The series; The Ice Age holds a special spot in our hearts. The Blue Sky Studios’ feature debut made a super hit and inspired many other studios to make a product that consists of epic adventure, humor, and most importantly, which hits us with nostalgia.
However, Blue Sky Studios were shut down in 2021, and original distribution partner 20th Century Fox is going to handle their production.
Since its first release in 2002, there have been 5 more releases of the Ice Age saga with the latest being Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild.
What is the correct order of the Ice Age movies?
The correct order of the “Ice Age” movies is as follows:
| Movie Title | Release Date | Box Office Earnings |
| Ice Age | 2002 | $383 million |
| Ice Age: The Meltdown | 2006 | $660 million |
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | 2009 | $886 million |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | 2012 | $877 million |
| Ice Age: Collision Course | 2016 | $408 million |
Watching the Ice Age Saga in order is really important because each movie links with another in some way, let’s take a look at the order that you should focus watching on.
Ice Age (2002)
2002 was really an iconic year, we saw the release of the epic cinematic creation known as “Ice Age,” given birth by none other than the Blue Sky Studios.
In those days of the past, the D-P-D trio of Disney Pixar and Dreamworks held control over the world of animation videos.
The movie had some ionic figures, such as; Sid, a sloth of indolent disposition, Manny, a mammoth of gargantuan proportions, and Diego, a Saber-Toothed Tiger of unforgiving prowess. Their grand quest began with a mission to transport Roshan, a human baby, back to its rightful home.
Reflecting upon this veritable masterpiece, no one can come up with such a storyline; children, animals, and trials and tribulations, all mushed with a delightful sense of humor.
Who among us can forget the beloved Scrat, the most renowned character of the “Ice Age” franchise, who won the hearts of millions?
The narrative takes us back to an ancient era, some twenty thousand years ago, when humans journeyed from the North to the South, traversing mountainous terrain.
Among their number were Chieftain Runar, his spouse Nadia, and their youngling Roshan. During the voyage Soto, the leader of the saber-tooth tiger group, spies on the party and seizes upon the opportunity to exact revenge upon humans for their heinous crime of killing his pack members.
Soto plots to capture and eat Nadia’s children. so he prepares a plan. He makes an ambush, but fate is on the side of Nadia, who manages to flee with her offspring, jumping off a waterfall. Soto became really mad that he wasn’t able to succeed in his goal, so he orders Diego to find the human and bring it back to him.
Meanwhile, Manny and Sid continue on their journey, and fate intervenes once again as they happen upon Nadia. She is seriously wounded and is at death’s door.
She knows she can’t make it to the end and in her final moments, so she entrusts Roshan to Manny’s care.
Manny initially intends to abandon the child, but Sid convinces him to return the baby to its tribe, a task in which Manny is unwilling to partake. Thus, an innocent child awaits their aid while Soto seeks to snuff out its life.
Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon their arduous journey to return Roshan to his people, unaware of the countless challenges and obstacles that lie ahead.
Will they overcome all the tribulations that await them and succeed in their mission, or will they succumb to Soto’s nefarious machinations?
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
Hold onto your hats folks because things are about to get wild! Carlos Saldanha’s second installment in the Ice Age: The Meltdown, hit theaters on March 31, 2006, and let us tell you, it’s a beauty.
The old gang is back, but this time they’ve got some new friends joining the venture. Ellie, Crash, and Eddie are just a few of the new faces viewers will meet as Manny, Diego, and Sid face even more perilous obstacles than before.
Natural disasters abound as the gang tries to survive a flood that threatens to wipe out their homeland. While everyone’s having a good time enjoying the calamity, Sid does something totally boneheaded and tries to dive off a massive waterfall.
Manny and Diego, being the responsible ones, go to save Scrat and end up finding themselves in even deeper trouble. As it turns out, the entire valley they call home is melting away, leaving only the outer layer of the glacier protecting them from certain doom.
Manny tries to explain the gravity of the situation to everyone, but nobody wants to listen. It’s not until an imposing vulture warns them of the upcoming disaster that the villagers start to take things seriously.
With panic in the air, the council calls a meeting and discusses the possibility of Manny’s species going extinct. Manny wants to start a family and save his species but he believes that can’t find any other mammoths.
Just when he thinks all hope is lost, he stumbles upon Ellie, the only female mammoth left in the world. The catch? She thinks she’s a possum because she is accompanied by two of them, Crash and Eddie, whom she believes are her brothers.
As if things weren’t already complicated enough, the gang soon discovers that the warm weather is a massive threat to their home. If the glacier barrier falls, it’s curtains for the valley. With time running out, Manny and his friends have to race against the clock to reach a boat at the end of the valley that may be their only hope.
Can they save themselves and their species from certain destruction, or will they be doomed to a watery grave? One thing’s for sure, The Meltdown is a wild ride from start to finish that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
The film, “The Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” hit the theaters on July 1, 2009, showing in a new era of cinematic delight. The story begins with a search party for Sid, who is lost in the bloodthirsty domain of prehistoric creatures.
Continuing the previous narrative, the heroes have altered their way of life after their former land was destroyed by an unspeakable tragedy. The once lone mammoth, Manny, and his significant other, Ellie, are now bound by the love that unites them, and they are eagerly anticipating the arrival of their first progeny. (She finally accepts herself as Mammoth!)
Yet, Manny is worried about the unborn child’s well-being; he can’t shake the memory of the hunters who ruthlessly killed out his family’s existence.
Meanwhile, Scrat, the iconic acorn-hoarding squirrel, remains determined in the endless pursuit of his beloved nut. However, the appearance of the seductive female saber-toothed squirrel, Scratte, has appeared and become his next obsession.
