Ice Age: Continental Drift

Ice Age: Continental Drift (also known as Ice Age 4: Continental Driftor simply as Ice Age 4) is a 2012 American 3-D computer-animatedadventure/comedy film directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier, written by Jason Fuchs and Michael Berg, starring the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Keke Palmer, Chris Wedge, Peter Dinklage, Jennifer Lopez, Wanda Sykes, Drake and Nicki Minaj.

It is the fourth installment of the Ice Age series, being produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and the first sequel not to be directed by Carlos Saldanha.[3] It was the second Ice Age installment that utilises Digital 3D. It was released in the US on July 13, 2012, three to six years after its predecessors The Meltdown and Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and ten years after the release of the original Ice Age. This was the firstIce Age film to be shot in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio.

Despite receiving generally mixed reviews from critics, the film became a box office hit, currently the 8th highest-grossing animated feature in history, and the third highest-grossing film of 2012, with a worldwide gross of $733 million.

Plot
Manny and his wife Ellie deal with their teenage daughter Peaches who has a crush on Ethan. Peaches' best friend, a molehog named Louis, appears to have a crush on her. Sid's family (who had abandoned him in the first film), appear to have been looking for him, but it is revealed that they only want to leave Sid's annoying Granny with him, leaving Sid to wonder whether his family loves him or not. When Manny catches Peaches hanging with Ethan after he told her not to, Manny embarrass Peaches in front of her friends, he and Peaches argue and have a fall out. Soon after, the breakup of the continent separates Manny from his family. Manny gets stuck on a floating ice "ship" with Sid and Diego. A large moving landmass drives Ellie, Peaches, Crash and Eddie, Louis, Ethan, and a herd of other animals towards a land bridge, where Manny had told them to go as they were being separated.

Manny and his friends survive the rough sea storm, which drives them further away from the continent. They also find Granny, who was sleeping undisturbed by the storm, inside the tree trunk in the same floating ice shift.

Manny and his friends are also captured by the same pirates, led by a Gigantopithecus named Captain Gutt along with his first mate, a female saber-toothed cat named Shira. Gutt and the pirate gang attempt to shanghai Manny and his friends, telling him to forget his family and former life and join the pirates, but he refuses. Gutt then threatens and attempts to make the herd walk the plank, but they manage to escape, in the process destroying the pirate ship. They rescue Shira from drowning, who had been left behind by the pirates.

The herd reaches an island and encounters a group of hyraxes, as well as the pirates, who force the hyraxes to build a new ice ship elsewhere on the same island. The herd plans to steal the ship and use it to get home. The next morning, as Manny, Sid, Diego, Granny and the hyraxes is preparing their plan, Shira escapes and rejoins the pirates, but gets choked and threatened to be killed by Gutt instead of being welcomed back, after Gutt realizes that she had not attacked them. The herd, along with the hyraxes, overtake the new ice ship and sail away with some help from Shira. Gutt, in anger, quickly breaks off an iceberg from a nearby ice wall and turns into a new ship, propelled by narwhals, and chases the herd, determined to get revenge.

Meanwhile, Manny, Sid, Granny and Diego are on there way home encounter sirens, depicted as sharp-toothed creatures who take the shape of loved ones and attempt to lure the sailors. Fortunately, Manny realizes this and manages to steer the ship away from the sirens.

