After the box office success of the animated feature Ice Age, director Carlos Saldanha gets the herd back together for a lackluster sequel. This time, the Ice Age is ending and Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego the Saber-toothed Tiger (Denis Leary) must flee the valley before a flood comes. On the way, Manny finally meets another mammoth (albeit one who thinks she’s a possum), Ellie, voiced by Queen Latifah. He might just be able to save his species after all.
Ice Age: The Meltdown also includes the voices of Seann William Scott and Jay Leno in supporting roles, and of course, skits with Scrat, the acorn-obsessed Saber-toothed Squirrel.
I don’t know what happened to the Ice Age team between the first movie and the sequel, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. While the animation is still phenomenal, Ice Age: The Meltdown lacks any real sense of urgency and doesn’t come near the humor of its predecessor. Instead, this sequel fails to hold your interest, even with all the same actors and in what should be a life-and-death situation. Will Manny save his species? Will the animals survive the flood? You may just melt down yourself while you wait to see.
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What’s On the Disc
There are two movie commentaries to choose from—one with director Carlos Saldanha and one with various other members of the production team. Several faux outtake shorts, were made specially for the DVD: “No Time for Nuts” (where Scrat the Saber-toothed squirrel finds a time machine), stunts and bloopers with Crash and Eddie, and Lost Historical Films on the Ice Age Period, which present animated 1950’s-esque educational filmreels on sloths, wooly mammoths, etc. using footage from the movie.
Animation buffs may enjoy a behind the scenes look at the movie with the Animation Director’s Chair, which shows various steps in the filmmaking process, and Silly Sid & John Leguizamo, a featurette showing how the character of Sid is drawn.
Also included: Music Montage (behind the scenes and film clips set to the soundtrack), Intro Into New Characters (featurettes on Ellie and Crash & Eddie), Sloth Dancing to Sid’s Sing Along (with John Leguizamo giving instruction on the dance moves Sid does with the worshipping mini-sloths), Marketing the Meltdown (with clips of the characters promoting the movie), and games in the Ice Age Arcade.