The first release for any studio, not just in animation, is always a risky one. Not only are you betting on the movie being a success, you're counting on it being a big enough success that you can make another movie or game. Basing your first project on a well known source has worked in the past, but what if you wanted to create a whole new original franchise? Blue Sky, as does any studio, had a lot riding on their first release, and in the end, was the risk worth the reward?
While everyone is migrating to the south to avoid the ice age, a mammoth named Manfred goes the opposite way and meet with a sloth named Sid. Meanwhile, a pack of Sabre-tooth Tigers are attacking a human settlement in revenge. They plan to steal a newborn, however their plans are thwarted when the mother jumps off of a near-by waterfall with the infant in her hands. She comes across Manny and Sid and the two try to return the infant to the human settlement, with the help of a Sabre-tooth tiger named Diego. But, Diego has other things planned. The plot is a simple characters go on adventure plot, where the characters will end up in one situation and interact and react, and then move along. This type of plot is dependant on having good characters and interesting settings.
On the character aspect, each character is delightful and charming. Manfred is a grump that gets annoyed by Sid. Sid is naive, clueless and very talkative, but he does know when he should shut his mouth at times. Diego seems to be collected, sophisticated and cunning, but we do get to see a more childish side to him at points. As the movie progresses, we get to see the characters grow and change, we see why Manny is generally grumpy, we see Diego go from luring Manny and Sid into a trap to seeing them as good friends. Character growth is the heart of this movie, and the characters bounce of each other so well. Side characters appear occasionally throughout the movie as well. Characters like the Dodos and Scrat are very humorous and lead to some of the film's funniest scenes. The movie does not struggle with it's characters.
When it comes to the humour, this movie might be one of the funniest animated movies I've ever seen. The movie has lots of different jokes, slapstick, reference, and just funny character interaction. One of my personal favourites is when, after a crazy ice slide, which ends with our trio smashing into a wall of snow, and Diego bursts out of a pile of snow in excitement. I really don't want to spoil a lot of the humour of this movie, but how can I not share things like the Dodos and when Scrat gives them directions via charades. However, the movie isn't just joke after joke, as the film gives the characters lots of emotional moments, like in a cave full of paintings and when Manny and Sid come across the human mother and her infant. These moments are done beautifully with the right music and atmosphere. Ice Age is one of the more surprising movies I've seen in this regard, one would not expect a comedy like this to have such well done emotional scenes.
While the animation does look dated, the movie still looks really good. Lighting and shadow are used really well and the animators made good use of their chosen colour palates. Scenes like the icy cave are full of blues, a small cave where they sit by a fire is warmly lit, the cave paintings scene is animated in a different visual style, helping it to stand out from the rest of the movie. Despite this, the movie does have a lot of browns and whites and these colours are not very appealing to look at, but I think the movie has enough visual pleasing scenes to balance it all out. While Ice Age may not have the best looking animation, models do have that gummy/plastic look that most dated CG animation has, it's definitely not terrible, and I have to give the animation and design team all the credit for making what they had work.
It's not much of a mystery why Ice Age was successful enough to keep Blue Sky Studios around. I was honestly thinking that this movie was one of those movies that you liked the most as a kid, but as you get older you kind of fall out of it, but thankfully, this movie not only had me howling with laughter, but it had me invested in the characters, impressed with the animation, and even feeling for the characters. It's no wonder they kept making sequel after sequel, though I've heard they're not as good as the first movie. Overall, Ice Age is funny, exciting, and even heart-warming at points. I think this is a good movie to show to children, and I'd even recommend adults sticking around to watch it with them for the sheer enjoyment of the movie. Yeah, this movie get's my high rating, and that's a surprise even for me.
While everyone is migrating to the south to avoid the ice age, a mammoth named Manfred goes the opposite way and meet with a sloth named Sid. Meanwhile, a pack of Sabre-tooth Tigers are attacking a human settlement in revenge. They plan to steal a newborn, however their plans are thwarted when the mother jumps off of a near-by waterfall with the infant in her hands. She comes across Manny and Sid and the two try to return the infant to the human settlement, with the help of a Sabre-tooth tiger named Diego. But, Diego has other things planned. The plot is a simple characters go on adventure plot, where the characters will end up in one situation and interact and react, and then move along. This type of plot is dependant on having good characters and interesting settings.
On the character aspect, each character is delightful and charming. Manfred is a grump that gets annoyed by Sid. Sid is naive, clueless and very talkative, but he does know when he should shut his mouth at times. Diego seems to be collected, sophisticated and cunning, but we do get to see a more childish side to him at points. As the movie progresses, we get to see the characters grow and change, we see why Manny is generally grumpy, we see Diego go from luring Manny and Sid into a trap to seeing them as good friends. Character growth is the heart of this movie, and the characters bounce of each other so well. Side characters appear occasionally throughout the movie as well. Characters like the Dodos and Scrat are very humorous and lead to some of the film's funniest scenes. The movie does not struggle with it's characters.
When it comes to the humour, this movie might be one of the funniest animated movies I've ever seen. The movie has lots of different jokes, slapstick, reference, and just funny character interaction. One of my personal favourites is when, after a crazy ice slide, which ends with our trio smashing into a wall of snow, and Diego bursts out of a pile of snow in excitement. I really don't want to spoil a lot of the humour of this movie, but how can I not share things like the Dodos and when Scrat gives them directions via charades. However, the movie isn't just joke after joke, as the film gives the characters lots of emotional moments, like in a cave full of paintings and when Manny and Sid come across the human mother and her infant. These moments are done beautifully with the right music and atmosphere. Ice Age is one of the more surprising movies I've seen in this regard, one would not expect a comedy like this to have such well done emotional scenes.
While the animation does look dated, the movie still looks really good. Lighting and shadow are used really well and the animators made good use of their chosen colour palates. Scenes like the icy cave are full of blues, a small cave where they sit by a fire is warmly lit, the cave paintings scene is animated in a different visual style, helping it to stand out from the rest of the movie. Despite this, the movie does have a lot of browns and whites and these colours are not very appealing to look at, but I think the movie has enough visual pleasing scenes to balance it all out. While Ice Age may not have the best looking animation, models do have that gummy/plastic look that most dated CG animation has, it's definitely not terrible, and I have to give the animation and design team all the credit for making what they had work.
It's not much of a mystery why Ice Age was successful enough to keep Blue Sky Studios around. I was honestly thinking that this movie was one of those movies that you liked the most as a kid, but as you get older you kind of fall out of it, but thankfully, this movie not only had me howling with laughter, but it had me invested in the characters, impressed with the animation, and even feeling for the characters. It's no wonder they kept making sequel after sequel, though I've heard they're not as good as the first movie. Overall, Ice Age is funny, exciting, and even heart-warming at points. I think this is a good movie to show to children, and I'd even recommend adults sticking around to watch it with them for the sheer enjoyment of the movie. Yeah, this movie get's my high rating, and that's a surprise even for me.
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