Ellie, Peaches, Louis, Crash, Eddie and the herd of animals reach the land bridge, but find it to be destroyed. Meanwhile, Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny finally reach home, but much to their horror, find out that Gutt and his pirates had beaten them to it and captured Ellie, Peaches and the herd of animals. Manny attempts to turn himself in to Gutt in exchange for releasing his family, but Gutt doesn't keep his side of the bargain and prepares to kill his family. Louis comes to their rescue, starting a battle, during which Louis saves Peaches and Diego distracts Gutt. Sid and Granny are saved by Granny's presumed "imaginary" pet Precious, a gigantic sperm whale, and defeat the pirates by spraying them with water when Sid blocks her blowhole. Peaches saves Ellie from being killed by Gutt using her half-possum skills. But when Manny and his family are about to leave the pirate ship, Gutt attacks again, engaging them in a final fight atop an ice raft. Manny manages to defeat him by jumping on the edge of the ice raft boosting Gutt into the air and smack Gutt far away with a log. However, he falls from the ice raft, but he is saved by Sid, Granny, and Precious. Meanwhile, Gutt appears to be killed when he ends up being tricked and devoured by a siren, taking shape of a female of his species. After sailing the ocean, the herd and all the animals find another continent (where the hyraxes have gone, too) which they accept as their new home. Manny and Peaches reconcile, Manny finally admits that Sid is not the screw-up but a hero, Sid fixes Granny's problem of having no teeth by giving her dentures made from shark jaws. Shira joins the herd and becomes Diego's girl friend, and Louis is finally allowed to be with Peaches whenever she hangs out with Ethan's gang due to his bravery.

During the credits Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, Crash and Eddie, Peaches, Louis, Shira, Granny, and the whole gang dance to "We Are Family".

Scrat Subplot
Scrat's hunt for  acorns triggers the break-up of the  Pangaea<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">landmass into the seven continents we know today by falling in to the Earth's inner core and chasing his acorn around it that cause all the continent to separate.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Scrat, lost at the sea, comes across an island and finds a skeleton of his species. The skeleton points towards an acorn-shaped map at the bottom of the ocean, which leads to a mysterious acorn-filled island. Scrat decides to follow the map and find the island. As he begins his journey, he is captured by a gang of animal pirates on a large ship-shaped iceberg, but manages to escape and continues his journey.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Later, Scrat meets a siren, which uses the shape of his former girlfriend from the third film, Scratte, to attempt to lure him. Scrat turns away and ignores it, however the siren takes the shape of an acorn, causing Scrat to get hype and hug it. The siren changes back and attacks Scrat, but he is able to get away.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Scrat completes his journey and reaches the island on the map, Scratlantis (a Scrat version of Atlantis); a floating city filled with other sabre-toothed squirrels and acorns. However, Scrat, due to his acorn obsession, grabs many nuts in a frenzy and eventually attempts to grab a giant one blocking a hole. He grabs it, despite the sabre-toothed squirrel leader's warnings, causing the city to sink to the bottom of the ocean, leaving Scrat in the middle of a desert in North America. Scrat's eyes burn, and he screams in frustration.

Cast
<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Non-speaking characters include:

<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Jeremy Renner was originally set to voice Captain Gutt, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Bourne Legacy, and Jennette McCurdy was originally set to voice Peaches, but dropped out due to focusing oniCarly.<sup class="Template-Fact" style="line-height:1em;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]
 * Boris, a prehistoric Wild Boar (Metridiochoerus) that is part of Gutt's crew
 * Precious, Granny's "imaginary" sperm whale

Production
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">The first details of the sequel were announced on January 10, 2010, when The New York Times<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> reported that Blue Sky was working on a fourth film and was in negotiations with the voice cast. Fox later confirmed on May 5, 2010, that Ice Age: Continental Drift<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> would be released on July 13, 2012. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">[16]

Release
Ice Age: Continental Drift<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> had its premiere on June 20, 2012, at the CineEurope film distributors' trade fair in Barcelona. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">[17] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> It publicly premiered on June 27, 2012, in Belgium, Egypt, France, Switzerland, and Trinidad, and was released on July 13, 2012, in the USA. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">[18] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> The film is accompanied by the short animated film The Longest Daycare<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">featuring Maggie Simpson<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">[19] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">[20]

