The Big Picture

• The Ice Age movie series has garnered a huge fanbase due to its adventure, humor, and lovable characters like Sid, Manny, and Scrat.
• Blue Sky Studios, the original studio that created Ice Age, was shut down by Disney after the acquisition of 20th Century Fox. However, Disney plans to continue the Ice Age saga with a spin-off movie called Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild.
• For fans looking to watch the Ice Age movies and short films in order, they can follow the chronological order of release or watch them in the order of release dates. Short films are optional but offer additional context and enjoyment.

The Ice Age movie series has made its home in the hearts of moviegoers of all ages with its sense of adventure, humor, and heart. One of the most famous animated franchises in the world, Ice Age has given us some of the most memorable characters of all time, such as Sid (John Leguizamo), Manny (Ray Romano), Ellie (Queen Latifah), Diego (Denis Leary), Shira (Jennifer Lopez), and Scrat (Chris Wedge).

Ice Age was Blue Sky Studios’ feature debut, and it became a massive hit. This inspired a series of films and short films stemming from the original story, while adding new characters along the way. However, Blue Sky Studios was shut down in 2021 by Disney, after they acquired Blue Sky’s original distribution partner, 20th Century Fox. That doesn't mean that Disney completely abandoned the franchise. In 2022, a spin-off movie called The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was released, though it mainly focused on Buck (Simon Pegg), otherwise featuring a whole new story with new voice actors. Although another film is potentially in the works, it's unclear if that work will be a sixth Ice Age movie or another spin off like The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.

While we wait for news about the future of the franchise, we can always go for a quick re-run of the entire series. So here’s a quick and comprehensive guide on how to watch the movies and short films in order, both chronologically and by release date.

'Ice Age' Movies in Order of Release Date

Ice Age Short Films in Order of Release Date

'Ice Age' Movies and Short Films in Chronological Order

There are no prequels yet, so the best way to watch the films is in the order of release. You don’t necessarily have to watch the short films to understand the story, but if you want to get the most out of your Ice Age movie marathon, we would suggest you watch in the following order.

Ice Age

The first film in the hugely successful franchise begins with Sid, a silly and empathetic sloth who has been left behind by his kind. He joins forces with Manny, a lone mammoth, on a mission to deliver a human child back to his father. Diego, a sabre-toothed tiger, is ordered by the leader of his pride to pursue the child. It was a box office success and grossed over $383 million and was also nominated at the 75th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature.

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Gone Nutty

Gone Nutty is a short film set directly after the events of the Ice Age. It features the story of Scrat after the human baby has been returned. He is yet again having trouble collecting his beloved acorns, trying to store as much as he can. The film was nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Ice Age: The Meltdown

After getting together at the end of the Ice Age, Manny, Sid and Diego are about to face a life-threatening crisis of biblical origins. Manny is dealing with his own worries about being the last surviving mammoth, when he finds his true love in Ellie, a female mammoth who thinks she’s an opossum. It was a commercial blockbuster as well, earning over $660 million at the box office.

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No Time for Nuts

Ice Age’s second short follows The Meltdown into the time-travelling adventures of Scrat. Scrat is trying to find a place to hide his acorn after he got it back, but ends up digging up a buried time machine. He accidentally switches it on and is hurled into numerous adventures across various points in human history.

Surviving Sid

Surviving Sid is quite different from the first two animated short features, as it mainly focuses on the adventures of Sid. Set two weeks after the events of Ice Age: The Meltdown, Sid is trying to adjust to his new role of a camp counsellor to a school of children. His desperate attempts to please the children lead to hilarious failures, showing why he’s not fit for the job.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Dawn of the Dinosaurs features the debut of the one-eyed deranged weasel known as Buck. He aids Manny and the herd on their quest to rescue Sid from an underground world of dinosaurs, a subtle nod to the hollow-earth theory. Manny and Ellie have their first child and Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck) find a new role model in Buck.

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Scrat’s Continental Crack-Up

Releasing alongside Gulliver’s Travels, Scrat's Continental Crack-Up is a short parody film depicting the continental drift, and centres on Scrat’s hilarious adventures that explain the creation of the continents.

Scrat’s Continental Crack-Up: Part 2

The second part of the short feature was released alongside Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. It serves as a teaser for Ice Age: Continental Drift and continues his eternal struggle of finding the perfect acorn.

Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift

is set 16 years after the story of Dawn of Dinosaurs, and Manny and Ellie’s daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer) is now a teenager. The herd has to face new earth-splitting disasters (quite literally) caused by Scrat’s problematic adventures, while also dealing with their personal issues. The film grossed $877 million worldwide, and was the highest-grossing animated film of 2012.

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Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe

Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe is a five-minute short film that encompasses the beginning of Ice Age: Collision Course, the fifth full feature film in the series. The film depicts Scrat’s acorn-pursuing adventures in outer space, which result in an imminent disaster the characters will face in the fifth movie.

Ice Age: Collision Course

The fifth movie in the franchise, Ice Age: Collision Course follows the herd being reunited with Buck in an attempt to save the various populations of animals residing on the earth. Scrat’s nefarious adventures have once again caused devastating results, and this time earth is being targeted by asteroids. The film was a moderate success, earning a total of $408 million worldwide.

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Scrat: Spaced Out

Scrat: Spaced Out is set at the end of Collision Course, and once again deals with Scrat’s never-ending saga of securing his acorn. This time he has to fight three more Scrats from outer space (A.K.A Scratzons) for getting back his acorn, which he hilariously fails despite fighting valiantly.

The End

As a final goodbye before Blue Sky lost the franchise, the animators created a short giving Scrat what he's been after all this time. He finally gets his acorn in this 35-second long short.

The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild

The spin-off movie takes Crash (Vincent Tong) and Eddie (Aaron Harris) to the Lost World, where they meet Buck after he saves them from almost being eaten by a dinosaur. Set generally in their own world without the main characters from the main franchise, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild clearly takes place after Collision Course, though some inconsistencies seem to appear, those seem to be due to the changing of hands from Blue Sky Studios to Disney.

Watch on Disney+