ICE AGE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: mild thematic elements, violence

Rated:

There's been a leap in computer animation ever since Toy Story first came out. Shrek hit the theaters with a large green ogre, and Ice Age brought a winter chill in March. Both were a wonderful success. Both have a slightly wacky way of seeing the world, and both have a place on the family shelf. But Ice Age is the better of the two, at least in being completely family-friendly. It's rare I enjoy animated films full of wacky gags and running jokes, but this one hits all the right notes.

Winter is coming, and the prehistoric creatures are heading for warmer climates. All except Manfred, a wooly mammoth who likes to go against the flow. His trek is taking him south, just to get away from all the migrating creatures. That's when he meets up with Sid the Sloth, who has insulted the wrong pair of rhinos. After saving Sid's life, Manfred just can't get rid of him. With the sloth tagging along, the mammoth begrudgingly continues on his way, little realizing that his life is about to change forever. The settlement of humans on the flatlands has been discovered by the saber tooth tigers. The leader demands retribution for the slaying of more than half his pack. In his mind, kidnapping and eating the man's baby boy would be proper vengeance. So he sends Diego, his right hand man... err... right paw tiger, down to get him. As the village erupts into pandemonium, the boy's mother snatches him up and flees for their lives. Diego can only watch in horror as the woman leaps over the waterfall to protect her child from his teeth. Unless he finds the baby alive, he's as good as a pelt.

That's when Manfred and Sid come in. Ambling on their way south, they discover the baby on the shore. Manfred doesn't want anything to do with the little tot, but Sid is determined to return the baby to his village. Diego attempts to persuade them that the humans have moved north, and he would be more than willing to assume the responsibility of taking the baby, but it's no dice. They're not about to trust a human baby to a saber-toothed tiger. So the unlikely gang unite to find the boy's father before the pass isolates the settlement from the rest of the world.

But will Diego lead them to the humans, or into an ambush? Full of witty puns and truly fantastic computer animation, Ice Age is a wonderful adventure into the frozen north. Some of the gags are truly humorous... like the group wandering past Stonehenge and muttering, "Modern architecture... it'll never last," or making a pit stop at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park (iced over, of course). One running joke involves a saber-toothed squirrel who just wants to hoard his nuts for the winter. You'd think he would be a juvenile addition, since he gets stepped on, fried with lightning, and snowballed every few minutes, but they manage to make him funny without being completely idiotic. Best of all, there are very few concerns for family viewing. There are a few references to evolution. Sid comes across evolved sloth's encased in the ice (in each stage of development)... along with a dinosaur and alien spaceship. He makes a joke about wanting to have as many girlfriends as possible, and is found mud-tubbing with two pretty females. Many have suggested that a pair of minor characters, two rhinos, are gay. That's a matter of opinion; I thought they were, but a friend of mine didn't even think about it.

There is some violence, much of it cartoon-style, where smaller animals get stepped on, fall off cliffs, struck by lightning, etc. A woman drowns after handing her baby off to Manfred. A fight among the tigers ensues, resulting in the near-death of a minor character, and the impaling of the leader of the pack (impact unseen). Birds fight over three melons, eventually leading to their extinction. The murder of a mammoth family is depicted in cave paintings. There's a discussion on dirty diapers, and Sid is forced to check. I admit it. I loved Ice Age. It alternates between being laugh-out loud funny and truly touching. The animation in particular is dazzling, from rain and snow to ice-encased worlds, and a fantastic ride through an icy cave. The voices are ideal for the characters. It's a form of abstract art in the animals themselves, but I found each of them equally likable. So pull up a chair, get a blanket and mug of hot coco and visit the Ice Age.