The Extinction of Ice Age - A Frosty Goodbye

Throughout the last few posts, I have gone into full-length discussions on what exactly went wrong with the Ice Age franchise and how it went extinct for the time-being. Overall, these are the main reasons I can sum up for its downfall (though obviously there were more):

1. The series tried to focus more on comedy than dramedy.
2. The research became even less historically accurate.
3. Several characters got over-used as a means to keep the plot moving.
4. The message about family got muddled up with excess family members and hypocrisy with regard to Sid's treatment.
5. The series tried to use celebrity voice actors who didn't need to be hired in the first place.
6. The series attempted to stay "relevant" with memes and pop-culture references.

Consequently, what we ended up with was a series that started off with a Don Bluth-esque adventure story with plenty of heart (albeit more comical than Bluth's usual output) and ended with something that tried to rip-off the more negative aspects of your typical Dreamworks flick. And now as a result, the franchise has become the butt of many jokes from people who see it as a "Pixar rip-off", despite that not being the case. It doesn't help that there were implications that a SEVENTH movie was on its way, though considering the reception of the fifth movie and spin-off movie, I would be surprised if that ever came to light.

I personally feel that 20th Century Fox should take a good part of the blame. Their insistence on making the films more comedy-based essentially ended up resulting in a franchise original sin that only proceeded to become more notable with each passing installment. I'm a big fan of comedy myself, but when it proceeds to take away the heart from the story, it can backfire big time.

That said, it's all too easy to scapegoat one group when a select amount can share equal blame. Should we blame 20th Century Fox for pushing for a more comedic angle? Should we blame the director who started on the third movie and carried on to the fifth one, since that was when the comedy got too out of hand and things really started going downhill? Should we blame the producers who oversaw the projects in general and likely came up with ideas on who they wanted to cast or how they wanted the plots to go? Why not just say they ALL had their own responsibilities?

Should I feel sad about the direction the series has gone in? Yes. The first film was genuinely good and you get the feeling from the Art of... book that Blue Sky Studios were genuinely putting effort into these films at times, even if the use of memes in the later films came off as lazy at times. Should I have a bitter taste in my mouth about the first film as a result? No. It would have been interesting to know what the more drama-based original draft would have been like, but it still worked out well and it still gives me good memories. If they'd simply learnt from what that film did well and not tried to emphasise the comedy too much, the sequels may have been on the same level too. Or maybe just the first film was more than enough for us all to appreciate.

Below, I have a list of some of the sources I used for this series of articles that I was unable to provide links for. I am particularly happy to have bought Tara Bennett's book The Art of Ice Age as a guide for some of the points in my articles, especially with regard to the history of the franchise. Some of the citations that I'm using are the MLA 8 style, as that is the style I'm used to using at university. I'll also put the citations for the films themselves so that you can get an idea of the changing directors and writers on them (as a bonus, I'll reference the graphic novels too).

Ice Age Media:

1. Ice Age, directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, produced by Lori Forte, story by Michael J. Wilson, screenplay by Michael J. Wilson, Michael Berg and Peter Ackerman. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2002.
2. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, directed by Carlos Saldanha, story by Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, produced by Lori Forte, screenplay by Peter Gaulke, Gerry Swallow and Jim Hecht. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2006.
3. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, directed by Carlos Saldanha and Michael Thurmier, produced by Lori Forte and John C. Donkin, story by Jason Carter Eaton, screenplay by Michael Berg, Peter Ackerman, Mike Reiss and Yoni Brenner. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2009.
4. Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas, directed by Karen Disher, produced by Andrea M. Miloro, screenplay by Sam Harper and Mike Reiss. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2011.
5. Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, directed by Steve Martino and Michael Thurmier, produced by Lori Forte and John C. Donkin, story by Michael Berg and Lori Forte, screenplay by Michael Berg and Jason Fuchs. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2012.
6. Ice Age: The Great Egg-scapade, directed by Ricardo Curtis, produced by John C. Donkin, screenplay by Jim Hecht. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2016.
7. Ice Age 5: Collision Course, directed by Michael Thurmier and Galen T. Chu, produced by Lori Forte, screenplay by Michael J. Wilson, Aubrey Solomon and Michael Berg. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox. 2016.
8. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, directed by John C. Donkin, produced by Lori Forte, screenplay by Jim Hecht, Ray DeLaurentis and William Schifrin. Bardel Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2022.
9. Munroe, Caleb, Paroline, Shelli and Lamb, Braden. Iced In. Kaboom Studios, 2011.
10. Munroe, Caleb, Paroline, Shelli and Lamb, Braden. Playing Favorites. Kaboom Studios, 2012.
11. Munroe, Caleb, Paroline, Shelli and Lamb, Braden. Where There's Thunder. Kaboom Studios, 2012.
12. Munroe, Caleb, Paroline, Shelli and Lamb, Braden. Past, Presents & Future!. Kaboom Studios, 2012.
13. Munroe, Caleb, and Hirsch, Andy. The Hidden Treasure. Kaboom Studios, 2013.

Reference Works Cited:

1. Bennett, Tara. The Art of Ice Age. Titans Books, 2016.
2. "Ice Age: The Story Behind the Story (from the Writer Michael J. Wilson)." News from the Soo Theatre Project, Inc., 20 Nov. 2009, http://sootheatrenews.blogspot.com/2009/11/ice-age-story-behind-story-from-writer.html
3. Kenny, Charles. "Scrat? SQRAT? Clearing up Some Confusion Surrounding the Lawsuits over the Ice Age Character." The Animation Anomaly, 2022, https://animationanomaly.com/2022/02/03/scrat-sqrat-clearing-up-some-confusion-surrounding-the-lawsuits-over-the-ice-age-character/
4. Goscinny, René and Uderzo, Albert. Obelix and Co.. Translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, 1976, Orion Books Ltd., 2004. (Okay, so this has nothing to do with Ice Age, but here's where the original basis for the outfits I used in Chapters 3 and 4 came from! The original outfit's meant to look tacky by the way. :D)