“Ice Age: Continental Drift” (2012), directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier, is the fourth movie of the “Ice Age” series. A common theme in the entire series, Ice Age 4 also revolves around the element of family. The movie starts off with the traditional beginning, Scrat chasing after the acorn that he desires. Scrat falls into the inner core of the Earth, and chases his acorn around the core, with the core spinning constantly like a wheel. This triggers the breakup of Pangaea into the continents that we know today, which becomes the storyline of the movie.
In the beginning, Manny gets into an argument with his daughter, Peaches, over what she should be able to do and where she should be able to go. After this, the land starts to shake, and soon, the icebergs are splitting and Manny, Diego, and Sid are separated from everyone else. While they are being separated, Manny tells Peaches and Ellie to go to the land bridge to eventually meet them there.
While on a separate iceberg, Manny, Diego, and Sid encounter a variety of adventures. They first survive a storm, after which they find out Sid’s unwanted grandmother, Granny, has come along with them on a tree on the iceberg. Manny and his friends are then captured by a group of pirates led by an ape called Captain Gutt. They are given a request to join the crew, but refuse and so Manny, Diego, Sid, and Granny are forced to walk the plank. However, they manage to destroy Captain Gutt’s ship while escaping.
One of Captain Gutt’s crew members, a female saber-toothed cat named Shira, is saved and taken back to an island along with Manny and his friends. She is taken captive by them, but they find out Captain Gutt is on the same island building a new ship. Sid then somehow communicates with a bunch of hyraxes, and the herd set out to take Captain Gutt’s ship. After battling and taking Gutt’s ship, the herd return home only to find Captain Gutt there with Peaches and Ellie under his confines.
Manny and his friends then go through another struggle with Captain Gutt and his crew, but Granny’s pet, the whale named Precious, saves them all and defeats Captain Gutt’s crew. They are reunited and realize the true importance of family as well as friends.
