‘Ice Age 2’ survives crass dialogue with smart, silent and squirrelly slapstick
If you, like me, remember American animated films of the 80’s, there seemed to be two competing brands: dominant Disney and then those Don Bluth films. The latter’s films, like “An American Tail” and “The Land Before Time,” were original, well crafted, and still deserve credit despite their place in Disney’s shadow.
Fast forward about twenty years, and you have a somewhat similar situation in the digital animation world. Pixar is obviously the digital animation king, and, other than Dreamworks, Blue Sky Studios is the queen, consistently producing solid pictures.
Example A: “Ice Age: The Meltdown.” This sequel builds upon the optimistic energy of the original while taking some enjoyable chances (like a pack of vultures singing an “Oliver” tune). “Meltdown” has a likable story, cast and particularly great music.
However, the film slides off course only by including PG language in what naturally feels like a G film. To blame are the film’s writers, Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, whose credits include the deplorable “Black Knight” and Saturday Night Live. Consequently the dialogue is sprinkled with akward modern-day coarseness in the first act.
Despite the dismal dialogue, this is still a well-crafted film. The setting is near the end of the world’s ice age. The heroes include the meloncholy mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano), the gruff saber-toothed tiger Diego (voiced by Dennis Leary) and Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo), a dim but affable sloth. The three make up an unconventional herd enjoying warming weather with other animals of the past.
Thanks to an animal seeming to be the world’s first con artist (voiced by Jay Leno), the herd discovers that they are living right next to a breaking dam. Thus, another exodus from the ice begins. Along the way, Manny, the film’s true protagonist, meets a female mammoth (charmingly voiced by Queen Latifah) who coincidentally thinks she’s a possum.
Just as notable is how ‘Meltdown’ smartly gives much screen time to Scrat, the movie’s mascot – half squirrel, half rat. Scrat never says a word, and exists only to gather acorns. The Scrat sequences actually remind me a lot of silent comedies – where facial expressions and movement proved words unnecessary. I noticed that the theater, full of children, was silent whenever Scrat twitched his way on screen. I hope filmmakers note that showing (as opposed to explaining) always wins over an audience.
For its opening weekend, “Ice Age: The Meltdown” took in almost $70 million, a record high for the month of March. Studio heads stated this week that another Ice Age film is practically guaranteed, after completion of Blue Sky’s next film, “Horton Hears a Who.” Long live the queen.
Chris Blakesley is a film critic for the Utah Statesman. Comments and questions can be sent to him at
cblakes@cc.usu.edu.