Techtite DVD Reviews

The Film: If there was an Academy Award for "Best First Three Minutes of a Movie," this film would win without contest. Saluting the classic slapstick cartoon days of Tom & Jerry and Daffy Duck, a fluffy, realistic-looking, computer animated, saber-toothed squirrel is seen desperately trying to bury his acorn for the winter. Trouble is, this isn't just winter; it's the Ice Age. His attempt to stomp the acorn into the ice causes a small crack that expands into a whole avalanche. The comedy ensues as Scrat-the-squirrel instinctively tries to both retrieve the nut, and not get cartoonishly pummeled by the falling ice; a hilarious prologue to the latest computer-animated children's tale.

However, after those three minutes pass, what is left? Well, aside from some nicely interspersed comedy relief from Scrat the squirrel, there's the core story of all the animals migrating south for the Ice Age...except three, that is. These three are the wooly mammoth Manfred (voice by Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the Sabertooth tiger (Denis Leary). They've come across a human baby who needs to be taken north, to the nearest man-village. Well, actually, it's only Manfred and Sid who are interested in that; Diego is tagging along just long enough to steal the baby, and bring it back to his tiger friends as revenge for the human hunters killing most of their pack. You may wonder if Diego will discover the true meaning of compassion and tenderness in time, so they can return the baby to safety. Let's just say, this is a children's film, and leave the spoilers at that.

Of course, this is not a documentary; this is an animated comedy, so the strength here is in the jokes, not scientific accuracy. My favorite of the former includes a female sloth who muses to her friend why she likes the look of Sid, "All the nice ones are usually...eaten!" Baby rhinos (or whatever) play in a tar pit on their way migrating south, only to have their dad chastise them, "Come on; you can play 'extinction' later!" In the spirit of similar bird-humor from films like Chicken Run is a pack of do-dos who when threatened resort to "Tae-kwan-do-do." When the resulting "struggle" sends many of the do-dos off the nearby cliff like morons, the surviving birds muse, "There goes our last female..." Sure, many of these jokes will go over many kids' heads, though they'll keep you chuckling long enough to enjoy the film almost as much as your kids do, whenever Scrat the squirrel is on screen.

However, did the film's production crew leave science out entirely? Nope. Science teachers and students will admire the fact that the script chose characters that were not extinct at the time of the Ice Age. That means there's no, "Yeah, T-rexes didn't exist then, though they're popular; let's put one in anyway!" On the other hand, I personally would've chosen a more appealing main character than the drooling-voiced Sid the Sloth...even if, indeed, such animals existed during the Ice Age. On the flip side, there is little attention to the "circle of life" rule of nature here, though who cares; this isn't one of those gory, nature-channel documentaries where we see the tiger eat its helpless prey...and thank heaven for that; I went with my three nephews and niece to see this film!

Of course, there is no shortage of computer animation these days. Dreamworks is still gloating over their Golden Globe nomination for Shrek, and of course Disney/Pixar had the successful Monsters Inc just a short time ago. However, Blue Sky's animation team brings with them a lot of bold, daring concepts to keep Ice Age from being "just another CGI fairy tale." For one thing, nearly all the characters are covered in fur, unlike the majority of plastic-looking Monsters Inc. characters, who often looked like they were made to resemble the toys based on the film, more than the other way around. As for Shrek, well, let's just say it had its moments of spiking the ball in the PG-13 humor dept., which this film never dares. For families with kids under 10, this is great news.

The DVD: While some may think it's a clone of the similar offering on Monsters Inc.'s DVD, the best offering here is a totally new CGI animated film short, "Scrat's Missing Adventure." However, I sense this is actually just responding to the critical outcry, for MORE SCRAT! That little mischievous prehistoric squirrel was the best part of this film. Here, he is shown finally reaching his acorn stockpile, only to have yet another calamity. Such hilarity almost rivals Chuck Jones and Tex Avery back in their prime.

However, after seeing that clip around 20 times, what's left? Well, that's the good news: this is another one of those two-discs-in-one-DVD-case deals. Disc one includes the film, which can be shown either in full screen, or in a faux widescreen (aspect ratio 1.85:1). To be honest, this faux widescreen is exactly what most so-called "full screen" versions do on other films, only to sell it separately (not to name names, Spider-Man, though that was NO "widescreen" DVD; see my review!), so a sign of honesty is a good way to start a DVD review. There's an option audio commentary by director Chris Wedge and co-director Carlos Saldanha, plus a trio of interactive games for the kids. For further extras, we move on to disc two...

In addition to Scrat's missing adventure, disc two offers another CGI film short called "Bunny," which herald's Blue Sky Studio's Oscar-Winning moment in the computer animation biz. Adding to the fun is a collection of all the promo spots Scrat did on the FOX network during the time this film was released, to help promote it. More inspired is the offering "Sid on Sid," where a la Mystery Science Theater 3000, Sid "himself" is scene in a mock movie theater as key scenes play on screen, as "he" comments on them. Topping off similar CGI shorts are the obligatory teasers and trailers, most of which also starred Scrat.

Of course, there's also the deleted scenes, though considering this is a CGI film --where every scene is very costly and time consuming-- it's surprising how much of these scenes is actually completed, and able to be enjoyed. There are six in all, starting with "Paying Toll with Aardvarks," where Sid tries to get food by telling a trio of Aardvark's they need to pay a "toll" to him to pass by. A similar scene involves an apparently abandoned female sloth character named Sylvia, who Sid the Sloth wants to get away from, alluding to the how and why he eventually migrates north with Manny and Diego. Scene # 3 involves Diego, where it's further alluded to why he alone was sent to retrieve the baby; he is the leader of the pack's second in command, and most trusted of the tigers.

The deletions continue. Scene #4 is one probably wisest to have been left out of the film, where the baby's diaper is changed (off screen) with Sid's comment "No more fruit for you!" and the disposal of the diaper (as I said, a wise deletion). Scene #5 involves Sid returning to the two female sloths without the baby, leading to him becoming a letch and inevitably getting kicked in the crotch. The final scene involves yet another deletion of the abandoned character, Sylvia Sloth, where she meets up with Sid post-groin-kick and Sid uses Diego, unsuccessfully, to try to convince her he's about to be eaten and she must go. Seeing as how the best part of this scene is the one re-integrated elsewhere about Diego "not eating junk food," it's probably best this was deleted as well.

Other offerings are more technical. Among the best of these is "Animation Progression," which brilliantly used the "angle" button on your DVD remote to see alternate versions of three separate scenes, as they appear in various stages of animation: storyboards, 3D layout, Unrendered animation, final render, and composite of all the above. There is also a behind-the-scenes-featurette, "Behind the Ice," which can also be seen in chapters (9 in all). Of similar amusement is the video clip titled "International Ice Age," where you get to see a scene slowly progress, as the language changes to French, Italian, German, Swedish, Polish, Greek, Cantonese, Korean, and more. Design galleries top off this final batch of techie-extras.

Even without the hilarious missing adventure of Scrat's, this is a nice DVD to own. I look very forward to more "Blue Sky Productions" animated films --both short and feature length-- in the future. If such a movie involves Scrat, I'm even more thrilled.

	Final Rating : Large Crater. While a film short of Scrat the Saber-toothed Squirrel would've been cooler, this is another fine example of computer animation being the next best wave of children's entertainment.
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Techtite's DVD Reviews!

Ice Age

A Techtite Review