January 24th, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
Some of the most well-known animated characters of all-time are making a comeback. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild — the sixth feature film in the beloved franchise — premieres this Friday January 28th on Disney+. Manny, Sid and Diego return, but the main focus this time is on Crash and Eddie. They say goodbye to sister Ellie as they go out on their own — heading back to the land of dinosaurs and reuniting with pal Buck (once again voiced by Simon Pegg). Director John C. Donkin and producer Lori Forte join me for this Animation Scoop Q&A:
Jackson Murphy: Some of the core characters have been around for 20 years, and John you’ve been a producer with this franchise from the beginning. Did you always in the back of your mind think, “Yeah maybe I wanna direct one of these movies someday?”
John C. Donkin: Well, it was a thought that crossed my mind at some point during the journey. But really I was so thrilled to be able to get the opportunity to jump in on this one and had the greatest time. I’ve produced some of the shorts and TV specials along the way. We’re always in the mix when we’re producing it, so it’s just a fun evolution.
JM: Absolutely. You really capture the spirit of these characters with the new installment. Lori, you’ve been a producer with the Ice Age franchise for a long time as well. What were your goals with what you wanted to see out of these characters in this new chapter?
Lori Forte: I think we wanted to make sure that it felt like an Ice Age movie — that it was a continuation of the Ice Age franchise. And in all of the Ice Age movies, they’re all about this family of characters… disparate characters who come together. And every movie the family grows and grows. There were so many characters… we wanted to come back to a few characters that were beloved and to get to know them a little better. Obviously Buck — Simon Pegg. Who wouldn’t want to work with Simon again on this character? This character is amazing. He’s an eccentric character. He’s joyful. He’s wacky. He’s an adventurer. He’s a guardian of the Lost World of dinosaurs. Who wouldn’t want to spend time with? And who wouldn’t want to get to know him better?
And we felt the same way about the Lost World. It’s an incredibly fantastical place with dinosaurs and carnivorous plants. There’s so much to explore. It felt like the right thing to come back to. We wanted to peel back the layers a little bit of Buck because we never got to know him too well. And the same thing with Crash and Eddie — see how they’re growing, changing and evolving, and see how Buck changes too when he gets characters together that he has to take care of.
JM: You do that very well, and I love hearing Simon Pegg as Buck Wild again. When I saw Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs for the first time in 2009, I instantly loved this character. But obviously bringing a new character into a dynamic that people had loved for years… John, at the time, was Buck a real risk? Did you think about, “Well, do we want to shake-up the dynamic with him?”
JCD: No. He was not a risk at all. We did consider a number of different people, but when we spoke to Simon, it was an instant kismet. It felt like it was right. He was the guy. During the course of making the film, that character that he developed along with the directors and Lori just ended up being Buck. And he is kind of Buck. He is but he isn’t. He’s a fun, funny guy and he brings his A-game every single time, and it was a joy to work with him.
JM: Nice. I really like the scene in The Adventures of Buck Wild that’s the backstory with Ellie, Crash & Eddie. How does that specific scene (an emotional scene) speak to you?
LF: Since our movies have family values at the core… Ellie is about to lose her brothers. Her brothers want independence. It’s about time. They need to grow up and go out on their own. And that’s so relatable to families, to parents who have to let their kids go off and are worried and don’t think they can let go. It was very important for Ellie. It’s a very relatable story. It’s important for Ellie to see that her brothers can take care of themselves by the end of it and then be able to let go and know that even though they’re apart, they’re always still a part of the family. So even if you’re apart, especially in these times of COVID (which we didn’t anticipate), but it seems like a universal theme anyway — that even now we can’t see the people we love and want to see, but it doesn’t mean they’re not part of us, even though we can’t see them. That’s a universal theme.
JM: Yeah. Those core family values really come through. Simon Pegg is back but we have a lot of new voice actors voicing some beloved characters. I think Jake Green does a really good job as Sid. He sounds a lot like Mr. John Leguizamo. John, was it interesting to cast new people as these iconic characters?
JCD: Yeah. The thing is: we went into it thinking they just had to be the characters. And the great thing about the franchise and how popular it was is that the actors who came-in to play those roles understood that it was the character that was the most important thing. They embraced it. We were listening for that vibe and that sort of element of those characters when we were casting it. They all loved it, and they really are able to carry the torch.
LF: And they did such a good job.
Director John C. Donkin and producer Lori Forte with Jackson Murphy
JM: They did. Lori, an interesting thought crossed my mind in thinking about this film and your involvement with Ice Age. Did you ever study mammoths and dinosaurs in school and think back to all of that as you were starting to go down this road of the Ice Age universe?
LF: It’s not that I studied, but I always had a fascination with the Ice Age, and I always knew dinosaurs had been around forever. But what about these majestic creatures? Unique, majestic, extinct characters that nobody in animation at that point had done. So obviously looking for a new world to explore, that seemed to be the one to go after. And I’m so glad I did! (laughs)
JM: Yes! Look what it’s turned into: all these movies and the holiday specials. Families love these characters, and now they’re for us on Disney+. John, where do you see the Ice Age world going from here? Is it a television series, specials, shorts, more movies? What does the future of this 20-year-old franchise look like?
JCD: Well, it would all depend on how people respond to what they’re seeing in this new wave. If the audience is demanding it and wants to see some of these things, then we’re happy to explore new stories and adventures in the Ice Age world.
LF: And we have lots of them in case we do them! There’s PLENTY more to go around!
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