Synopsis: The whole world has frozen and a sabre-toothed tiger, sloth and woolly mammoth find a human child separated from his tribe. The three unlikely companion’s band together to help return the baby to his family.

Description: A Twentieth Century Fox animation about friendship set during the Ice Age.

Review: A sloth named Sid and a mammoth named Manny come across a helpless human baby whilst on their lonely migration south; despite their fear and uncertainty about the humans the two animals decide to help return the child to its parents. Along the way they meet a Sabre-toothed tiger named Diego who agrees to help them, but has a more sinister alternative agenda hidden behind his huge fangs.

Though the idea of talking animals is very evocative of Disney, Ice Age is a surprising treat for an animation not produced by the global Disney phenomenon however; it has character and personality, a spark and edge that make it really fun and certainly memorable.

The characters are brilliant, their own personalities and interactions are the basis of much of the comedy, whilst the rest is rooted in the visual or the audiences expectations. It is a remarkably adult movie for a kid’s film with a couple of talking (not to mention extinct) animals in it; and this is what makes it truly special. Children have found plenty of enjoyment in the Ice Age movies but equally adults praise its wit, sentiment and aesthetic.

Although the story may seem a little contrived I urge you to give it a shot, the beauty of this movie is in the telling of its story rather than the story itself; the characters carry this rather unimaginative story through to its climax in a fun, friendly and extremely entertaining manner.

Any review of Ice Age would be incomplete without a reference, however brief, to Scrat, the adorable and totally show stealing acorn obsessed squirrel voiced by Ice Age’s director Chris Wedge; his character alone is worth watching the movie for!