Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

Well-known actors lend their voices to a group of animals living in a valley, blissfully unaware that the glacier around them is melting and their paradise is doomed. Hmmm.... Sounds like people today.

The actors include Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, and Jay Leno. The animation is terrific. And the writing, while meant for young children, has just enough of inside jokes to keep adults laughing. Unlike some animated kid's movies recently, the characters are developed enough so that you care about them. You want Manny and Ellie to get together. You care whether Sid is sacrificed in the volcano. And you want all of them to make it to safety in time.

Where the movie falls down slightly is in the attention paid to the bad guys, the pre-prehistoric carnivores that have come out of suspended animation in the ice and are now hunting the good guys for food. They're not developed enough for you to sympathize with them, although that may be asking too much from a movie aimed at such a young audience.

A plus: there are no pathetic fart jokes.

Another plus: No Time For Nuts, the short that accompanies the DVD, and that has been nominated for an Academy award in the short film (animated) category.

Random Notions rating: 8 out of 10