Ice Age (2002), a computer-animated children’s film directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, features several animals facing a series of challenges as the planet enters into a new ice age. Today, the film where it all began celebrates its twentieth birthday.
Ice Age became a huge success. It was nominated at the 75th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature (losing to Spirited Away), and took in $383.2 million at the worldwide box office. This made it the highest-grossing animated film of 2002. Moreover, its positive response heralded the beginnings of the Ice Age franchise. Four sequels to the original film have been produced: Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), as well as a selection of short films and holiday and TV specials being commissioned too. It is the first animated film series to boast five or more cinematic instalments. In addition, a spin-off centred on the weasel Buck is set for release later this month.
Despite it falling under the comedy-animation genre and being targeted at children alongside their families, Ice Age harbours a rather morbid plot marked by mature themes of death, danger and sacrifice. It is darker than many family animations, and the subsequent franchise films have been increasingly sanitised by the Hollywood machine compared to the original. Though the whole franchise has been a commercial hit, this perhaps explains why none of the sequels have garnered the same positive critical traction as the original.
Ice Age is significantly more educational than its counterparts, with a lot of life lessons woven throughout it. The film wasn’t originally intended as a comedy, and while the film is primarily meant to entertain younger viewers, it is clear that the creators were also aware of the need to communicate various important messages in an implicit fashion. Events around the time of the film’s release were tarnishing the upkeep of global stability and the general faith felt in humanity; the 9/11 terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address where the “axis of evil” phrase was first used, and the subsequent invasion of Iraq. With death, danger and insecurity increasingly rampant in the wider world, Ice Age educates the adults of tomorrow with lessons in morality and dignity that the adults of the time were failing to exemplify.
Consequently, Ice Age is riddled with more wisdom than many contemporary children’s animations. Though Manny the woolly mammoth initially begins by resisting Sid the sloth’s desire to migrate together, he eventually changes his mind after finding a baby that he believes Diego, the sabre-toothed tiger, poses a threat to. With Diego’s impeccable tracking skills that can help reunite the baby with its tribe, coupled with Manny’s ability to lead and protect as well as Sid’s loyalty, it is unthinkable that any of them would continue alone. The lesson is that combining everyone’s different attributes, rather than rejecting them, makes you a stronger force together.
Having a sabre-toothed tiger as one of the key characters proves to be a masterstroke decision, as the lessons learned from Diego’s character progression are priceless. He is instantly portrayed as the villain of the film. Yet, after acquainting himself with Manny and Sid, his previous views on friendship are challenged, and he eventually abandons his cut-throat pack of fellow tigers. When Diego realises that friendship is virtuous, the trio are then each able to transform one another for the better. This provides comfort to the close-minded viewer stuck in their ways and thoughts. Ice Age demonstrates that it is never too late to change your mind and do the right thing, a lesson that never loses its sense of urgency or importance. The film also sheds light on perseverance, facing your fears, being a good friend and what it takes to be a family (and not necessarily a family related by blood). The significance and worth of these lessons, particularly to children, is indisputable.
Scrat, the prehistoric squirrel, plays a considerably more minor role than the other characters. However, he is famously known for his desire to get to his acorn (an admirably singular vision of happiness). Every time he tries to do this, a catastrophic event occurs which catalyses the next disaster, in one of cinema’s most amusing illustrations of chaos theory. Though he’s on the sidelines, his impact is clearly illustrated to be far-reaching. Scrat’s ability to trigger a disaster does not diminish, even twenty thousand years after he was frozen into a block of ice. He is washed up on the shores of a tropical island, and is able to break free from the ice block due to the warm weather melting it. Though relieved, he is unable to retrieve the acorn that was frozen in the same ice block as he was—it is washed away by the ocean. He channels his anger by stomping a coconut into the ground, which results in the eruption of a volcano. Perhaps the soon-to-be-released original series, Scrat Tales, will only further reinforce the message to younger viewers that even an ‘insignificant’ character can have a profound effect on the world.
Many twenty-somethings now will remember being treated to watching Ice Age a countless number of times at school during golden time, break time or whenever the teacher deemed it worthwhile. As children, it can be easy to miss the lessons taught by the film, and simply be entertained by the enjoyable story. However, film criticism has shone an increasingly bright light on how important films can be as a tool of socialising us into well-rounded individuals with a strong sense of morality. This is something that was certainly achieved by Ice Age. We should be thankful that such a popular childhood film is also so cleverly raw and honest.
Ice Age is currently available to stream on Disney+.
Words by Emily Bell
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