Ice Age

The first Ice Age is perhaps the finest family film in the franchise and has a beautifully moving story that, alongside the central quest to find a bunch of people who need to return their stinky cub, offers a perfect introduction to universally wonderful characters and their different life attitudes, while the short runtime fits it like a glove and will not bore either a four-year-old or a caring septuagenarian grandmother. But for this glorious animated film to attack the top rungs of the genre, it would have to apply less downright childish humour (although some of the adult jokes are brilliant - "Modern architecture. It'll never last."), and a little less self-importance and sentimentality, which somewhat clashes with the film's biggest highlight, a crazy squirrel trying to find the best place to stick his acorn. From my point of view, the more daring third one wins, which is much more packed and more interesting story-wise... 85% (04/18/2011)

The sentimentality at the end is too much, but I still give it four stars, especially for the brilliant scene with the flock of dodos and the squirrel sketch. If you want to enjoy the squirrel more, check out the Gone Nutty DVD bonus with it, it's better than the whole movie put together. (05/18/2003)

My favorite animated film that is always somehow able to get to me. The strange trio of prehistoric creatures, supplemented by a cute little creature, has such a very strange poetics, humor, kindness and tension in it, which often works incredibly allusively for an animated film - for example, Manny's wordless memory in an ice cave... The eye play of those computer-generated creatures is flawless and one learns to love them, even by forgiving them for the thinner plot, which is set up by excellent (but still only) digressions. It is probably useless to talk about the tragic character of the Scrat squirrel, for which even the timeless and wandering Ahasver would shed a tear. (12/26/2006)

“Well, that’s the ice age for you..." Dr. Emmet Brown might have said. But he would have been surprised what fun they had back then. Primeval squirrel Scratch and its bonus adventure on DVD are so timeless, cult and the best thing I ever saw of classic animated slapstick gets a clear five stars. Unfortunately the main feature is simply rather bland family average. (03/29/2005)

Very nice. A pleasant little watch, I might say :). For the time it was made, the animation is more than decent and considering it’s “just" a movie for kids the story is very good and has some really strong moments. The prehistoric critters are all amazing, starting with the piggies, ending with Scrat and in fact you’ll end up loving them all. The main trio is excellently chosen and give us great entertainment the whole journey to find the mute representatives of our species. And the little squirt was just adorable. In short, I would happily watch Ice Age again anytime. (12/26/2006)

Unlike Shrek or other animated films, Ice Age totally won me over—and that squirrel absolutely stole my heart! :) (02/24/2009)

It's now essentially a classic fairy tale of modern animation. Great characters carry a fairly straightforward story about a group of animals trying to save a human child. The squirrel also helps a lot, becoming an independent brand within the film and getting more space in subsequent sequels. I think once you see this film, you'll remember the characters, and it will leave an impression on you. (12/28/2013)