This is the first of what was to become a series of animated films with animal characters living in the ice age. Ostensibly for children, it carries a PG rating. It could be because of some of the mild violence that's shown, and some of the scary characters – notably the lions. But more than likely, it's because of the humorous dialog that at times is adult. Indeed, I think "Ice Age" and it's follow-up films were made more for adults than for kids. It is funny and entertaining, and I think suitable for the whole family. It's one of a small field of films that all ages will sit still for. The little tykes like the fuzzy, cute and bug-eyed animal characters. The young kids and teens will like the action and antics. And adults mostly will enjoy the dialog. This one was a big hit and the sequels continue to draw the crowds. So long as the writers can come up with new ideas for plots, Manny, Sid, Diego and a nameless crazy squirrel could be around a long time. Maybe even to the next ice age.

This film is set in the Ice Age and tells how a mammoth, a sloth, and a sabertooth tiger join forces to return a human child to his father. Directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, has voice actors like Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Film.This is not a film I consider remarkable, but it's funny enough to not consider for lost the time I spent watching it. Although not easy to understand for young children, the film is appealing enough. Playing with the animals existing at the time, the script creates a situation, implausible but funny, involving a human child and a group of animals, predators and preys, united in a joint effort.The characters are not the most interesting but Diego, a tiger torn between loyalty to his brothers and friendship with fellow travelers, and Manfred, a mammoth mourning his dead family, deserve some positive highlight, giving the film a touch of maturity. The more negative note goes to Sid, an unpleasantly greenish sloth, which associates a grotesque aspect to an endless collection of stupid moments. Unfortunately, this creature is the largest attempt to make this movie something funny. The intelligent humor of other characters works better, making more digestible a film that, without it, it would be quite silly. The squirrel can also be very funny.The work of animators is regular and fulfills its role. The voice actors did a good job, particularly Leguizamo, who gave voice to Sid. The soundtrack hardly exists or stands out in the film.

I really love this movie. It is so funny and so adorable, and really interesting. I love the concept, which at the time was completely new. The cast did a great job of voice acting and the story is just so good. I especially love Sid.In this movie, back when the Earth was covered with ice and overrun with glaciers, and animals that no longer exist need to hurry to find a safe place to be when the Ice Age happens. Sid, a sloth, Manny, a woolly mammoth and Diego, a sabre-toothed tiger, all have to work together to get a child back to his home, with people. They come up against many obstacles, but manage to overcome the all.Overall, I give this movie a 9 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Amazing.

If you want a showcase presentation for your big-screen Blu-Ray TV, "Ice Age" is a good way to go. It's brilliantly animated, with amazing texture and detail. As a story, it's more than a bit sloppy, and the humor is hit-and-miss, but it does get better as it goes and makes for painless companion viewing with the little 'uns.Long before the dawn of modern man, we join a migration of prehistoric mammals – heading north instead of south. For Manfred (Ray Romano), a mammoth, and Sid (John Leguizamo), a giant sloth, it's less a marriage of convenience than the fact they have no one else. They meet an abandoned Neanderthal baby and a saber-toothed tiger named Diego (Denis Leary) with an unhealthy interest in taking the kid for himself. The three work out a deal to deliver the kid to its missing father. Diego's true motives are just the start of their trouble.Basically an animated, kid-friendly version of the John Wayne cowboy flick "3 Godfathers," "Ice Age" presents a harsh winterscape of high imagination. An early example of a fully computer-animated movie produced not by Pixar or Dreamworks but the smaller Blue Sky Studios, "Ice Age" is remarkable for its tactile depiction of snow and water as well as the strange beasts long extinct that make up its cast.It's not all that funny or engaging on its own. The banter is merry but tends to be unmemorable."How do we know it's the Ice Age," we hear one critter ask."Because of all the ice!" answers another.The best things about the movie, beyond the sheer spectacle of it, are the voice work of the main actors and David Newman's infectious musical score. Co-directors Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha seem more amused by the plight of "Ice Age's" luckless critters than they have a right to be, particularly a poor sabre-tooth squirrel named Scrat whose attempts at securing an acorn unleash a lot of Chuck- Jones-style mayhem without the twisted joy of those classic cartoons of yore. Any time the action shifts to Scrat, I wince a little, but the kids will like it if they are anything like the twisted brats I know.The film does get better as the relationships between the characters develop. The Diego story arc, as predictable and hokey as it is, pays off rather well. To enjoy "Ice Age," you have to believe in the threat behind the story, and Diego provides much of that. Leary is very good at working the menace into the jokes, and vice versa, though Leguizamo is easily the funniest of the trio, while Romano makes for a solidly enjoyable center.Some things are not well explained, like the reason Manfred is so determined to journey north in the first place and why he puts up with the annoying Sid for so long. The film moves a bit too slow, even after it brings together our core foursome but especially before that. An emphasis on sentimentality, like multiple close-ups of the spritely Neanderthal baby and Manfred's backstory as revealed in some cave drawings, give "Ice Age" a weightiness it doesn't really earn. You just know the directors want to get the theater sniffling, as they admit in their DVD commentary.The best scenes do have the power to bring out the kid in anyone. If Blue Sky ever opens their own Magic Kingdom, I hope they offer an ice-tunnel ride or Sid Slalom of the kind we get to enjoy here. The film plays too much to its core demographic that way, but I found it preferable at times to the more adult sensibility of snarky Shrek or the Pixar factory.