Check out our exclusive clip from 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'
Posted by Lorrie Lynch The animated family comedy Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs opens Wednesday, and in this weekend’s magazine, I have a feature on Denis Leary, who gives voice to the sabretooth tiger Diego. We also have an an exclusive clip from the movie, third in the Ice Age series, below. Director Carlos Saldanha says, it’s one of the funniest scenes, which is saying a lot given this movie. Diego and the married woolly mammoth couple Manny (voiced by Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) — who are expecting a baby — journey to rescue their sloth pal Sid (John Leguizamo) after he gets trapped in a world full of dangerous dinosaurs. They run into the dreaded Chasm of Death, where they have to zip-line across with the help of the swashbuckling, one-eyed weasel Buck (British actor Simon Pegg) and avoid the “poison gas” — which doesn’t hurt them as much as it cracks them up. “They’re talking about maybe dying going through this dangerous journey and about all the issues that they have, but in a funny way laughing uncontrollably,” says Saldanha. Watch the clip below, then click read more for Brian Truitt’s three questions with the director.
Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
You’ve been a director on all three Ice Age films. What is it about these characters and this world that keeps you coming back?
What is cool about the Ice Age movies we’ve made so far is that we are very careful and we work really hard in trying to keep the essence of the characters and the themes. The ideal family and friendship is very strong in every movie we make, and that’s what we keep reinforcing. When you deal with family and friends, it creates a relationship to these characters that’s universal. Buck is a dynamic new character, and Simon Pegg seems as animated as a cartoon weasel as he does in live-action movies.
Buck is like Indiana Jones meets Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. He’s awesome. I’ve always loved Simon Pegg’s comedic timing. When I watched Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, you attribute that quirkiness to his character — he has this almost underdog feel to him — but at the same time he has an energy that’s really appealing. Buck is a really standout character and is very distinct from the others, but adds another chemistry to the pack.
How fun was it to add dinosaurs to the mix? That alone probably excites the kid in all of us.
The grown-up kids will be as excited as the little kids. When we decided we’d have dinosaurs, the inner child smiled big. It’s a dream come true. I’ve always loved dinosaurs, I’ve always enjoyed the idea of “What if dinosaurs existed and I could interact with them?” Instantly, when that idea got disseminated in the studio, the crew was instantly sending us emails and feedback: “Let’s use this dinosaur! This is the coolest! Look at this one!” That was another fun thing about this movie. We kept expecting to think, “It’s the third movie, there’s nothing new,” and the minute we added dinosaurs, it sparked a huge chain reaction of optimism and drive to create this world.
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