Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

July 1, 2009 (United States)

July 1, 2009 (United States)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a 2009 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the sequel to Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) and the third installment in the Ice Age film series. It was directed by Carlos Saldanha and co-directed by Mike Thurmeier (in his feature directorial debut), from a screenplay written by Michael Berg, Peter Ackerman, Mike Reiss, and Yoni Brenner, based on a story conceived by Jason Carter Eaton. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Chris Wedge reprise their roles from the first two films and Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, and Queen Latifah reprise their roles from The Meltdown, with Simon Pegg joining them in the role of a weasel named Buck. The story has Manny and Ellie preparing for their baby. Sid the Sloth is kidnapped by a female Tyrannosaurus after stealing her eggs, leading the rest of the herd to rescue him in a tropical lost world inhabited by dinosaurs underneath the ice.

The film was released on July 1, 2009, becoming the first Ice Age film and the first 20th Century Fox film to be released in 3D. It received mixed reviews from critics, and has grossed $886.7 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2009, the highest-grossing animated film of 2009, the highest-grossing Ice Age film and the highest-grossing film from Blue Sky Studios. Two sequels, Ice Age: Continental Drift and Ice Age: Collision Course, were released in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

Skywalker Sound provided the Post-Production [Sound] Services for the film: Randy Thom is the Supervising Sound Designer (and re-recording mixer); Gwendolyn Yates Whittle is the Supervising Sound Editor.

Storyline

Ellie is pregnant, making Manny desperate to make life safe for both her and their upcoming child, not wanting them to meet the same fate as his previous wife and child. However, Manny's desperation alienates Diego, who contemplates leaving the herd, feeling like he's losing his hunter instincts. On the other hand, Sid becomes anxious about being abandoned, leading him to discover three apparently abandoned eggs underground that he decides to adopt. Manny tells Sid to return the eggs, but Sid ignores him and looks after them, hatching into baby Tyrannosaurs the following day. Meanwhile, Scrat battles a flying saber-tooth squirrel named Scratte for his acorn.

Although Sid tries his best to raise the dinosaurs, their rambunctious behavior scares away the younger animals and destroys the playground Manny built for his child, angering Manny. The mother Tyrannosaurus, whose eggs Sid took, arrives. When Sid refuses to return her children, she carries both Sid and her children underground. The two mammoths and possums follow them, discovering that the icy cave leads to a vast subterranean lost world populated by dinosaurs. After escaping a territorial dinosaur and reuniting with Diego, they are surrounded by more dinosaurs, but are saved by a one-eyed weasel named Buck.

Buck reveals he has lived in the jungle for a long time, and is trying to hunt down Rudy, a monstrous albino Baryonyx who took Buck's missing eye. He agrees to lead the group through the jungle to Lava Falls, where the mother dinosaur takes Sid and her babies. Meanwhile, the mother Tyrannosaurus tries to get rid of Sid, but slowly grows attached to him. The following day, however, Sid is separated and chased by Rudy. Sid escapes, but gets stranded on a loose rock floating on a river of lava, heading to plummet over the falls.

Nearing lava falls, Ellie enters labor, and a pack of Guanlong causes a rock slide that separates her from the rest. Buck commands Manny and Diego to stay behind to protect Ellie while he and the possums rescue Sid. Diego regains his edge from defeating the Guanlong while supporting Ellie emotionally as she gives birth. Manny slows down the rest as he makes his way up to her. Buck, Crash, and Eddie ride a Harpactognathus to Lava Falls, but a pack of Quetzalcoatlus follow, preying on the possums and forcing them to detour through a canyon. They defeat the Quetzalcoatlus, and return to Lava Falls just in time to rescue Sid. Back at the plates, the remaining Guanlong are defeated with Manny reaching Ellie just in time to see his newborn daughter, agreeing to name the baby "Peaches". Sid is happy to reunite with his friends, but is sad that he never had a chance to say goodbye to the Tyrannosaurus.

Before leaving the jungle, they are ambushed by Rudy, but the herd is eventually saved by the mother Tyrannosaurus, who charges at Rudy and knocks him off a cliff. Sid then says goodbye to the dinosaurs, and Buck, now without a purpose in life since Rudy is gone, decides to join the herd and live on the surface. However, a distant roar tells him that Rudy is still alive. Changing his mind, he sends the herd home and blocks off the path to the lost world. Manny and Ellie welcome Peaches into their frozen world, and Diego decides to remain with the herd, while Buck stays underground, trying to tame Rudy.

Meanwhile, Scrat and Scratte, having continued their fight into the dinosaur world, fall in love and decide to live in the jungle together. Still, Scratte suddenly becomes bossy, making Scrat choose the acorn over her. Scratte catches him and takes away the acorn, causing a fight. Scrat is accidentally launched back to the surface, while the acorn and Scratte are trapped in the dinosaur world.

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Movie Trailer

Sound Effects Used

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