With Blue Sky finally stealing the spotlight from such titanic studios as Pixar and Dreamworks in regards to animated releases, they weren't about to pass up an opportunity to continue their massive success.

This represented a high point for the Ice Age franchise and Blue Sky Studios as a whole never again would they have such a profitable release.ДЄvailable on: Amazon, DirecTV, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, YouTube 2 Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) Whatever negative reviews this installment may have gotten certainly didn't deter it from becoming a box office hit, with final takings estimated at more than $886 million worldwide. RELATED: 10 Funniest Quotes From The Ice Age Franchise Fans of the originals were delighted by this lighthearted continuation to the franchise, although criticsВ panned the film (with one notable exception being the late Roger Ebert). A less-remembered - though still important - addition to this list is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which follows the main cast of the original as they attempt to save Sid from a forgotten, subterranean dwelling housing a vengeful herd of dinosaurs. At the box office, The MeltdownВ finished its healthy run with more than $660 million, becoming Blue Sky's biggest release - by far - and enabling them to prolong the adventures of their prehistoric pantheon.ДЄvailable on: Amazon, DirecTV, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, YouTube 3 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)Дў009 was a big year for theatrical animation, with such groundbreaking releases as Pixar's Up, Laika's Coraline, and Disney's The Princess and the Frog. While critics were concerned that, in comparison to the original Ice Age, the plot of the second wasn't as convincing and the characters weren't as fleshed out, many still praised the humor, animation, and directing. RELATED: Don't Forget Your Mitts: 10 Best Animated Winter Movies, Ranked The film follows the aforementioned cast as they fight to survive after global warming causes widespread flooding, leaving them with significantly less icy terrain to trek. While Manny, Sid, and Diego did, in fact, return for a second outing in 2006's Ice Age: The Meltdown, this timeВ they were joined by an expanded cast of side characters, including Ellie, Crash, and Eddie, all of whom would go on to appear in the franchise's later installments. The film's final box office taking of more than $383 million established Blue Sky as an animation powerhouse and more than guaranteed that the already well-known characters would return for a sequel in the coming years.ДЄvailable on: Amazon, DirecTV, Google Play, iTunes, Microsoft Store, Redbox, Vudu, YouTube 4 Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) RELATED: 10 Plot Holes In The Ice Age Franchise The film became an instant hit with parents, kids, and critics alike, as the refreshing humor and revolutionary animation won over even the coldest (pun intended) hearts Scrat, a character from the film, would go on to become one of the most recognizable animated characters of the 21st century, as well as Blue Sky's mascot. It follows three Pleistocene-era characters - Sid, a sloth Manny, a woolly mammoth and Diego, a saber-toothed tiger - who come across a Neanderthal baby (known as Roshan), as they embark on a journey to return it to its tribal family. Blue Sky Studios' feature film debut, Ice Age, came out in 2002, at a time when the animation market was largely dominated by the trifecta of Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks.

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