Marketing
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">As a promotion for <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> Ice Age: Continental Drift<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">, Fox released two 3-minute short segments from the film, <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[21] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">titled <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> Scrat's Continental Crack-up<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">and <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> Scrat's Continental Crack-up: Part 2<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">. The first part premiered as a theatrical release attached to <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> Gulliver's Travels<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">in 2010, <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Slash1_21-0" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[22] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">and it was released on-line on January 6, 2011, on <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> iTunes Movie Trailers<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Slash1_21-1" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[22] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">The second part was released on November 16, 2011, on iTunes, <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[23] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">and debuted in theatres with <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Joblo_23-0" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1em;">[24] <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;"> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;line-height:19.196969985961914px;">The first part shows how the Scrat's actions lead to split of the continents, while in the second part, Scrat's underwater pursuit of acorns leads him to a pirate ship.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">The film was featured on Tommy Baldwin Racing's #10 car driven by Tomy Drissi for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 held on June 24, 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="line-height:1em;">[25]

Critical response
<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Ice Age: Continental Drift has received generally mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 39% of critics have given the film positive reviews, with a rating average of 5.2/10 based on 117 reviews. The consensus statement reads, "Continental Drift 3D has moments of charm and witty slapstick, but it often seems content to recycle ideas from the previous films."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="line-height:1em;">[26] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 48 based on 28 reviews, or "Mixed or average."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="line-height:1em;">[27]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Megan Lehmann of The Hollywood Reporter said: "It's familiar, drawn-out shtick, and the humor lacks the subtlety of the first and best Ice Age, but there are some visually inventive high points."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HollywoodReview_27-0" style="line-height:1em;">[28] Simon Brew, writing for Den of Geek, gave a very positive four-star review, saying that "not only is Ice Age 4 arguably the best in the franchise yet, it's also, a little surprisingly perhaps (given that it's a fourth movie in a franchise, turned around on a strict cycle), turned out to be thoroughly, thoroughly entertaining family blockbuster."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="line-height:1em;">[29]

Box Office
<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">As of August 9, 2012, the film has earned $137,314,052 in North America, and $596,228,335 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $733,542,387.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bom2_1-1" style="line-height:1em;">[2]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Outside North America, Ice Age 4 had a two-day (Wednesday-Thursday) opening of $11 million from 12 markets.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-THR-opening_29-0" style="line-height:1em;">[30] On its opening weekend (through Sunday), it earned first place with $80.3 million from 34 markets, opening #1 in all of them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="line-height:1em;">[31] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-THR-overseas-opening_31-0" style="line-height:1em;">[32] The film set an opening-day record in Nicaragua and a Thursday-opening record in Guatemala. In Peru, it earned the second highest-grossing opening day and the highest for an animated film. It also set an opening-day record for an animated film in Sweden<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32" style="line-height:1em;">[33] and achieved the second highest-grossing opening day for an animated film in France ($4.5 million), Colombia, Argentina and Chile.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-THR-opening_29-1" style="line-height:1em;">[30] The film set opening-weekend records for any film in Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Central America and Chile, and opening-weekend records for an animated film in Norway, Sweden, Ecuador and Bolivia.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-overseas-opening_33-0" style="line-height:1em;">[34]

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">In North America, the film earned $16.5 million on its opening day, and $46.6 million on its opening 3-day weekend. It was higher than the openings of Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($41.7 million), and the original Ice Age ($46.3 million), but was far behind the opening weekend of The Meltdown ($68 million).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-NA_Opening_34-0" style="line-height:1em;">[35]

Soundtrack
<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Ice Age: Continental Drift is the soundtrack of the film scored by John Powell and was released on July 10, 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35" style="line-height:1em;">[36] <p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">Featured in the film was "Chasing the Sun", performed by The Wanted<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-36" style="line-height:1em;">[37] the film's first theme song, and the second theme song We Are Familywritten by Ester Dean, performed by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Drake, Keke Palmer and Ester Dean, herself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-37" style="line-height:1em;">[38] Both songs play during the credits.

<p style="line-height:19.196969985961914px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;">