MOVIE REVIEW: ICE AGE: A MAMMOTH CHRISTMAS (2011)

This is actually a TV-special, so this is really stretching it to call this a movie. But I’ve rated TV movies before, so we’re going to call this a short-film installment of the Ice Age franchise, TV commercial break fade-outs notwithstanding. Short films tend to get short reviews, and this will be no different.

As the Ice Age gang prepare for Christmas, Sid the sloth, in his usual clumsy fashion, breaks Manny the mammoth’s family heirloom Christmas rock. Enraged, Manny proclaims that Sid is on Santa’s Naughty List now, but his daughter Peaches also overhears Manny state that Santa doesn’t actually exist. Peaches teams up with Sid to prove Santa is real and to get Sid off the Naughty List. The rambunctious opossum brothers, Crash and Eddie, tag along for some wild high jinks.

The assault of anachronisms in this short boggles the logic-obsessed sections of my brain. Why do prehistoric animals call the winter holiday Christmas when the reason for calling it Christmas hasn’t even happened yet? Why does Santa walk, talk, and act like a modern human rather than a Stone Age human? Why do the animals even care about Christmas/Santa in the first place? How are we supposed to believe that all of Santa’s reindeer were alive and resembling modern reindeer? Ice Age, due to its setting in time, is not a very appropriate series to incorporate Christmas into. But because the characters are goofy, fun, and of the cold weather variety, we’re just supposed to take them as Christmas-adjacent characters and roll with it without asking questions. Too bad; I’m not that forgiving.

Even at the most surface-level of entertainment, A Mammoth Christmas is lacking. Because it was made for TV instead of the big screen, the animation quality is inferior. Sid is hilarious, but Peaches isn’t a strong enough character in the series yet to help carry the plot, and Crash and Eddie are more annoying than entertaining. The plot can only go so deep because the run time is so short. Yes, it functions marginally well as a brief distraction, but it also marks the first piece of the Ice Age IP to be officially passable. Kids will enjoy it, but more parents will shrug their shoulders than celebrate it. In the pantheon of Christmas shorts, this one won’t stand the test of time.

FINAL RATING: 2.25 out of 5