Ice Age (PG, 2002)

ICE AGE is a clever, funny, and touching story of an unlikely trio of animals who band together to return a human baby to his family. The story is set when glaciers covered much of the earth, 20,000 years ago. As all of the other animals migrate south in search of food, three characters are moving in the opposite direction. They are a wooly mammoth named Manny (voice of Ray Romano), a sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo), and a saber tooth tiger named Diego (Denis Leary). In classic road movie fashion, they don't like or trust each other very much at the beginning and the journey becomes a psychological one as they share experiences and confidences that make them see each other and themselves very differently.

Ice Age doesn't reach the level of Shrek for wit and there is no romance to keep the grown-ups happy, and the plot has no surprises. But it's told with terrific energy, imagination, visual invention, and humor and it moves along very quickly. Interestingly, the three lead voices are provided by performers who began as stand-up comics rather than actors. Their voices are edgy and distinctive, perfectly matched with their characters.

The computer animation is truly magnificent, from the majestic ice-covered mountains to the texture of the fur and feathers, the glint of the sun on ice, and soft sparkle of the snowflakes falling at night. The pristine settings convey a sense of vastness and promise that will make grown-up viewers pause to think about whether civilization has been all that civilized. All ages will enjoy the facial expressions, body language and -- I have to say it -- performances of the ice age mammals, so vivid and so true that you may forget that they are pixels, not people.