Manny, Diego, Sid, and Scrat are back, but their prehistoric home is about to be flooded by the Ice Age meltdown.
Manny the mammoth (Ray Romano), Diego the saber-tooth tiger (Denis Leary), and Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo), and friends are living in a peaceful valley. The glaciers are all about them but they just use them for waterslides. Armadillo Fast Tony (Jay Leno) arrives to sell his wares but also predicts the end of the world. He’s met with the usual skepticism reserved for snake oil salesmen, but Manny and friends discover that the ice is truly melting and the valley will be flooded. The vultures are happy since the more die – the more they eat.
So our pre-hysterical friends set out to cross the valley to find a way to escape the impending flood. Along the way our trio meets Ellie (Queen Latifah) another mammoth. Manny was thinking that he was the only mammoth and his kind were extinct. Ellie has an identity crisis because she thinks that she’s a possum. In fact, she has her two possum brothers, Eddie (Josh Peck) and Crash (Seann William Scott), in tow. They decide to join Manny, Sid, and Diego to outrun the flood. Meanwhile, Scrat has his usual troubles trying to take possession of the ever elusive acorn.
Along the way Manny and Ellie (the possum) have to decide if they’re going to have an “interspecies” romance, Sid is mistaken for a fire god, Diego has to overcome his fear of water, and some prehistoric fish beasties are being thawed out by the melting ice and out to eat all they can (not to mention the vultures looking to do the same – though they prefer dead meat).
Ice Age - The Meltdown has the same charm and fun of the original and if you’re a fan of it then you’ll enjoy this sequel. Though I think that someone not familiar with the original will enjoy it as well. Romano, Leary, and Leguizamo provide some fine vocal work as they did in the original. Queen Latifah also adds some fun as Ellie the possum/mammoth. Eddie and Crash are voiced well by Peck and Scott and add some goofy comedy relief as the two possums who are always getting into trouble.
There’s also some tension as the underwater beasties attack our friends and we wonder if they’ll be able to outrun the ever increasing wall of water. I’d have to say that this sequel is on par with the original and, even better, adds another dimension and likeable characters to the Ice Age franchise.
Ice Age - The Meltdown is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. A fullscreen edition is also available separately. Special features are more geared towards the kiddies, but adults will find something to like in there as well. First up is the 7 minute “No Time for Nuts” which is another adventure of the indestructible, acorn loving Scrat who finds a time machine and is thrown around in time chasing his beloved acorn.
For the adults, we have two commentaries. The first is a solo track from director Carlos Saldanha. The second is a crew commentary with producer Lori Forte, art director Thomas Cardone, materials supervisor Michael Eringis, animation supervisors James Bresnahan, Galen Tan Chu, and Michael Thurmeier, effects supervisor David Esneault, story artist Chris Renaud, lead animator Aaron Hartline, technical animation lead Matthew D. Simmons, and senior lighting lead Andrew Beddini. Next is a 1 minute collection of “Crash and Eddie Stunts” (alternate gags with the two characters).
“The Animator’s Director’s Chair” allows you to take 6 scenes and see it in several different stages (storyboard, layout, animation, combo, and final product). “Meet Crash and Eddie” is a 2 minute featurette that talks about our two troublesome possums. It interviews director Carlos Saldanha, producer Lori Forte, and character designer Peter De Seve. “Meet Ellie” is also 2 minutes and chats about Ellie with Saldanha and Forte. “Lost Historical Films” is 6 short films (in the style of old black and white filmstrips) that highlights each of the species of our main characters (John Leguizamo narrates his segment, but somebody else does the others).
“Scrat’s Piranha Smackdown Sound Effects Lab” takes the 30 second encounter and allows you to play it with 5 different sets of sounds (animals, car noises, classic cartoons, human noises, and musical instruments). Next is the 17 second “Outtake Prank” (sorta like a deleted scene). “Silly Sid and John Leguizamo” highlights Sid and the voice behind him. It interviews executive producer Christopher Meledandri, Peter De Seve, Saldanha, and John Leguizamo. “Music Montage” runs 1 minute and has behind the scenes footage played to “Ice, Ice, Baby.”
Leguizamo again hosts the 4 minute “Sloth Dancing to Sid’s Sing Along” which shows you the moves to dance along with Sid’s fire god sequence. “Marketing the Meltdown” contains a cameo that Scrat did on Family Guy and bits that Sid did to host an evening of animation on Fox. DVD-ROM features include some more games and links to websites. There’s also 4 arcade games and a collection of trailers. Last, but not least, is a 1 minute unfinished scene from the upcoming Simpsons movie.
Ice Age - The Meltdown is a fun film that the whole family can enjoy. It’s one of those rare sequels that is at least on par with the original and features some beautiful animation and fine vocal work. The disc adds some nice special features that both the kids and adults can enjoy. Well worth the time.
Ice Age – The Meltdown is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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