Did You Know? - Thirty Fun Facts About the "Ice Age" Franchise

Welcome to another edition of a series that I like to call Did You Know?. Inspired a little by the Nostalgia Critic's "What You Never Knew" series, this series will allow me to share with you some interesting tidbits, behind-the-scenes information, and fun facts about an animated movie or TV series. Because I like sharing new information with people.

For this second edition of Did You Know, I'd like to talk about a movie called Ice Age.

The very first feature-length film to be made by Blue Sky Studios, Ice Age focused on a woolly mammoth, a giant ground sloth, and a saber-toothed tiger teaming up to return a human baby to its tribe as the Ice Age approaches. I've loved Ice Age ever since I was younger... and by "Ice Age", I mean the first one. The second one sucks. The third one was okay. The fourth one was bad too. Haven't seen the fifth and I plan to keep it that way. I believe that the first film should've just been standalone, but the sequels haven't stopped me from loving it. I seem to be alone in that department, though.

As a tip of the hat of sorts to the first film and the talented folks at Blue Sky Studios, this edition of Do You Know? focuses on the Ice Age franchise. Be they behind-the-scenes facts, hidden details, bloopers, or just weird coincidences, we're going to talk about 'em. Let's get started!

1) The first movie was originally going to be traditionally animated and directed by none other than Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. After Titan A.E. (which coincidentally ALSO had John Leguizamo voicing one of the characters) bombed, the project was offered to Disney, but they turned it down. Then Blue Sky Studios was given the film. The rest is history.

2) Before Ray Romano was cast, Ving Rhames and James Earl Jones were considered for the role of Manny. Albert Brooks was also offered the part.

3) John Leguizamo tried about thirty different voices for Sid. After watching a documentary about sloths, John learned that they stored food in their mouths and was inspired to give Sid a lisp.

Concept art of Manny and Sid.

4) A female sloth named Sylvia (voiced by Kristen Johnston of 3rd Rock From the Sun fame) was to appear in the first film. She was essentially Sid's stalker. She was cut because, among other reasons, she made Sid come across as unlikeable. When I was younger, I borrowed the film's "Movie Storybook" from the library and I couldn't help but notice that Sylvia was in it.

Here is Sylvia. Repulsive, isn't she?

5) The second film also had a character cut from it - another saber-toothed tiger named Joe Junior (not sure whether or not a Joe Senior was also supposed to appear in the film at some point). Below is a Marquette of him.

You can see him about to attack one of the possums in that
piece of concept art in the background.

6) All of the actors, at least in the first film, were encouraged to improvise as much as possible to help keep the animation spontaneous.

7) Originally, Scrat was just going to appear in the first scene (his scene was included because without it, the first sequence with snow and ice wouldn't appear until about thirty-seven minutes into the film, which would be kind of weird in a movie called ICE Age). But he was so popular with test audiences that he was given more scenes. Now he's for all intents and purposes the franchise's - and Blue Sky Studios' - mascot. They also considered having him talk, but decided against it.

8) The responsibility for animating the scene where Sid snowboards was given to animators who actually had experience snowboarding in real life.

9) Originally, Diego was going to actually die at the end of the film. Sobbing test audiences convinced them to change this and let Diego live (thank goodness cats have nine lives).

10) Ya know those drawings of the film's characters that appear during the end credits? Those were drawn by the animators' children.

Concept art for Diego and Sid.

11) Nowadays, we know Alan Tudyk best as Disney's good luck charm, lending his voice to every movie in the Disney Animated Canon made since 2012. However, before that he made his voice acting debut in the first Ice Age, showing off his range by voicing THREE characters - he's Lenny (the fat member of Soto's pack), one of the long-necked tapir-esque dudes (you know, the "How do we know it's an Ice Age?" "Because... of all... the ICE!" guys) and at least one of the dodos. He also voices characters in the second (a big animal called "Cholly") and fourth (Milton the sloth and the hunky sloth siren that Granny is turned on by) films. Neat, huh?

12) To promote the second film, Sid hosted the Fox Network's lineup for at least one night. I remember seeing one bumper featuring him asking why it was called the "Fox" Network as opposed to the "Sloth" Network.

13) Scrat was going to officially join the group in the second film, but that didn't happen.

13) Speaking of endings, the second film was originally going to end with Manny and Ellie parting ways with Sid and Diego to join the mammoth migration. The filmmakers decided to instead keep the herd together. Which, in my opinion, was a wise move.

14) Buck was originally to be voiced by Harrison Ford, but he turned the role down due to scheduling conflicts with the fourth Indiana Jones movie.

15) Captain Gutt, the fourth film's main antagonist, was originally going to be a rabbit, then a bear. Somebody theorized that an ape would be right at home swinging through the rigging of a ship, so they made Gutt a Gigantopethicus.

Concept art for Zeke (the Jack Black-voiced saber-toothed
tiger in the first film).

16) The fifth film was released on John Leguizamo's fifty-second birthday.

17) The scene in the first film where we learn Manny's backstory (the biggest "make the audience cry" scene in the movie) was originally going to be at the beginning of the film.

18) Cretaceous and Maelstrom, the creepy reptile dudes that attack the main characters in the second film, were originally going to talk. They changed this to make them more threatening. They were also originally going to be joined by a third aquatic reptile guy.

19) Ray Romano's kids voice minor characters in almost every sequel (for example, his daughter Ally voices one of the teen mammoths in the fourth movie).

20) During that scene in the first movie where Manny, Diego, and Sid walk by a UFO frozen in ice, Roshan (that's the name of the baby) does the iconic Vulcan salute from Star Trek.

How does a baby in prehistoric times know about Star Trek? I dunno, it's best we just
don't think about it too much.

21) Josh Peck and Queen Latifah were fans of the first film before getting cast as Eddie and Ellie in the sequel.

22) There was a live show based on the films called Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure. I have not seen it.

23) The third film was the first Blue Sky Studios film not to be released in March.

24) It's kind of funny that the fourth film has Wanda Sykes playing a character voiced by John Leguizamo's grandmother, as they were born the exact same year.

25) There were rumors that the fourth movie would've been called Ice Age: TH4W and been about the characters getting thawed out in a modern day museum. I'm honestly really glad they didn't do that. It sounds like it would've been incredibly stupid.

26) At one point in the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie, the first film can be seen playing on TV at one point. A highlight of an otherwise pretty drab movie.

I remember seeing that film in theaters. It was mediocre.

27) Scrat made an appearance in a 2006 episode of Family Guy.

28) At one point, there was actually an Ice Age RIDE. In March of 2005, an attraction called Ice Age Adventure opened at Movie Park Germany in... well, Germany. The attraction featured audio-animatronics of Manny, Sid, Diego, and Scrat, as well as special effects. Alas, it closed in 2016...

29) However, an Ice Age ride still exists, but if you want to ride it you'll have to go all the way to Indonesia. At a theme park there named Ancol, there's an indoor flume attraction called Ice Age Arctic Adventures. It too features audio-animatronics and special effects.

30) Finally, it's pretty common knowledge that there was never an actual saber-toothed squirrel in prehistoric times. However, in 2011 a prehistoric animal was discovered and dubbed the "Cronopio". It wasn't a squirrel, but paleontologist Guillermo W. Rougier pointed out that it looked very similar to Scrat, saying "It just goes to show how diverse ancient mammals are, that we can just imagine some bizarre critter and later find something just like it." I've included a restoration of the Cronopio below so you can see the resemblance for yourself.

The Cronopio.

Well, there you have it. Thirty fun facts about the Ice Age franchise.