- “Disney+ Gets Wild.”
- ―Tagline
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is a 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by 20th Century Animation that was released on January 28, 2022 on Disney+. It is a spin-off of Blue Sky Studios' Ice Age franchise and serves as the sixth overall installment in the franchise. It follows the two opossum brothers, Crash and Eddie, and their adventure to becoming independent possums alongside the titular character Buck Wild.
Synopsis
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild continues the hilarious escapades of everyone's favorite prehistoric mammals. Desperate for some distance from their older sister, Ellie, the thrill-seeking possum brothers, Crash and Eddie, set out to find a place of their own, but quickly find themselves trapped in a massive cave underground. They are rescued by the one-eyed, adventure-loving, dinosaur-hunting weasel, Buck Wild, and together they must face the unruly dinosaurs who inhabit the Lost World.
Plot
The thrill-seeking possum brothers, Crash and Eddie, have grown restless in Snow Valley. They need plenty of wide-open space to practice their extreme stunts and are eager for a bit of independence. Ellie, their adopted woolly mammoth sister, is over-protective and worries too much. Still, Eddie and Crash act more like sons than brother of Ellie and her grouchy woolly mammoth husband, Manny, whom they have met during a devastating flood, along with Manny's two best friends, Sid, a clumsy ground sloth and Diego, a sarcastic yet altruistic saber-toothed tiger. The six of them have bonded to become a make-shift family.
One day, they accidentally cause an avalanche and destroy the gang's summer home. Manny gets angry with Crash and Eddie for their recklessness and irresponsibility, with him and the rest of the herd declaring they would not survive on their own. Wanting to prove them wrong, Crash and Eddie sneak off to find a place of their own and leave the new camp. Finding Crash and Eddie gone the next day, Ellie insists that she, Manny, Sid and Diego leave to go find them. Crash and Eddie stumble upon the entrance to the Lost World, a vastly perfectly tropical jungle full of dinosaurs formerly thought to be extinct located underground which Ellie has forbidden them from ever visiting again, and quickly get in trouble with two raptors trying to eat them. Breaking away, they run into their old friend, Buck, a deranged, quick-witted, one-eyed weasel who has been living in the jungle for a long time, and his pet pterodactyl Penelope. Buck tells them that a Protoceratops named Orson, who was bullied when he was young for having a massive brain, has escaped from exile and has come to conquer over the Lost World. For Buck, life is about survival of the fittest, and Crash and Eddie are two creatures uniquely unfit to survive, so he tries to get them back home, as he is the only one that can stop Orson, but he won't be able to do that if he has the two possums to look after. Soon, they figure out a boulder is covering the entrance to the Lost World. Orson appears and reveals he sealed the exit to prevent more mammals from coming.
Buck, Crash, and Eddie escape and go to Buck's hideout. Until now, Buck has lived a solitary existence by choice, and has no interest in that changing anytime soon. He explains how he used to be part of an old squad that established the watering hole for animals to peacefully co-exist. He goes on to say that Orson did not accept to join his squad, because he believed in a world where the strong dominate the weak with him being the leader of them all. Buck further explains that because his squad stood in Orson's way, the latter set up a trap to get rid of them, with the only surviving members being Buck himself and Zee, a female zorilla often mistaken for a skunk. Buck and Zee managed to defeat Orson, banishing him to exile on Lava Island. With no one knowing how he escaped, Orson figures out that he can control two raptors on the island with fire.
Later, the two raptors find Buck's hideout, but Zee saves him and the possums by using a gas to knock out the raptors. Orson, seeing that two raptors is not enough to capture Buck, goes to find more. Orson and his new army of raptors attack the watering hole with Buck and Zee telling the animals to evacuate the area. Buck and Zee, tense with each other after the squad broke up, head to get help along with the possums. They arrive at Lost Lagoon and summon their old friend, Momma Dino, a Tyrannosaurus Rex whose babies Sid "used to babysit". Buck and Zee forgive each other for breaking up the old gang and agree to work together. Acting as a diversion, Buck is captured by Orson, allowing the others to escape.
Trying to figure out how Orson controls the raptors, Zee and the possums devise a plan to get Buck back. Ellie, Manny, Sid, and Diego figure out that Crash and Eddie entered the Lost World and uncover the entrance. They run into Momma Dino, who tells them Crash and Eddie are in danger. Momma Dino then gives Ellie, Manny, Sid, and Diego a ride to the watering hole, where Zee, Crash, and Eddie free Buck, and then all fight Orson and his raptors together. Buck tries to explain to Orson that everyone needs to live in peace, but Orson arrogantly denies him and continues to fight. Figuring out Orson controls the raptors with fire, Crash and Eddie create a fire of their own and stop the raptors from fighting and save the Lost World. The raptors, upset with Orson, chase him away.
Ellie, Manny, Sid, and Diego apologize to Crash and Eddie and ask them to come home, but Crash and Eddie express that they want to stay in the Lost World with Buck and Zee as they found their life purpose there. Having realized that they have matured, Ellie allows them to say and, along with Manny, Sid, and Diego, wave them goodbye, but Crash and Eddie promise to visit them on the surface all the time. Buck, having realized thanks to Zee and the possums that they are stronger together than apart, welcome the possums and Zee and his new family after having been alone way too long. Then, Buck, Zee, Crash, and Eddie live together on Buck's hideout, while Manny, Sid, Diego, and Ellie head back home.
