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In adventure animation Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
are reunited the hairy mammoth Manny (Ray Romano), the saber-toothed tiger Diego (Dennis Leary) and Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo). In Ice Age 1, these three bonded, became friends, and saved a human baby. Now Manny is depressed by the thought of possible extinction, thinking he may be the last mammoth alive, but the problem at hand prevents him from wallowing in his depression: volcanic activity that is causing the glaciers to melt. They have but three days to save themselves from drowning. And so with the rest of the animal kingdom Manny, Diego and Sid walk to the other end of the valley where a boat awaits them to safety. Along the way they meet two possum brothers traveling with a female mammoth Elli (Queen Latifah), reviving Manny's hope to save the mammoths from sure extinction. But Elli believes she's a possum, having been saved in infancy and raised by a possum family. What happens now?
The technical work on Ice Age 2: The Meltdown gets high points for producing animal characters as real and quirky as humans.
Their facial features and bodily movements, supported by a good script and skillful voice-over work by the actors, create personalities the viewer can relate to and identify with. The story has substance, too, and - set against a palette of appealing colors and landscapes - makes for a delightful menagerie that children aged from one to one hundred would not mind holidaying in. Pizzazz is added by the appearance of the squirrel Scrat, on a relentless pursuit to secure a prized acorn against everyone and everything.
What could be the main message of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown? Clearly it uses animals to speak to human moviegoers about the importance of friendship, unity, family, environment, saving the species. This is
definitely not a National Geographic documentary on life in Antarctica, not even a plain animal story, but it certainly has anima - soul - in that it stresses the planet's
need for compassion and selflessness. The animal characters here are in peaceful coexistence, apparently oblivious of the fact that some of them could be satisfying
dinners for others. It's saying something too about mating in order to propagate the species - hello, anti-life advocates! And pay attention to the
single-mindedness of the squirrel Scrat - talk about following one's heart against all odds! If the viewers go beyond the cartoons and open their ears and hearts to the
substance of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown they'll get the point.
(Date Reviewed: 31 March 2006)
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