Ice Age’s Scrat Finally Gets to Eat the Acorn, as Shuttered Studio Blue Sky Bids Farewell to Franchise

The Ice Age franchise expanded this week — on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar — with the shorts series Ice Age: Scrat Tales, nevertheless it's the swansong for its creator and animation outfit Blue Sky Studios. Less than two years below its new proprietor Disney as a part of its acquisition of twenty first Century Fox, Blue Sky was shuttered final April with Disney citing results of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With Ice Age: Scrat Tales, Blue Sky delivers its last piece in the Ice Age mythology: a series of six shorts starring hapless saber-toothed squirrel Scrat and his lovable, mischievous Baby Scrat as they battle for the Acorn. Speaking of the Acorn, Blue Sky has unveiled a (presumably non-canonical) video on YouTube that options Scrat lastly consuming what he is been chasing perpetually. Yep, it truly occurred.

“In the final days of Blue Sky Studios, a small team of artists came together to do one final shot. This shot is a farewell, a send-off on our own terms,” the Connecticut, US-based animation movie studio wrote in the description of an unlisted YouTube video titled “The End”. In it, Scrat jumps onto the display screen in the background, sniffing for the Acorn. Spotting it in the foreground, the squirrel leaps in direction of it, grabs it, fondly strokes it, after which lifts it over his head like he is gained a significant trophy. Then, wanting round himself, Scrat does what he is by no means accomplished earlier than. He bites into the Acorn with the full drive of his saber enamel — he glances up momentarily to see if anybody's watching him — after which proceeds to munch via the remainder of the Acorn.

“The End” is simply 34 seconds lengthy, and would not have the identical polish as newer productions, probably due to the undeniable fact that Blue Sky animators labored on this quick in their very own time. The two-line description, that includes the phrases “a send-off on our own terms”, appears like a parting shot at Disney, as the entertainment large will little question squeeze every thing out of the franchise though it is laid off those that had been at the coronary heart of all of it. Disney may be in the crosshairs lately for its missteps with Florida's “Don't Say Gay” invoice, nevertheless it has beforehand been lambasted internally for its dealings too. Pixar staff have expressed their frustration with how their current releases, together with Soul, Luca, and Turning Red, have skipped theatres and been moved to Disney+.

While Blue Sky may be bidding farewell to Ice Age, followers do not want to. If you need to see more of the unhurt Acorn and Acorn-chasing Scrat, tune into Ice Age: Scrat Tales — on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar wherever obtainable. The six shorts discover Baby Scrat seeing the Acorn for the first time (“Nuts About You”), Scrat making an attempt to get Baby Scrat to sleep (“LoFi Scrat Beats to Sleep/Chill to”), Scrat exhibiting Baby Scrat how to plan the Acorn (“X's and Uh-O's”), Scrat and Baby Scrat chasing after the Acorn in a darkish cave that is like a creepy funhouse corridor of mirrors (“Nutty Reflections”), the duo having adventures with a dodo fowl (“Teeter Toddler”), and the Acorn flying off a cliff (“Nut The End”).

The total Ice Age franchise — together with Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Ice Age: Collision Course, and the spin-off film The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild — is now streaming on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.