Ice Age is an American media franchise created by Michael J. Wilson, co-developed and based on an idea by Lori Forte. The franchise, centering on a group of mammals surviving the Pleistocene ice age, consists of computer-animated films, short films, TV specials and a series of video games. The first five films were produced by Blue Sky Studios, a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Animation (now 20th Century Animation), and distributed by its then-parent company 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios). The series features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Chris Wedge across all films, with Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Simon Pegg, Wanda Sykes, Keke Palmer, and Jennifer Lopez joining the main cast in subsequent films. The films center mainly on the adventures of "the Herd," which since the first film consists of at least woolly mammoth Manny (Romano), ground sloth Sid (Leguizamo), and Smilodon Diego (Leary). The franchise also features mostly independent plotlines involving a dialogue-free saber-toothed squirrel named Scrat (Wedge), who ends up in misadventures from trying to retrieve and bury his acorns, the latter act creates a chain of events that sets up the various adventures of the protagonists.
Five theatrical films have been released in the series: Ice Age in 2002, Ice Age: The Meltdown in 2006, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 2009, Ice Age: Continental Drift in 2012, and Ice Age: Collision Course in 2016. As of April 2016, the franchise had generated $6 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The franchise's films have received mixed-to-negative critical reviews with exception of the first film.
A standalone spin-off film, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Animation without the involvement of Blue Sky and released exclusively on Disney+ in January 2022, with Simon Pegg being the only returning cast member. A sixth film, Ice Age: Boiling Point, is in production under 20th Century Animation without Blue Sky's involvement for release on February 5, 2027, with most of the main cast reprising their roles from previous installments.
Films Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriters Story by Producer(s) Composer Main series Ice Age Chris Wedge Michael Berg and Michael J. Wilson and Peter Ackerman Michael J. Wilson Lori Forte David Newman The Meltdown Carlos Saldanha Peter Gaulke & Gerry Swallow and Jim Hecht Peter Gaulke & Gerry Swallow John Powell Dawn of the Dinosaurs Michael Berg & Peter Ackerman and Mike Reiss and Yoni Brenner Jason Carter Eaton Lori Forte and John C. Donkin Continental Drift Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier Michael Berg and Jason Fuchs Michael Berg and Lori Forte Collision Course Michael Thurmeier Michael Wilson and Michael Berg and Yoni Brenner Aubrey Solomon Lori Forte John Debney Boiling Point John C. Donkin Lori Forte and Patrick Worlock Batu Sener Spin-off The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild John C. Donkin Jim Hecht and William Schifrin & Ray DeLaurentis Jim Hecht Denise L. Rottina Batu Sener
Main series Ice Age (2002)
Sid, a goofy but good-natured sloth, is left behind by his family and the herds of mammals journeying to the south. He meets Manny, a cynical and loner woolly mammoth who is travelling to the north, and decides to follow him, much to Manny's disdain. Along the way, the pair come across a woman who has jumped down the nearby waterfall in a desperate bid to protect her child after their camp was attacked by saber-toothed tigers. She silently pushes the infant towards Manny and Sid before disappearing into the water. The two animals decide to search for the father and return the baby to him.
The villainous Soto, leader of the sabers, instructs his second in command, Diego, to bring the baby to him so he can exact his revenge on the child's father, who frequently kills sabers with his tribe for their furs and meat. Diego comes across Manny and Sid and, since they refuse to just give him the child, he pretends to lead them towards the baby's tribe, when really Soto and the rest of the pack wait in an icy mountain range to ambush them, intending on killing Manny and stealing the child. During their journey, the trio bond over the infant and Diego must ultimately decide where his loyalties lie.
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Manny, Sid, and Diego are currently living in a large valley surrounded by an enormously high ice wall on all sides. The trio discovers that the ice wall is actually a dam that is barely holding a massive body of water that could flood the valley. A vulture tells them that there is a boat at the other end of the valley that may save them all, but they only have three days to reach it or die. Manny is also having trouble dealing with the fact that he may be the last mammoth left. Along the way, they meet Ellie, a bubbly female mammoth who thinks she is a possum, and her possum brothers Crash and Eddie. As they travel together, Manny learns, with help from Diego and Sid, that he must move on from his past and open his heart to change. During their journey, Scrat, a sabre-toothed squirrel, has his own adventure.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
Manny and Ellie are happily married and expecting their first child. Scrat falls in love with fellow squirrel Scratte. Diego is anxious about how things will change after Manny becomes a father and considers leaving the Herd. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and steals some dinosaur eggs but after the dino mother comes back for her stolen eggs and takes the talkative sloth home with her, the herd must travel to a colourful underground world to rescue him. During the adventure, Manny and the gang meet Buck, an insane one-eyed weasel who aids them on their quest while hunting down Rudy, a dinosaur to whom Buck lost an eye many years before.
