- Title: The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild
- IMDb: link
Originally conceived as a TV-series, The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild becomes the sixth film in the Ice Age franchise. Despite the title, the main character of the film isn’t the one-eye adventurous weasel Buck (Simon Pegg) but instead the irresponsible possums Crash (Vincent Tong) and Eddie (Aaron Harris) who leave the rest of the Ice Age regulars and set off to prove they can make it on their own.
The pair’s journey leads back into the Lost World where a Protoceratops (Utkarsh Ambudkar) is planning on taking over with an army of Raptors. Sticking close to Buck and his old friend Zee (Justina Machado), by far the most interesting character on-screen, Crash and Eddie cause chaos with their mindless antics while eventually learning how to help.
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild feels a bit half-assed, like a watered down TV-series truncated into a single film… which, of course, is what it is. Younger audiences might enjoy the trouble the possums get themselves into, but fans of franchise didn’t take warmly to the recasting of several key characters (Simon Pegg is the only notable name to return). The other main Ice Age characters, all recast, only make sporadic appearances over the course of the film tracking the missing possums (also recast). The folding of Blue Sky also meant Disney, now owning the rights, outsourced the animation rather than bring it in house. The results, like the story, are mixed.
The film has the feel of many of Disney’s straight-to-video sequels, each a far cry from the quality of the theatrical films. I’ve never been the biggest connoisseur of the Ice Age franchise, but it deserved better than what we get with The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild. Realizing no money would likely be made from the film, Disney released it on Disney+ where it can be watched alongside the likes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame II and Kronk’s New Groove. That’s where it belongs.
Watch the trailer