitled seventh Ice Age film (2024) imdb id 13634480

The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is an 2022 American computer-animated adventure comedy film with a Disney+ premiere date of January 28, 2022 . The film is a spin-off of the Ice Age franchise focusing on Buck and stars Simon Pegg as the title character. Unlike past installments, it is the first Ice Age media to be produced by Bardel Entertainment and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Premise

"Desperate for some distance from their older sister Ellie, the thrill-seeking possum brothers Crash and Eddie set out to find a place of their own, but quickly find themselves trapped in the Lost World, a massive cave underground. They are rescued by their one-eyed pal, the adventure-loving, dinosaur-hunting weasel Buck Wild, and together embark on a mission to save the Lost World from dinosaur domination." —Disney+

Plot

The thrill-seeking possum brothers, Crash and Eddie, have grown restless in Snow Valley. They need plenty of wide-open space to practice their extreme stunts and are eager for a bit of independence. Ellie, their adopted woolly mammoth sister, is over-protective and worries too much. Still, Eddie and Crash act more like sons than brother of Ellie and her surly woolly mammoth husband, Manny, whom they have met during a devastating flood, along with Manny's two best friends, Sid, a clumsy ground sloth and Diego, a sarcastic yet altruistic saber-toothed tiger. The six of them have bonded to become a make-shift family.

One day, they accidentally cause an avalanche and destroy the gang's summer home. Manny gets angry with Crash and Eddie for their recklessness and irresponsibility, with him and the rest of the herd declaring they would not survive on their own. Wanting to prove them wrong, Crash and Eddie sneak off to find a place of their own and leave the new camp. Finding Crash and Eddie gone the next day, Ellie insists that she, Manny, Sid and Diego leave to go find them. Crash and Eddie stumble upon the entrance to the Lost World, a vastly perfectly tropical jungle full of dinosaurs formerly thought to be extinct located underground which Ellie has forbidden them from ever visiting again, and quickly get in trouble with two raptors trying to eat them. Breaking away, they run into their old friend, Buck, a deranged, quick-witted, one-eyed weasel who has been living in the jungle for a long time, and his pet pterodactyl Penelope. Buck tells them that a Protoceratops named Orson, who was bullied when he was young for having a massive brain, has escaped from exile and has come to conquer over the Lost World. For Buck, life is about survival of the fittest, and Crash and Eddie are two creatures uniquely unfit to survive, so he tries to get them back home, as he is the only one that can stop Orson, but he won't be able to do that if he has the two possums to look after. Soon, they figure out a boulder is covering the entrance to the Lost World. Orson appears and reveals he sealed the exit to prevent more mammals from coming.

Buck, Crash, and Eddie escape and go to Buck's hideout. Until now, Buck has lived a solitary existence by choice, and has no interest in that changing anytime soon. He explains how he used to be part of an old squad that established the watering hole for animals to peacefully co-exist. He goes on to say that Orson did not accept to join his squad, because he believed in a world where the strong dominate the weak with him being the leader of them all. Buck further explains that because his squad stood in Orson's way, the latter set up a trap to get rid of them, with the only surviving members being Buck himself and Zee, a female zorilla often mistaken for a skunk. Buck and Zee managed to defeat Orson, banishing him to exile on Lava Island. With no one knowing how he escaped, Orson figures out that he can control two raptors on the island with fire.

Later, the two raptors find Buck's hideout, but Zee saves him and the possums by using a gas to knock out the raptors. Orson, seeing that two raptors is not enough to capture Buck, goes to find more. Orson and his new army of raptors attack the watering hole with Buck and Zee telling the animals to evacuate the area. Buck and Zee, tense with each other after the squad broke up, head to get help along with the possums. They arrive at Lost Lagoon and summon their old friend, Momma Dino, a Tyrannosaurus Rex whose babies Sid "used to babysit". Buck and Zee forgive each other for breaking up the old gang and agree to work together. Acting as a diversion, Buck is captured by Orson, allowing the others to escape.

Trying to figure out how Orson controls the raptors, Zee and the possums devise a plan to get Buck back. Ellie, Manny, Sid and Diego figure out that Crash and Eddie entered the Lost World and uncover the entrance. They run into Momma Dino, who tells them Crash and Eddie are in danger. Momma Dino then gives Ellie, Manny, Sid and Diego a ride to the watering hole, where Zee, Crash and Eddie free Buck, and then all fight Orson and his raptors together. Buck tries to explain to Orson that everyone needs to live in peace, but Orson arrogantly denies him and continues to fight. Figuring out Orson controls the raptors with fire, Crash and Eddie create a fire of their own and stop the raptors from fighting and save the Lost World. The raptors, upset with Orson, chase him away.

Ellie, Manny, Sid, and Diego apologize to Crash and Eddie and ask them to come home, but Crash and Eddie express that they want to stay in the Lost World with Buck and Zee as they found their life purpose there. Having realized that they have matured, Ellie allows them to say and, along with Manny, Sid, and Diego, wave them goodbye, but Crash and Eddie promise to visit them on the surface all the time. Buck, having realized thanks to Zee and the possums that they are stronger together than apart, welcome the possums and Zee and his new family after having been alone way too long. Then, Buck, Zee, Crash, and Eddie live together on Buck's hideout, while Manny, Sid, Diego, and Ellie head back home, but Crash and Eddie come to visit them often.

