Sid the sloth and Diego the sabre tooth haven't got long before their valley's flooded by a melting glacier. Manny the mammoth has problems bigger than the weather forecast; he thinks he's the last of his species. When the unlikely threesome encounters Ellie, a beautiful (if rather hairy) female mammoth raised by possums, there's a slim chance that the two will get it together before the freeze lifts. If only Ellie would realise that she's really a mammoth...
Ice Age was a smash hit and this sequel's a mini-mammoth, turning a $80m budget into $195m at the American box office. It's packed with similar elements to the original - bug-eyed squirrel Scrat is still after his millennium acorn - but there are a few cheeky additions to the animated zoo, including a pair of possums and a dung beetle who's not convinced about his tribe's luggage tactics: "Do we really have to bring this crap?" Frosty fun with a warm glow.
Ice Age: The Meltdown is a Film programme that first aired in 2006 and has been classified a U certificate.