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
Taking place sixteen years after the events of the third film, Manny's overprotective nature causes a rift between him and his teenage daughter, Peaches. Scrat's pursuit of acorns has world-changing consequences, separating Manny, Sid, Diego and Sid's cantankerous Granny from the rest of their group. Things take a dangerous turn when the gang come into conflict with a rag-tag pirate crew led by the sadistic Captain Gutt. As the friends embark on an epic adventure in their desperate bid to return home, Diego grapples with his conflicting feelings for Gutt's first mate, Shira, and Manny struggles to accept that his daughter may be growing up.
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
Five years after the events of the fourth film, Manny and Ellie are planning the upcoming wedding between their daughter, Peaches and the clumsy but sweet Julian. Manny is reluctant to let his daughter marry Julian as he thinks he is a bit of a goof but Peaches urges her father to get to know him. Scrat's pursuit of his elusive acorn catapults him outside of Earth aboard a UFO, where he accidentally sets off a series of intergalactic events that transform and threaten the planet. To save themselves from peril, Manny, Sid, Diego, and the rest of the gang leave their home and reunite with the adventurous Buck, who leads them on a crazy cosmic journey to find a way to save the planet.
Ice Age: Boiling Point (2027)
On the possibility of a sequel, co-director Galen T. Chu stated in June 2016 that there were some ideas for the sixth installment. In July 2016, Bustle noted that the chances of a sixth entry were relatively high but would depend on the box office performance of the fifth film.
In February 2022, Forte discussed the possibility of a sequel while promoting The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, saying, "I think it's a little premature. We hope that people will respond to this, and that will promote us to be able to do another movie. If the audiences want it, we've got plenty of ideas. There's no end to ideas and adventures and characters, so we're ready if they're ready."
In September 2024, while making a guest appearance on the Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! podcast, Leguizamo stated "We're about to do Ice Age 6!", though he did not expand on the comment. On November 8, the film was confirmed to release in 2026 with Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, and Simon Pegg returning. The following week, on November 15, the film was given the release date of December 18, 2026, taking over the slot of an untitled Star Wars film.
On August 30, 2025 at the Destination D23 event held at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, new details about the film were announced, including the new title of Ice Age: Boiling Point and a new release date of February 5, 2027, after Avengers: Doomsday took over the original release date.
More information was revealed at CinemaCon 2026 on April 16, at which three of the film's lead actors were present. An opening sequence with Scrat and Baby Scrat was shown, and Patrick Worlock was announced to be producing the film alongside series regular and co-creator Lori Forte.
Spin-off film The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)
On the possibility of a potential sixth film in the franchise, in June 2016, Galen T. Chu, co-director of the film, stated that there were some ideas for the next installment. In August 2018, CEO of 20th Century Fox Stacey Snider announced that a television series based on Ice Age and centered around the character Buck is in development. In October 2019, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the project was confirmed to be still in development for Disney+. In December 2020, the project was confirmed to have been redeveloped as a film and to be titled Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, centering around Buck going on an adventure in the Dinosaur World with Crash and Eddie.
The film released on January 28, 2022, and features Simon Pegg reprising his role as the title character. All of the other main characters are voiced by different actors. Batu Sener composed the film's score. Unlike the previous Ice Age films released by 20th Century Fox and produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky, the film was produced by 20th Century Animation and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, with the animation services being outsourced to Bardel Entertainment.Disney TV Animation News on Twitter: "Clarifications about ... Date published: November 13, 2021. 9:02AM. Author: @DisneyTVANews Manny, Ellie, Sid, and Diego appear in the film as supporting characters. Various prominent characters were absent from the film, including Scrat, Peaches, Julian, Shira, and Brooke.
Short films
Gone Nutty: A 2002 animated short film directed by Carlos Saldanha. It originally released on the Ice Age DVD. The short features Scrat, who is yet again having troubles with collecting his beloved acorns. The film was nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. No Time for Nuts: a 2006 animated short film directed by Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released on the Ice Age: The Meltdown DVD. The short follows Scrat on a chase after his nut, as he and the nut are sent back and forth through various eras by a frozen time machine. No Time for Nuts was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Surviving Sid: A 2008 animated short film directed by Galen Tan Chu and Karen Disher. It was originally released on the Horton Hears a Who! DVD and Blu-ray. Unlike the first two Ice Age short films, Surviving Sid focuses on Sid, who incompetently "leads" a small group of camping children. Scrat in Love: A re-purposed version of opening minutes of Dawn of the Dinosaurs used as a commercial for digital 3D release of the film. Scrat's Continental Crack-Up: The first of a 2012 two-part animated short film directed by Steve Martino and Michael Thurmeier. It was originally released in theaters alongside Gulliver's Travels and Rio.