Review: ‘Ice Age’ may give other animators a chill

Geoff Carter

Friday, March 15, 2002 | 9:48 a.m.

Ice Age

Grade: ***

Starring: The voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary.

Screenplay: Michael Berg, Michael J. Wilson and Peter Ackerman.

Director: Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha.

Rated: PG for mild peril.

Running time: 85 minutes.

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If the addition of an Academy Award for Best Animated Film means more pictures similar to "Ice Age," I'm all in favor of it. This computer-animated, woolly mammoth version of "Three Men and a Baby" is as fresh and funny as anything from DreamWorks or Disney's Pixar. It should put 20th Century Fox's Blue Sky Studios on the map as a much-needed wedge between icebergs.

That's not to say that "Ice Age" inspires the wonder of "Toy Story," or has the glibness of "Shrek." Its human characters aren't quite as fluid as Pixar can make them, and its story takes a while to roll. Once it gets going, however, it's a real pleasure to watch -- and even pulls off a trick the other mammoths haven't yet managed.

Set in the prehistorical chill-out of its title, "Ice Age" follows Manfred, a laconic woolly mammoth (voiced by Ray Romano), Sid, an annoying sloth (John Leguizamo), and Diego, a sneaky saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary) on their quest to return a lost human child to his tribe. Along the way they encounter ice caves, herds of dodo birds and a flying saucer -- all of which leave them completely nonplussed; it's not what the journey is about.

Here's where "Ice Age" innovates: There isn't a self- conscious character in the lot. These unlikely partners are businesslike, bored even; they don't know they're in a remarkable pretend world. Manfred complains about his weight ("It's all this fur; it makes me look puffy"). Sid tries to pick up girl sloths in a mud bath. Diego plays peek-a-boo with the baby, and scares him silly in the process.

The characters are chunky by design, possibly in homage to the stop-motion beasts that populated every previous ice-age epic. Its earth-tone backgrounds are a bit dull, but perhaps that's the best we can expect of an animated flick set against an era of ice and mud and not much else. Its artistic high point is a breakneck ice-cave chase that should appeal to anyone who's ever loved watching the luge.

Will "Ice Age" be nominated for an Oscar? Doubtful. Pixar still holds the artistic high ground, and DreamWorks will continue to gain as it hires away Disney's talent. But "Ice Age" will help to even the field, and if kids handed out awards, it would win a truckful. You won't even mind watching it hundreds of times when it goes to video, and your children vote with their attention spans.