Let’s be honest. Scrat is the only reason some of us even stuck around for five movies and a handful of spin-offs. That frantic, prehistoric squirrel spent twenty years chasing an acorn and, in the process, accidentally caused continental drift and the end of the world. It’s chaotic. If you’re trying to figure out the order of the Ice Age movies, you’ve probably realized it’s not just a straight line anymore. There are shorts, specials, and that one Disney+ movie that nobody seems to agree on.
Blue Sky Studios really leaned into the "found family" trope long before it was cool. We started with a grumpy mammoth, a fast-talking sloth, and a saber-tooth tiger with a secret. By the end, we had dinosaurs, pirates, and literally aliens. It's a lot to track.
Most people just want to sit down and watch the main theatrical releases, but if you skip the specials, you miss some of the weirdest lore in animation history. Like, did you know there’s a whole Christmas special where Peaches (Manny’s daughter) thinks she’s on the naughty list? It's canon. Sorta.
The Core Theatrical Run: Where it All Started
If you want to keep it simple, you stick to the big-screen releases. This is the backbone of the franchise. It starts in 2002. Back then, the animation was... well, it was 2002. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, and Denis Leary basically carried the whole thing on their backs.
The first one, simply titled Ice Age, is actually surprisingly dark compared to the sequels. You've got a human baby, a pack of vengeful tigers, and a literal trek through a frozen wasteland. It’s a road trip movie, basically. Then came Ice Age: The Meltdown in 2006. This is where the franchise shifted gears. It got brighter. It got funnier. We met Ellie, the mammoth who thought she was an opossum, and her "brothers" Crash and Eddie.
By the time Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs hit in 2009, the logic was out the window. But honestly? It’s arguably the best one. Introducing Buck Wild—the one-eyed weasel voiced by Simon Pegg—was a stroke of genius. He brought an energy the series desperately needed.
Then things get a bit rocky. Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) gave us granny sloths and pirate monkeys. Finally, Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) took us into space. Yes, space. Because why not?
Every Movie and Special in Chronological Order
If you’re a completionist, you can’t just watch the big five. You have to weave in the shorts and the streaming exclusives. Here is the actual path through the tundra:
1. Ice Age (2002)
The original. The goat. It sets the stage for everything.
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2. Gone Nutty (2002)
A short film found on the DVD. It’s just Scrat, but it’s essential because it shows him literally rearranging the continents for the first time.
3. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
The world starts to thaw. Manny finds love. Scrat almost goes to heaven.
4. No Time for Nuts (2006)
Another Scrat short. This one involves time travel. It’s fast, it’s loud, and it’s better than some of the full-length movies.
5. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
The crew goes underground. We meet the dinosaurs. Buck Wild enters the chat.
6. A Mammoth Christmas (2011)
A TV special. It takes place after the third movie but before the fourth. It’s short, sweet, and mostly about Manny being a protective dad.
7. Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
The Earth breaks apart. The herd gets separated. Peter Dinklage voices a pirate orangutan named Captain Gutt. It's wilder than it sounds.
8. Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe (2015)
This short leads directly into the fifth movie. Scrat finds a UFO. Again, don't ask about the physics.
9. Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
An asteroid is heading for Earth. The herd uses giant crystals and electricity to stop it. It’s the most "out there" the series ever got.
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10. Ice Age: Great Egg-Scapade (2016)
An Easter special. It’s set after the fifth movie and focuses on an egg hunt. It’s mostly for the kids.
11. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)
The Disney+ original. It focuses on Crash, Eddie, and Buck. Manny and the gang are there, but they aren't the stars.
12. Ice Age: Scrat Tales (2022)
A series of shorts on Disney+. This is actually the "true" finale for Scrat. He finds a son. He loses the nut. He finally finds peace.
Why the Order of the Ice Age Movies Actually Matters for the Characters
You might think you can just jump in anywhere. You can't. Not if you care about the character arcs. Manny goes from a lonely, bitter misanthrope to a husband, a father, and eventually a father-in-law. If you watch them out of order, his emotional growth makes zero sense.
One minute he's mourning his lost family, and the next he's arguing with a teenage mammoth about her dating life. It’s a jarring jump.
Then there’s Diego. In the first film, he’s a straight-up villain for the first half. Watching his transition from a predator to a protective "uncle" is one of the best parts of the series. By Continental Drift, he’s even finding his own partner in Shira (voiced by Jennifer Lopez).
The spin-offs, like the Buck Wild movie, are a bit different. They feel more like side quests. You can skip them and the main story still holds up, but you'd miss the closure for the smaller characters like Crash and Eddie.
The Scrat Problem: Where Does the Squirrel Fit?
Scrat is the thread that ties everything together. He’s the "butterfly effect" personified. Every major geological disaster in the franchise is usually his fault.
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If you're watching for the lore, you have to watch the shorts. Gone Nutty and No Time for Nuts explain why the world looks the way it does. Without Scrat, the characters would just be sitting on a block of ice for five movies. He provides the momentum.
Interestingly, Scrat Tales serves as a beautiful bookend. After Blue Sky Studios closed down, these shorts were the final goodbye. Seeing Scrat deal with fatherhood—and the inevitable competition for that elusive acorn—is a perfect mirror to Manny’s journey in the first three films.
Is Ice Age 6 Actually Happening?
There’s been a lot of chatter. With Disney now owning the rights, the future of the franchise was up in the air for a while. However, Disney confirmed that Ice Age 6 is officially in development.
This means the order of the Ice Age movies is about to get even longer. Rumors suggest the original voice cast—Romano, Leguizamo, and Leary—are returning. This is a big deal because the Buck Wild spin-off used different voice actors for the main trio, which many fans found distracting.
If the sixth movie goes back to basics, it might ignore some of the more "extreme" elements of the later films. But for now, the timeline stands as a messy, hilarious, and occasionally heartwarming evolution of a family that shouldn't exist.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Rewatch
If you’re planning a marathon, don’t just wing it.
Start with the 2002 original to remind yourself why these characters work. Then, make sure you include Dawn of the Dinosaurs—it’s the peak of the franchise's creativity. If you have kids, the Christmas and Easter specials are great "palate cleansers" between the high-stakes world-ending events of the movies.
Avoid the temptation to skip straight to the newest stuff. The humor in the later films relies heavily on knowing the history of the "herd." You won't appreciate Sid's family appearing in movie four if you haven't seen his loneliness in movie one.
Check your streaming services. Currently, most of the franchise lives on Disney+, but licensing changes. If you’re looking for the shorts, they are often tucked away in the "extras" tab of the main movies rather than having their own separate entries. Happy watching.