Cast
- Simon Pegg as Buck
- Justina Machado as Zee
- Vincent Tong as Crash
- Aaron Harris as Eddie
- Utkarsh Ambudkar as Orson
- Sean Kenin as Manny
- Jake Green as Sid
- Skyler Stone as Diego
- Dominique Jennings as Ellie
Trivia
- This is the first Ice Age film not to have a theatrical release and the first in the film series to instead be released on a streaming platform.
- This film marks the first Disney+ animated film to be based on a Blue Sky Studios franchise.
- This film also marks the first Ice Age feature to be produced in a standard television ratio of 16:9/1.78:1 since Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas and Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade. In this case, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was originally produced as a television series before it was moved to a feature film.
- Additionally, this film marks the first Ice Age film not to have its trailer narrated by George DelHoyo since Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, as well as the first one not to have any TV spot narrated by the said voice-over artist at all. However, DelHoyo returned to narrate a promo for the short series Ice Age: Scrat Tales.
- This film marks the first Ice Age production not to be produced by Blue Sky Studios, due to its closing in 2021. Instead, the animation is produced by Bardel Entertainment.
- This film also marks the first Ice Age spin-off film, as well as the first Ice Age production to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.
- Additionally, this film marks the second 20th Century Animation film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and marketed under the Disney brand, following Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
- Ironically, however, this film's logo lacks any Disney branding unlike most Walt Disney Pictures releases. Therefore, this proves that the film was originally slated to be a 20th Century Studios release, in addition to the soundtrack being copyrighted under 20th Century Studios.
- This film also marks the second 20th Century Studios film to be branded as a Disney film.
- Additionally, this film marks the second 20th Century Animation film to be distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and marketed under the Disney brand, following Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
- It was released for the 20th anniversary of the first Ice Age film in 2002.
- It was originally planned as a television series for Disney+ before it was moved to a feature film for the same platform.
- Batu Sener revealed on his social media that he had been recording the score for the film, making this his film animated film score.
- Sener had previously worked with John Powell (composer of the first three Ice Age sequels) as an additional music composer on his previous projects, such as Pan, Jason Bourne, Ferdinand, Solo: A Star Wars Story, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, and The Call of the Wild.
- Both of them are members of the music recording facility 5 Cat Studios.
- Simon Pegg is the only original Ice Age cast member to reprise his role, namely as Buck.
- Prior to November 12 (Disney+ Day), an unedited teaser trailer was accidentally leaked a day earlier by Disney+ France's YouTube channel.
- John C. Donkin's first directional debut since being a long-time film producer in Blue Sky Studios where the Ice Age franchise was created.
- Henry Jackman, Lorne Balfe, and Batu Sener are the first three composers who worked on three spin-off films from three different animated film franchises; the first two being Jackman's Puss in Boots and Balfe's Penguins of Madagascar.
- It is unknown if the movie is canon or not, as it takes place after Collision Course, since not only is Bronwyn (Buck's pumpkin daughter) present, but the movie also begins with Ellie recapturing the events of the franchise where she mostly talks about what happened in the first three films and highlights the events of the final two. However, not only are Shira and Brooke absent, despite being Diego and Sid's girlfriends (respectively), but Manny refers to Sid and Diego as "loners" and "outcasts", meaning that they are both single, and they both are never mentioned or even referenced in Ellie's summary of the previous films.
- Peaches is also noticeably missing, and while it is understandable in her case (as she moved out with Julian after marrying him in Collision Course), it's rather odd that she, like Shira and Brooke, is never mentioned or even referenced in Ellie's summary of the first five films, despite being Ellie and Manny's daughter.
- Granted, Shira was absent in the Easter special, despite it being set after Continental Drift, but her absence was explained in that case.
- Similarly, Scrat is also absent in this film, even though he appeared in every other Ice Age media, including Sid's spin-off short Surviving Sid. This is probably because Scrat has his own story lines that hardly connects with Manny and the gang's adventures, but it still upset many fans, as Scrat is one of the most beloved characters in the franchise.
- This film marks the only Ice Age film in which Scrat does not make an appearance.
- This film also marks the first time since the first Ice Age film where the humans are mentioned (not counting Santa Claus' appearance in the Christmas special).
- Crash and Eddie wonder what Zee's name stands for, but she mentions that her name does not stand for anything during the end credits; she is credited beside her name in brackets (or whatever her name is).
- The film's ending credits music is "Bad Boy" by Yung Bae.
- The film was originally titled Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, as seen on the prototype logo revealed during Disney Investor Day 2020; however, it was later altered to The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, beginning with the teaser poster.
- Like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, it is believed that the test footage shown during Disney Investor Day 2020 for the project came from when it was originally in-development as a television series; however, this remains unconfirmed.
Videos
Gallery
Promotional
Screenshots
Disney Investor Day 2020 - Test Footage
Film
External links
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild on Wikipedia- The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild on IMDb
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild on Ice Age Wiki
