A sixth instalment of the Ice Age franchise – we’ll call it Ice Age 6 – is in development, with all the original cast returning! Sing hosannas.
Scrat the squirrel scrambling to cling on to his cherished acorn in the Ice Age films is one of the funniest running cinematic gags of the early 2000s. The sheer number of imaginative ways the writers and animators came up with to deny Scrat his prize was extremely impressive, with the set pieces gradually getting bigger in scale. They became a highlight of each film.
According to Deadline, a sixth Ice Age film is in development at Disney and 20th Century Animation.
The film seems to be moving forward at quite a pace too, with many of the original cast – Romano, Leguizamo, Latifah, Leary and Pegg – already signed on. (Read on to discover what all their first names are.)
There’s currently no writer or director attached. Chris Wedge has been the spearhead of the Ice Age franchise from the start, co-writing and directing the first film and executive producing the others. He was the co-founder of Blue Sky Studios and he voiced Scrat in every instalment, but there’s no word as to whether he is involved in Ice Age 6.
The franchise kicked off in 2002 with Ice Age, which introduced us to Sid (John Leguizamo), a good natured sloth saved from a pack of hyenas by the droll, downbeat Manny (Ray Romano), who wants to be left alone. Diego (Denis Leary) a sabre tooth tiger, initially a villain who wants to kill Manny and steal the baby they found, ends up joining them as they attempt to return the baby to its tribe.
Ice Age: The Meltdown arrived in 2006, bringing with it new characters including Ellie (Queen Latifah), a mammoth who believes she’s a possum, and her brothers Crash and Eddie (Seann William Scott and Josh Peck), both actual possums.
Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs was released in 2009, and saw Simon Pegg join the cast as Buck, a dinosaur hunting weasel.
2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift introduced Wanda Sykes as Sid’s grandmother, while 2016’s Ice Age: Collision Course sees Scrat accidentally propelled into space, causing a meteor to hurtle towards the Earth.
In 2019, Disney acquired 20th Century Fox. Sadly, this led to Disney shutting Blue Sky Studios down in 2021 after releasing their final film Spies In Disguise, though not before they managed to sneak out a short film to say farewell to Scrat.
But it turns out there’s life at least in the Ice Age saga. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more.