Appearances

Characters

• Crash
• Eddie
• Buck
• Zee (First appearance)
• Orson (First appearance)
• Manny
• Ellie
• Diego
• Sid
• Momma
• Penelope (First appearance)
• Fire-breathing lizards (First appearance)
• Baby snakes (First appearance)

Species

• Ankylosaurus
• Beaver
• Brachiosaurus
• Chalicothere
• Dodo
• Fire-breathing lizard (First appearance)
• Glyptodon
• Hyrax
• Iguanodon
• Kentrosaurus
• Mammoth
• Moeritherium
• Possum
• Protoceratops (First appearance)
• Pteranodon (First appearance)
• Saber-toothed tiger
• Shovelmouth
• Sloth
• Snake
• Spider
• Triceratops
• Tyrannosaurus
• Velociraptor
• Zorilla (First appearance)

Voice Cast

• Simon Pegg as Buck
• Utkarsh Ambudkar as Orson
• Justina Machado as Zee
• Vincent Tong as Crash
• Aaron Harris as Eddie
• Dominique Jennings as Ellie
• Jake Green as Sid
• Sean Kenin Elias-Reyes as Manny
• Skyler Stone as Diego

Development

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. With Disney's purchase of Fox, it could potentially appear on the Disney+ streaming platform.

On the 25th October 2019, the site "Discussing Film" reported some news about a Buck spinoff television series on Disney+.

• "We have learned that Disney/Fox are in early development on spin-offs for the 'Ice Age' and 'Rio' franchises."
• Blue Sky Studios is currently set to be the production company behind these spin-offs.
• "Per sources, we have been told that the 'Ice Age' spin-off will focus on Buck."
• "It is currently unknown at this time if the actors that voiced these respective roles will be offered to reprise them for these spin-offs given how the spinoffs are in early development."

In December 2020, in the Disney Investor Day livestream , it was announced that a prior spin-off television series had been redeveloped into a film titled Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild and that will have a premiere on Disney Plus. An unfinished clip revealed that the film will focus on Buck teaming up with Crash and Eddie for a new adventure in the Dinosaur World. In the official twitter , it was revealed that the movie will launch in early 2022: "The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is the next installment in 20th Century Studios' Ice Age franchise. It stars three favorite characters: prankster possum brothers Crash and Eddie, and swashbuckling weasel Buck voiced by @simonpegg. Coming to @DisneyPlus in early 2022."

In August 2021, Batu Sener revealed in his social media that he was starting to record the score for the film at Newman Scoring Stage. A week later, he concluded the scoring sessions and also revealed that John C. Donkin is the director of the film. Sener had completed producing and mixing the film score at the end of the month.

On November 12th during Disney+ Day, a teaser trailer for the film was released.

Negative Reception

Critics and audiences alike did not enjoy the film. On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, 23 percent of the 26 reviews are positive, with a 4.1/10 average. The IMDb rating is 4.6/10, and the Metascore is currently 30, as of February 2022. The film received mostly negative reviews because of the voice cast change (except for Buck), humor, animation quality, lack of Scrat, and story.

Trivia

• This is Batu Sener's first animated film score. He was working with John Powell (composer for the first three Ice Age sequels) as an additional music composer since 2015. Both of them are members of the music recording facility called 5 Cat Studios.
• This marks John C. Donkin's first directional debut after working with Blue Sky Studios as a longtime film producer.
• Simon Pegg later mocked the film after its negative reception while making and during his appearance at the 75th British Academy Film Awards. the actor gave a speech where he advised not to laugh while talking about terrible disaster movies after discussing Don't Look Up saying: "So best to avoid laughing while avoiding terrible disaster movies. If you want to do that, I can recommend a terrible disaster animated film that I voiced and starred in and is on Disney+ it called The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. Please don't watch this film in my country. You should probably avoid that movie."
• This is the fourth Ice Age film to have the score composed by a member of 5 Cat Studios. John Powell composed the first three sequels in the franchise.
• It was originally planned as a television series for Disney+ before it was being moved to a feature film for the same platform.
• Vincent Tong replaces Seann William Scott in the role as Crash.
• Aaron Harris replaces Josh Peck in the role as Eddie.
• It is the first Ice Age feature to be produced by Bardel Entertainment.
• This is the first Disney+ animated film to be based on a Blue Sky Studios franchise.
• This is the first Ice Age film to not feature Scrat.
  • This is because of Ivy Silberstein regaining alleged rights to Scrat. However, Ice Age: Scrat Tales was released 2 months after this, proving that Disney didn't lose the rights to Scrat.
• Peaches, Julian, Shira, and Brooke do not appear or are mentioned in the film.
  • This likely has to do with budget cuts.
• During the final battle, when Manny takes a raptor and strikes three others using him, Jurassic Park raptor sounds can be heard.