Did you know there are five Ice Age films? That’s a lot, right? The 2002 original is widely loved for its poignant storyline and brilliant characterizations; by the time we reach the fifth film, its legendary status has become a lot more questionable. From a humble film following the journey of the central characters to the huge scope of an adventure that covers everything from pirates to dinosaurs to space, the series has certainly come far in fourteen years.
Either way, all five of these films possess their own unique plot holes that question the logic of everything from minor moments to character errors to the entire existence of the Ice Age universe. Here are ten of the best.
Diego’s Fear Of Water Didn’t Exist In Ice Age 1
One of the main traits of Diego’s personality and character in Ice Age 2 is his fear of swimming. It gives us a few good laughs and allows him to build on his fear until he (inevitably) overcomes it.
The main problem with this entire storyline, however, is that it was established in Ice Age 1 that Diego actually had no issues with swimming at all. He jumps straight into the river when chasing the baby and his mother without thinking about it or anything to do with it being mentioned again.
Tigers Can Swim
Despite the obvious issues with Diego’s fear of water, Sid’s rebuttal doesn’t make a lot of sense either. His entire argument as to why Diego shouldn’t be scared or swimming or water is built around his idea that tigers can’t swim.
Sid isn’t the brightest of the bunch, so maybe this is just something he genuinely believes, but tigers can swim from a very early age. If anything, Sid should have been using this as a way of helping his friend get over his fear.
Impossibly Frozen Reptiles
There are two frozen reptiles shown in Ice Age 2 (they freak Sid out just as much as their creepy contorted faces freak us out) but technically, they shouldn’t be able to be there. Of course, they’re in an ice age when we see them, so their frozen bodies make sense.
However, if these Cretaceous and Maelstrom sea reptiles were from the actual eras they should be from, then it makes no sense as to how they can possibly have been frozen in such a manner because nowhere on earth was cold enough to have any ice on it.
A Very Long Ice Age
The beginning of the first Ice Age film suggests that the ice age is just starting and that they’re right at the beginning of it. However, the start of Ice Age 2 shows Fast Tony talking about the end of the ice age (which has apparently only just started).
Manny, however, claims the ice age has been going on for over 1000 years. If they really were at the start of the ice age in the previous film, then that would make basically the entire herd over 1000 years old.
‘Roger?’
This is an interesting one. Saying ‘Roger’ in response to someone instead of saying ‘sure’, or ‘okay’, is a pretty weird thing to do without a walkie-talkie at the best of times. Crash and Eddie do exactly that in Ice Age 3 when checking for Ellie.
Despite this, the writers of Ice Age 4 decided to form a joke around Crash and Eddie not understanding what ‘Roger’ means in such a context. It seems weird to push this plot-hole ridden joke in.
…Crash And Eddie Are Pretty Old
This one is a little dark, as it involves the deaths of two major characters. Opossums typically have a lifespan of no more than five years. Mammoths obviously live a lot longer. Ellie is effectively as mature as an adult (meaning she is probably around 18), while her brothers are seemingly still child-like, even though she met her ‘brothers’ when she was very young herself.
If they were aging at the same speed, then Crash and Eddie should have both died of old age before their Ice Age career, and if not, at least during.
Underfed Carnivores
Weirdly, Ice Age 4 is a pretty vegan-friendly film. The whale that Granny feeds is obviously a carnivore, but chows down on some fruit. Similarly, the animals on Gutt’s ship are almost exclusively carnivorous.
They should have been eating meat, or each other, or Gutt himself. Instead, they all manage to survive off of a diet of fruit and vegetables alone. Pretty weird.
Impossible Flight
Out in the real world, everyone hears about that myth that technically bees shouldn’t be able to fly. Obviously, it isn’t true, because they can; their wings just flap really fast. The dinosaur birds shown in Ice Age 5 are similar, to an extent.
Except they really shouldn’t be able to fly. Not only are their wings way too small to support them, they certainly don’t flap quick enough to keep them supported.
Obviously, None Of These Animals Existed At The Same Time
Considering all of these animals can talk and perform tasks of incredible intelligence with near-human comprehension, you have to take this particular complaint with a pinch of salt. But, on the whole, yes: Ice Age inherently doesn’t make any sense.
For a mammoth, sloth, saber tooth tiger, squirrel and human to be wandering the same ice caps together is bizarre, not to mention the whole host of other animals who make occasional appearances of wandering around in the background of certain shots. The series even introduces dinosaurs, but they thought this may have been a step too far and showed them to have secretly been living underground.
And Most Of Them Were From Different Places Anyway
On top of their timelines not adding up, the majority of these animals weren’t from the same place either. Woolly mammoths obviously have the innate ability to defend themselves from the crippling cold, but there are various animals depicted who were on totally different continents and unable to reach the same places as mammoths, let alone survive in them.
Again, though, these are talking animals. That is just as impossible as a llama befriending a sabretooth tiger, so we think you can probably look past it.
