| The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild | |
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 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | John C. Donkin |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by | Jim Hecht |
| Based on | Characters byMichael J. Wilson |
| Produced by | Denise L. Rottina |
| Starring |
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| Edited by | Braden Oberson |
| Music by | Batu Sener |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Disney+[b] |
Release date |
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Running time | 82 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is a 2022 animatedadventure comedy film directed by John C. Donkin, in hisfeature directorial debut, with a screenplay by Jim Hecht, Ray DeLaurentis, and William Schifrin based on a story written by Hecht. It is a spin-off film of theIce Age franchise, and the sixth overall installment.
The film stars the voices ofSimon Pegg (the only previous cast member to return),Vincent Tong, Aaron Harris,Utkarsh Ambudkar, andJustina Machado also starring in the film. It follows the twoopossum brothers Crash and Eddie and their adventure to becoming independent possums alongside the titular character Buck Wild.
Originally planned to be a television series,The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was redeveloped into a feature-length film. Produced by20th Century Animation[1] and released under theWalt Disney Pictures banner, it was released on January 28, 2022 as aDisney+ original film. The film received generally negative reviews from critics.
In an attempt to practice one of their extreme stunts, Crash and Eddie accidentally cause an avalanche and destroy the gang's summer habitat, which later to Manny, Sid, Diego, and Ellie becoming upset at them, declaring they would not survive on their own. Wanting to prove them wrong, Crash and Eddie secretly leave their temporary camp while the others are asleep. Finding them gone the next morning, Ellie insists that they go search for them. Meanwhile, Crash and Eddie stumble upon the entrance to the Lost World, a land inhabited with dinosaurs, and run into their old friend Buck, who saves them from raptors and tells them that abipedalProtoceratops named Orson, who was ridiculed when he was young for having a massive brain, has escaped from exile and has come to conquer the Lost World. Buck tries to get Crash and Eddie back to their home, but finds out that Orson has covered the entrance with a boulder.
Buck and the possums go to Buck's hideout, where Buck explains how he used to be part of an old team that established a watering hole as a place for animals to peacefully co-exist. He goes on to say that Orson did not accept an offer to join his team because he believed in a world where the strong dominate the weak, with him being the leader. Buck further explains that they defeated Orson and banished him to an island, where he learned that he can control two raptors with fire.
The two raptors find Buck's hideout, but Zee, azorilla who used to be part of Buck's former team, saves Buck and the possums by using a gas to knock out the raptors. Orson then gets an army of raptors and attacks the watering hole, with Buck and Zee telling the animals to evacuate. Buck and Zee, their relationship strained after their team's breakup, go with the possums to get help. They arrive at the Lost Lagoon and summon their old friend Momma, a femaleTyrannosaurus. When Orson and his raptors arrive and attack them again, Buck and Zee forgive each other for breaking up the old team 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 find out that Crash and Eddie entered the Lost World and uncover the entrance. They run into Momma, who gives them a ride to the watering hole, where Orson has taken Buck to feed his raptors, planning to use him as an example for anyone who refuses to follow his rules. Zee and the possums free Buck and fight Orson and his army, with Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, and Momma joining in the battle. Buck tries to explain to Orson that everyone needs to live in peace, but Orson arrogantly rebuffs him and continues to fight. After figuring out that Orson controls the raptors with fire, Crash and Eddie create a fire of their own by forcing previously caughtfire-breathing lizards to breathe fire and stop the raptors from fighting and make the two raptors chase Orson away instead, saving the Lost World.
Ellie, Manny, Sid, and Diego apologize to Crash and Eddie for doubting them and ask them to come home, but Crash and Eddie express that they want to stay in the Lost World with Buck and Zee. Sad to not be with them anymore yet proud to see that their adventure with Buck made them more mature, Ellie allows Crash and Eddie to stay and says goodbye, but Crash and Eddie still come to visit the gang often.