Now, he is grappling with two competing desires: the desire to possess his acorn and the desire to conquer the heart of the fetching Scratte.
Manny’s worry is reaching fever pitch, as he struggles to come with the immense responsibility of fatherhood, particularly because of his traumatic past. At the same time, Diego, the once-proud tiger, finds himself frustrated in his attempts to take down his prey. He begins to think that he is no more the proud tiger he was once before.
As Manny and Ellie celebrate the joy of their new family member, Sid is consumed by envy and resentment, craving what they have. He wishes to have a baby and stumbles upon three eggs in a cold place, beneath the land and impulsively decides to adopt them, naming them Shelly, Yoko, and Eggbert.
Manny, however, is worried about Sid’s rash decision and begs him to return the eggs to their original location. Sid, however, sticks with his decision, leading to a harrowing sequence of events that results in the hatching of the eggs.
To their horror, the eggs contain a baby Tyrannosaurus, a ferocious and menacing dinosaur that strikes fear in the hearts of all who behold it. Sid, however, is unfazed by the terrifying presence of the creatures and attempts to care for them, despite their bloodthirsty natures.
As a result, chaos occurs, with the baby Tyrannosaurs wreaking havoc amongst the group and destroying the cherished toy that Manny crafted for his unborn child.
The situation quickly gets out of control when Momma, the mother of the Tyrannosaurs, discovers Sid and her offspring in her territory. Manny and his allies follow the trail and discover an enormous rainforest that serves as the domain of the dinosaurs. Meanwhile, Diego gets bullied by his new herd, leaving him to grapple with feelings of inadequacy and loneliness.
Sid’s desire to have a family of his own leads him down a treacherous path, culminating in the theft of Momma’s eggs and his eventual entrapment in the perilous domain of the ancient dinosaurs.
It is here that he encounters One-Eyed Buck, a skilled dinosaur hunter who will aid him in his quest for survival but not without first enduring a host of daunting trials and tribulations.
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
Released on July 13, 2012, The Continental Drift, distributed by 20th Century Studios and directed by Mike Thurmeier and Steve Martino, tells the story of a group of animals who encounter a band of pirates while trying to escape from dangerous sea warriors on a precarious ice block that is cracking due to Scrat’s antics.
Manny and Ellie, now parents of a teenage daughter named Peaches, are struggling to adjust to the challenges of parenting a young adult. Peaches often visit her male mammoth friend, Ethan, which concerns Manny. Despite Ellie’s attempts to convince him that Peaches is growing up, Manny isn’t ready to accept that fact yet.
During one of Peaches’ outings with her friend Molly, Manny becomes overprotective and abducts her, causing Peaches to feel humiliated and expresses to Manny that he has never been a true father to her which makes both of them feel upset.
Meanwhile, Sid reunites with his Granny, but their joy is short-lived as she abandons him once more.
As Manny and his friends search for Granny, they encounter a group of deadly pirates led by Captain Gutt and Shira. Although Gutt invites them to join the pirates, they decline.
The pirates feel humiliated because of the denial, so they try to force their way out but it only leads to a failed attempt and the destruction of their pirate ship.
Between the commotion, Shira is nowhere to be seen. The crew worries about Shira’s disappearance but Gutt shows no concern and abandons her. Luckily, she is later rescued by the herd.
Scrat’s obsession with acorns leads to a geologic chain reaction that causes chaos and separates Ellie, Peaches, and Manny from each other. They find themselves with Sid, Diego, and Sid, but their troubles are far from over as they face further obstacles and heroic moments.
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
The mind-boggling and puzzling movie, The Collision Course, directed by Mike Thurmeier, was released on June 19, 2016, and distributed by 20th Century Studios.
The movie opens with Scrat who is in search of his precious acorn. While scouring for it, he finds himself in a mysterious cave and stumbles upon an enigmatic object that sets off a spaceship-like saucer that launches him into the vast expanse of space.
He hurtles through space, crashing into various planets like a pinball game, much to the delight of the audience. Ultimately, Scrat places his acorn onto an asteroid, but it shatters, plummeting straight to Earth.
Meanwhile, Manny and Ellie are busy preparing their daughter, Peaches, for her wedding to Julian. As for Diego and Shira, they are looking forward to a future together with a family, but their ferocious looks terrify small children.
Poor Sid had planned to propose to Francine, but she dumps him right before he can pop the question, leaving him feeling sad and lonely.
However, the celebration is abruptly interrupted by a catastrophic meteor shower, raining meteoroids down from the sky, which wreaks havoc on the anniversary party. In the midst of this chaos, the animals manage to escape unharmed.
At the same time, Buck finds himself on a lost planet, trying to return a stolen dinosaur egg to its rightful owner after it was pilfered by three tyrannosaurs named Roger, Gavin, and Gertie. He discovers an ancient stone pillar and takes it back with him, leading him to cross paths with Manny and his friends.
With so much happening all at once, it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen next in this mind-bending and unpredictable tale.
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, directed by John C. Donkin and produced by Denise L. Rottina, hit theaters on January 28, 2022.
This latest Ice Age movie takes a different approach, as the main characters are nowhere to be found. Instead, the story focuses on Buck, joined by his brothers Eddie and Crash.
Trouble begins when Eddie and Crash accidentally cause a massive avalanche, destroying their home and leaving the gang homeless. Desperate for a new place to live, they stumble upon the Lost World, a land filled with dangerous, ancient creatures – Dinosaurs!
Buck and his brothers embark on a treacherous journey against the prehistoric monsters, forming new alliances and facing perilous challenges along the way.
Unfortunately, this movie received a lot of negative reviews and criticism. Fans were disappointed with the absence of their beloved characters, poor animation quality, new voice actors, and the franchise’s biggest star, Scrat.
