Every Ice Age Movie, Ranked

Lucas Aquino
Jan 19, 2024
Jan 19, 2024

20th Century Fox’s Ice Age is one of the only few animated movie franchises in Hollywood that has more than three titles. Taking place in a prehistoric setting, Ice Age follows the gigantic footsteps of Manny the Mammoth, Sid the Sloth, and Diego the Sabertooth, as they travel through the frozen landscape, meet new friends, and find their own happiness.

With the latest inclusion of The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild in 2022, the Ice Age franchise now has six movies throughout its 24-year course. And of course, just like any other franchise, it has its up and down moments. Today, let’s rank every Ice Age movie there is from worst to best, and see which prehistoric adventure deserves to be on top of the food chain.

#6. The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild (2022)

Source: 20th Century Fox

The Ice Age Adventures Of Buck Wild is the first Ice Age movie to drift away from the iconic trio Manny, Sid, and Diego, and instead focus on a fan-favorite character: Buck Wild. Voiced by Simon Pegg, Buck first made his appearance in the threequel Dawn of the Dinosaur, and quickly captured fans’ hearts with his unhinged yet endearing personality and antics.

However, as good as Buck is, he can’t save the spinoff movie’s lackluster story and underwhelming animation. The new Bardel Entertainment is obviously a step down from Blue Sky Animation, even when you compare it to the first Ice Age movie 20 years prior. Not even the dynamic duo Crash and Eddie, and the return of Scrat the Squirrel can save the film from negative review bombardment.

#5. Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)

Source: 20th Century Fox

Ice Age starts off brilliantly, but we can clearly see that the franchise started to lose its charm after the first trilogy. The fifth installment, Ice Age: Collision Course, is simply a carbon copy of the fourth, with Manny rejecting his daughter’s new boyfriend, the team meets new people in a new land, and then works together to stop an even bigger threat.

While the movie’s humor is still intact, it’s clear that the franchise has gone stale with the prehistoric setting. The overwhelming abundance of new characters is also a major flaw of the movie, as it takes away the spotlight of our favorite trio.

#4. Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

Source: 20th Century Fox

There have been signs of the franchise running stale since the fourth movie, Continental Drift. The fourth movie introduces us to a bunch of new characters, but very few of them get enough spotlight for an individual arc. In this story, Manny also has to share the spotlight with his new daughter, Peaches, who’s clearly a less charming version of him.

Despite the mixed reviews, Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) is still a major box office success. However, it also shows many signs of fatigue for the major franchise. The story of Ice Age should have stopped here, but 20th Century Fox still wants to keep it going.

#3. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)

Source: 20th Century Fox

While it’s not as good as the first movie, Ice Age: The Meltdown still has its own charms, and sets things up perfectly for a threequel. While the overall story is a bit meh, the sequel did introduce us to a variety of new interesting characters: Queen Latifah’s Ellie, who later became Manny’s wife, and of course, the dynamic opossum duo Crash and Eddie, who bring the show’s humor to a whole new level.

The second movie is also filled with the appearance of Scrat the Squirrel, who also has his fair share of screen time, struggling with his cone. Entertainment-wise, The Meltdown is a worthy sequel to the critically acclaimed Ice Age movie, with tons of fun and comedy for the audience to enjoy.

#2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

Source: 20th Century Fox

Fun fact about Dawn of the Dinosaurs: before filming the first movie, the Ice Age crew consulted several experts and archeologists to make the overall setting historically accurate. In return, the experts advised them not to put the dinosaurs in. However, in the third movie, they’ve done just that.

The plan ultimately paid off, as Blue Sky successfully implemented a hidden dinosaur world under the icy surface for the dinosaurs to live in, thus bringing a nice change of pace to the franchise. The appearance of Buck Wild is also a great addition to the movie, as Simon Pegg’s character has great chemistry with the rest of the team.

#1. Ice Age (2002)

Source: 20th Century Fox

And of course, nothing can possibly beat the original version. The first Ice Age movie has a simple plot with an interesting premise, and Blue Sky executed it perfectly. Ice Age is widely considered one of the best animated movies at the time, and was even a serious Academy Award contender in 2002, only behind the Japanese sensation Spirited Away.

The quirky dynamics between the trio Manny, Sid, and Diego is considered one of the movie’s best charms, alongside the icy settings of the Pleistocene epoch era that creates a breath of fresh air to the world of cartoons at the time.

Which Ice Age movie do you think is the best? Share your list below in the comment section.