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Additional voices include Theodore Borders,Jason Harris,Kristen McGuire,Shakira Ja'nai Paye, Peter Pamela Rose, & Jason Linere White.[5]
In August 2018,20th Century Fox CEOStacey Snider announced the development of a television series centered around the character of Buck, produced byBlue Sky Studios.[6][7][8] In December 2020, the project was confirmed to have been redeveloped as a film titledIce Age: Adventures of Buck Wild, centering around Buck going on an adventure in the Dinosaur World with Crash and Eddie, during the Disney Investor Day 2020 event.[8]Simon Pegg was reported to be reprising his role as Buck.[9]
Unlike the previousIce Age films released by 20th Century Fox and produced by20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky, the film was released byWalt Disney Pictures and the animation was outsourced by 20th Century Fox Animation toBardel Entertainment inVancouver.[10]
Blue Sky was closed on April 10, 2021[11] and, consequently,many of their upcoming projects were cancelled. Despite this, production onIce Age: Adventures of Buck Wild continued. When the teaser poster was unveiled, it was revealed that the title had changed fromIce Age: Adventures of Buck Wild toThe Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild.[12] On January 14, 2022, director John C. Donkin (who previously worked as a producer onIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs andIce Age: Continental Drift) and executive producer Lori Forte said that Blue Sky was never involved in the film.[13] This would later be confirmed byIce Age: Scrat Tales producers,Chris Wedge, Michael Knapp, and Anthony Nisi in an April 2022 interview withPaste.[14]
Simon Pegg reprised his role as Buck fromIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs andIce Age: Collision Course, having been confirmed to when the film was announced.[15] The rest of the principal characters were recast.[3][16]
The animation was outsourced toBardel Entertainment inVancouver.[10] Bardel had previously collaborated with 20th Century Animation and Disney onDiary of a Wimpy Kid (2021).[17] Around 80 people were involved in the creation ofThe Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. Almost all the production was done remotely which led Donkin to never having a meeting with the entire team. Donkin said, "It was a pretty lean crew. But yet, everybody was able to really concentrate and work hard from their homes." He also said that they finished production on the film in late 2021.[10]
Batu Sener composed the musical score.[18] The soundtrack was released on January 28, 2022, byHollywood Records andWalt Disney Records.[19][20]
Sener's score was nominated for Public Choice Award at the 2022 edition ofWorld Soundtrack Awards.[21]
The first look of the film was shown on December 10, 2020, at Disney's Investor Day, depicting Crash and Eddie getting saved by Buck and hispterodactyl Penelope from falling to their deaths.[22]
The film was released in the United States and Canada on January 28, 2022, as aDisney+ original film.[23] It was later released on Disney+ in other countries on March 25, 2022.[24][25] However, the film was released on the service underWalt Disney Pictures instead of20th Century Studios, after being moved from 20th Century Studios and 20th Century Animation.
Whip Media, which tracks global viewing habits from over 1 million daily worldwide users of itsTV Time app, calculated thatTheIce Age Adventures of Buck Wild was the 10th-most-anticipated movie of January 2022.[26] Analytics companySamba TV, which gathers viewership data from certainsmart TVs and content providers, calculated that 797,000 US households watched the film in its first two days of streaming.[27]Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, reported thatTheIce Age Adventures of Buck Wild was streamed for 347 million minutes between January 24–30, making it the third most-streamed film of the week.[28][29] Whip Media announced that it was the eighth most-streamed film in the U.S. from January 28–30.[30] The film subsequently moved to tenth place between February 4–6.[31]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 19% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Suffering from subpar animation and a dull story,The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is missing virtually all of the ingredients that made earlier installments enjoyable."[32]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 30 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[33]
Courtney Howard ofVariety gave the film a negative review, saying how the story's focus is on the major characters of the previousIce Age films, rather than solely on the titular Buck. She also points out the problematicdisability representation and how the animation is "akin to a late-stagepre-viz pass", ending the review saying that the film "should've remained on ice."[34] Natalia Winkleman ofThe New York Times said that she was disappointed to see the film replace almost all of its celebrity voices and stated that of all the "sins" in the movie, the omission of Scrat was unforgivable.[35] Laura Millar fromThe Michigan Daily wrote that she was somewhat disappointed in the cast change and the "elementary plot", but said that she was most upset that the film was not made for the same audience as the pastIce Age films.[36] Johnny Loftus ofDecider complimented Simon Pegg's performance, but said the world depicted across the movie appears empty and generic, and found the appearances of several characters uninteresting, writing, "The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild feels like a tangent, or perhaps a try-out pilot for a small screen Crash & Eddie ‘toon. What it doesn’t feel like is a feature film."[37]
Jennifer Green ofCommon Sense Media rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild [...] has frequent animated action involving perilous situations and some mild language. [...] Characters discover qualities in themselves that allow them to gain confidence and improve their relationships. The film has messages about existing peacefully alongside those who are different from you and being a contributing member of your herd [...] and there's some potty humor involving peeing, farting, and other bodily functions."[38] Giving the film a D+,The A.V. Club's Jesse Hassenger negatively compared it to Disney's other direct-to-video sequels, saying: "The new direct-to-streamingIce Age sequel is a generic chunk of content."[39] Mark Kennedy of theAssociated Press gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing: "Visually and storytelling-wise it's not a cut above much of what kids can watch on TV these days. This is a franchise that looks like it's slowly going the way of the dinos, while we drool."[40]
Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical Animation at the 2022Golden Reel Awards.[41]
The film's promotional kit mentions anotherIce Age film that is in development, with the script being penned by Ray DeLaurentis.[2] Lori Forte discussed the possibility of a sequel, saying, "I think it's a little premature. We hope that people will respond to this, and that will promote us to be able to do another movie. If the audiences want it, we've got plenty of ideas. There's no end to ideas and adventures and characters, so we're ready if they're ready."[42]
In September 2024, while making a guest appearance on theWait Wait…Don't Tell Me! podcast, Leguizamo suggested that a sixth mainIce Age film could be in development.[43] In November 2024,a sixth mainline film was confirmed to be in the works with Romano, Leguizamo, Latifah, Leary, and Pegg set to reprise their voice roles.[44][45] In August 2025, the film's title was revealed asIce Age: Boiling Point, with its release date pushed from December 18, 2026 to February 5, 2027.[46]
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