Ice Age (2002 film)

Ice Age is a 2002 American animated adventure comedy film directed by Chris Wedge and written by Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson, and Peter Ackerman. Produced by Blue Sky Studios as its first feature film, it features an ensemble voice cast, including Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Jack Black. Set during the days of the Pleistocene ice age, the film centers around an unlikely herd of three mammals—Manny, a no-nonsense woolly mammoth, Sid, a loudmouthed ground sloth, and Diego, a sardonic smilodon—who come across a human baby and work together to return it to its tribe.

Ice Age was originally conceived by Fox Animation Studios as a traditionally animated film, but became a full-length CGI film from Blue Sky, which had been transformed from a visual effects house to a computer animation studio. Focus shifted from making an action-adventure drama film to a more comedy-oriented one, and several writers, including Berg and Ackerman, were brought on to lighten the tone. David Newman composed and conducted the film's musical score.

Ice Age was released in the United States on March 15, 2002 by 20th Century Fox. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $383 million, and becoming the eighth highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing animated film of 2002. It was nominated at the 75th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. It spawned a franchise, consisting of several sequels, spin-offs, specials, shorts, and video games.