Ice Age is a children’s series and so parents overlook the zany stuff that happens as a sloth, a wooly mammoth, and a saber tooth tiger run about having crazy adventures in the icy wilderness, as a squirrel is forever denied the object of his affection. Nevermind the denial of the predatory instincts of the saber tooth tiger. Nevermind that Blue Sky Animation found a way to work in dinosaurs, those forever profitable reptiles of old. Perhaps the most ridiculous lapse in logic is the gang’s celebration of Christmas. Unless I’m mistaken, the Ice Age predates Jesus Christ. In fact, the Ice Age predates a lot of human civilization. Listen, sometimes a franchise just doesn’t lend itself to TV specials for every holiday. Accept it. Or, if we really have to accept a bunch of Ice Age creatures indulging in the whole Santa Claus Christmas mythology, I demand the next sequel has Jesus riding a dinosaur.
Fox, please get on that.
There are a lot of things that cinema has asked us to surrender to the power of Christmas; it insists that Christmas cheer can cure all manner of ailments, and Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas Special takes that a step further giving it precedence over basic survival instinct. So when Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) leads Peaches (Ciara Bravo), the daughter of Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah), and the rodent duo (Seann William Scott, Josh Peck) on a voyage into the wilderness where they encounter Prancer (T.J. Miller), a flying reindeer, and Santa (Judah Friedlander). Sid’s typical silliness causes a bit of chaos and the group has to help the man in red get his act off the ground.
The series has always had a great voice cast, and Leguizamo and Denis Leary continue to be the stand-outs when it comes to delivering on the comedy.
With that all said, there’s a glaring problem here: a single 25-minute animated short does not deserve its own Blu-ray release. This should have been included as an extra when the next Ice Age sequel comes out on Blu-ray. It’s not so good that most kids are going to be clamoring to own it right away, and certainly one viewing won’t be enough to make it a Christmas tradition. For 25-minutes, this isn’t worth the price.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The set includes the movie on Blu-ray, DVD, and as a digital copy. Considering this whole production is just a long extra feature for the next film, it shouldn’t surprise you that the disc is light on extras, with a sneak peek at the next film and a very slothy “Jingle Bells” music video as the only things beside the main feature.
"Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas Special" is on sale November 22, 2011 and is rated G. Adventure, Animation, Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by Karen Disher. Starring Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, T J Miller.
