Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)

Director:

Carlos Saldanha

Writers:

Gerry Swallow (writer) and
Peter Gaulke (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 March 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Kiss Your Ice Goodbye

Plot:

Diego, Manny and Sid return in this sequel to the hit Ice Age. This time around the Ice Age is over and is starting to melt, which will destroy their valley. So they must unite and warn everyone about the situation.

Plot Keywords:

Valley | Mammoth | Squirrel | Sloth | Tiger

Awards:

3 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ray Romano	...	Manny (voice)
John Leguizamo	...	Sid (voice)
Denis Leary	...	Diego (voice)
Seann William Scott	...	Crash (voice)
Josh Peck	...	Eddie (voice)
Queen Latifah	...	Ellie (voice)
Will Arnett	...	Lone Gunslinger Vulture (voice)
Jay Leno	...	Fast Tony (voice)
Chris Wedge	...	Scrat (voice)
Peter Ackerman	...	Dung Beetle Dad (voice)
Caitlin Rose Anderson	...	Glypto Boy Billy / Beaver Girl (voice)
Connor Anderson	...	Rhino Boy / Beaver Boy (voice)
Joseph Bologna	...	Mr. Start (voice)
Jack Crocicchia	...	Elk Boy (voice)
Peter DeSève	...	Condor Chick (voice)

Also Known As:

Ice Age 2 (Singapore: English title) (USA) (working title)
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (USA) (trailer title)
Ice Age: The Meltdown (UK)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and innuendo.

Runtime:

91 min | Philippines:90 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | UK:U | Finland:K-7 | Ireland:G | Malaysia:U | Singapore:G | Brazil:Livre | Australia:PG | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Argentina:Atp | Germany:o.Al. | France:U | Norway:7 | Sweden:7 | Philippines:G | Portugal:M/6 | USA:PG (certificate #42465) | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Peru:PT | New Zealand:PG | Canada:G (Ontario)

Company:

Blue Sky Studios

Trivia:

Some of the Scrat sequences (e.g., the fight with the piranha, the encounter with the baby bird) were originally conceived for the opening sequence of this film, but were cut for time.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The two sea reptiles (Cretaceous and Maelstrom) were frozen in the ice, but in the era that they lived in, there was no place on Earth cold enough to generate ice.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mr. Start: Oy, this global warming is *killing* me!
Mrs. Start: This is too *hot*, the Ice Age was too *cold*, what will it take to make you happy? Aah!
[the ice that she is sitting on cracks and she falls into the water]
Mr. Start: *This* I like!

Movie Connections:

References Jerry Maguire (1996)

Soundtrack:

The Way You Look Tonight

Still cool but less solid the second time around

Manny the woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego (Dennis Leary) the saber-toothed tiger embark on yet another journey in "Ice Age: Meltdown, "the sequel from the 2002 blockbuster by Blue Sky Studios and released by 20th Century Fox. This time, ice is melting and a great flood is threatening to drown all animals in the valley in three days, much to the delight of vultures who are keen on having a buffet with the bodies of those who will be unfortunate enough not to outlive it. The only way to survive is to get to an "ark" at the other end of the valley. Along the way, they meet Ellie (Queen Latifah), perhaps the only other mammoth left aside from Manny, but unfortunately, thinks of herself as a possum, with her "brothers" Crash and Eddie (Sean William Scott and Josh Peck... who's who, I don't know because I never got to track their names).

"Ice Age: Meltdown" is, first and foremost, the inevitable sequel. And while it is still an enjoyable movie, it's very clearly more, or less (depending on how you would look at it), of the same. It still follows up from the first one, but all in all it feels that there wasn't enough material to hold a full-length movie that the character of Scrat has been given more screen time even if what he does trying to get his acorn doesn't advance the plot at all, albeit helping the film reach barely an hour and a half. While this movie still does manage to amuse from time to time, on the whole the plot feels more obligatory and jokes seem to be a little bit more blunt.

That's not to say "Ice Age: Meltdown" is a total waste because it does still have a few aces up its sleeve. Latifah brings a brilliant performance on her character Ellie, as are Scott and Peck on Ellie's two "brothers." And while much of the first two parts of the film lags, it builds up during the climax and from there never lets go. The animation looks quite excellent as well.

It still has enough wit and laughs to support it most of the time but it's really much more of a standard film than the first one, and the animation genre in general doesn't reach new levels with this. Still, it's one of the better sequels there is, and it's a cool way to start the summer (in this side of the world, that is).