For 20 years, the ice age movie spawned lots of sequels, specials and shorts. But all good things must come to an end. Last year, the company responsible for movies like Rio, Epic and Spies in disguise Blue sky studios got shutdown due to various reasons. This let their next project to be cancelled and later revived by Netflix. But today's subject is a small bunch of shorts featuring the mascot of that company and his son. There were lots of rumours about them, including the fact that they were cancelled completely, but luckily, they were completed on time and Scrat fans around the globe can finally witness them.
The whole concept of these shorts have a rather simple premise, where Scrat becomes a father to a sabertooth squirrel baby boy and how he deals with him. And he has a tough choice of either choosing the kid or the acorn. Each of the episodes has it's own idea. Probably the craziest one is "Nutty Reflections" where the critters go to a mysterious cave with angry reflections who argue a lot. That episode felt weird, yet still creative. Another one called "X's and Uh-ohs" is about Scrat teaching Baby Scrat (It's his actual name) to plant an acorn, but it's actually a trap to trick the kid. It does deliver the humour and all the jokes land well. Mostly they are silly slapstick where Scrat gets himself in crazy situations. I liked the scene with the 4th wall break in "Teeter Toddler" where we see the animator picking up one of the storyboards that fell due to screaming. That was a smart move for Blue Sky. Another scene that I liked is the peekaboo scene, which is a reference to Ice age 1, where Diego was playing this game with Roshan. What a nice throwback! It also has cute moments with baby Scrat. He mostly acts like an average toddler, that would mess around and make problems. His design is so adorable, that you wish you could hug and cuddle him. It has emotional scenes too, especially in the last episode "Nut the end", where Scrat gets old and dies, and that makes baby Scrat upset, but it turns out that all he wanted is to steal the nut away.
The animation looks fantastic and beautiful. I swear that it's Blue Sky's best animation ever! The designs stay true to the previous movies and shorts, but the backgrounds have more detail, especially with sunrises and sunsets! It even has some 2d animation too, which is really cool. It is mostly being used in moments where the characters have to come up with a plan or describe what it is going on in their head. Also, Scrat and his son aren't the only characters in these shorts. There's also a baby dodo that occasionally appears as a prop or an obstacle. Another great reference to the first movie. The soundtrack is another positive aspect of these shorts! They definitely set up a mood for each scene and are greatly composed by Batu Sener. Which is awesome, because the music is one of the key elements in making of any feature, regardless whether they are long or short. Probably the best use of this soundtrack was in "Lo-fi beats". Scrat wanted to put baby Scrat to sleep and had to come up with everything to do so. Even if it means, coming up with a song by using a cactus, a baby dodo, and a chunk of ice with an electric device inside (I still don't know what it is)
These shorts were so close to get a 10/10 from me, if it wasn't for one missing detail, and to be more specific, one character, that isn't one of the main ones, yet still important to our squirrels. And it's no other than Scratte! It's sad that she didn't appear there, since she has a big fanbase that wanted to see her again. After all, we didn't see her since her debut in Dawn of dinosaurs, not in Continental drift, Collision course or Buck Wild. And there was a chance that we will Scratte again after 13 years of absence. But sadly, that didn't happen, and she's gone forever and never to be heard again. Luckily, this was the only bad thing about these shorts, if you ignore that, than you'll love them a lot!
Overall, Scrat tales feels like a love letter and a gift from heaven to all ice age and Scrat fans! It's an absolute must watch for them! They were everything cute, funny, emotional, sweet, creative, crazy and great about these films. Even non fans will be pleasantly surprised with them. I would also recommend to watch these shorts if you feel sad, annoyed or tired. They will definitely cheer you up and let you forget about everything bad that happened to you and let you have a fun time, at least for 26 minutes. As for me, I adored them so much, that I wish to see more of them, but that's not possible, since it's the last project of the studio. They warmed my heart, made me smile and I just felt better after watching them. I'm glad that Blue sky Studios finished them and gave fans what they always wanted.
Also, Scrat finally ate his acorn! Hooray!
The whole concept of these shorts have a rather simple premise, where Scrat becomes a father to a sabertooth squirrel baby boy and how he deals with him. And he has a tough choice of either choosing the kid or the acorn. Each of the episodes has it's own idea. Probably the craziest one is "Nutty Reflections" where the critters go to a mysterious cave with angry reflections who argue a lot. That episode felt weird, yet still creative. Another one called "X's and Uh-ohs" is about Scrat teaching Baby Scrat (It's his actual name) to plant an acorn, but it's actually a trap to trick the kid. It does deliver the humour and all the jokes land well. Mostly they are silly slapstick where Scrat gets himself in crazy situations. I liked the scene with the 4th wall break in "Teeter Toddler" where we see the animator picking up one of the storyboards that fell due to screaming. That was a smart move for Blue Sky. Another scene that I liked is the peekaboo scene, which is a reference to Ice age 1, where Diego was playing this game with Roshan. What a nice throwback! It also has cute moments with baby Scrat. He mostly acts like an average toddler, that would mess around and make problems. His design is so adorable, that you wish you could hug and cuddle him. It has emotional scenes too, especially in the last episode "Nut the end", where Scrat gets old and dies, and that makes baby Scrat upset, but it turns out that all he wanted is to steal the nut away.
The animation looks fantastic and beautiful. I swear that it's Blue Sky's best animation ever! The designs stay true to the previous movies and shorts, but the backgrounds have more detail, especially with sunrises and sunsets! It even has some 2d animation too, which is really cool. It is mostly being used in moments where the characters have to come up with a plan or describe what it is going on in their head. Also, Scrat and his son aren't the only characters in these shorts. There's also a baby dodo that occasionally appears as a prop or an obstacle. Another great reference to the first movie. The soundtrack is another positive aspect of these shorts! They definitely set up a mood for each scene and are greatly composed by Batu Sener. Which is awesome, because the music is one of the key elements in making of any feature, regardless whether they are long or short. Probably the best use of this soundtrack was in "Lo-fi beats". Scrat wanted to put baby Scrat to sleep and had to come up with everything to do so. Even if it means, coming up with a song by using a cactus, a baby dodo, and a chunk of ice with an electric device inside (I still don't know what it is)
These shorts were so close to get a 10/10 from me, if it wasn't for one missing detail, and to be more specific, one character, that isn't one of the main ones, yet still important to our squirrels. And it's no other than Scratte! It's sad that she didn't appear there, since she has a big fanbase that wanted to see her again. After all, we didn't see her since her debut in Dawn of dinosaurs, not in Continental drift, Collision course or Buck Wild. And there was a chance that we will Scratte again after 13 years of absence. But sadly, that didn't happen, and she's gone forever and never to be heard again. Luckily, this was the only bad thing about these shorts, if you ignore that, than you'll love them a lot!
Overall, Scrat tales feels like a love letter and a gift from heaven to all ice age and Scrat fans! It's an absolute must watch for them! They were everything cute, funny, emotional, sweet, creative, crazy and great about these films. Even non fans will be pleasantly surprised with them. I would also recommend to watch these shorts if you feel sad, annoyed or tired. They will definitely cheer you up and let you forget about everything bad that happened to you and let you have a fun time, at least for 26 minutes. As for me, I adored them so much, that I wish to see more of them, but that's not possible, since it's the last project of the studio. They warmed my heart, made me smile and I just felt better after watching them. I'm glad that Blue sky Studios finished them and gave fans what they always wanted.
Also, Scrat finally ate his acorn! Hooray!