Of course I realize Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade is an attempt to cash in on a popular film franchise by taking advantage of a major holiday (Easter this time, comparable to the previous 2011 Yuletide special Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas). It's easy to be cynical about the idea, and having a bad cough when I watched this, it hurt to laugh. Yet in spite of myself- I ended up chuckling anyway.
There is some definite cynicism in the hollow Ellie/Peaches subplot, a typical bit about a teenager drifting from family, but that's a tiny part of the short. The bulk draws on the pirate rabbit from Continental Drift returning, seeking revenge for his lost ship. Surprisingly, using a pirate treasure map story to explain the origins of the Easter egg hunt works out well. There is a genuine chuckle in Manny expressing outrage someone would paint and hide an egg, as if it were a heinous criminal act. The Raiders of the Lost Ark parody we get during the egg hunt is a definite highlight. Scrat's latest mishap with his acorn is worth a chuckle too. A thankfully brief, but still entertaining, Easter special is a worthy addition to the list of Ice Age shorts.
There is some definite cynicism in the hollow Ellie/Peaches subplot, a typical bit about a teenager drifting from family, but that's a tiny part of the short. The bulk draws on the pirate rabbit from Continental Drift returning, seeking revenge for his lost ship. Surprisingly, using a pirate treasure map story to explain the origins of the Easter egg hunt works out well. There is a genuine chuckle in Manny expressing outrage someone would paint and hide an egg, as if it were a heinous criminal act. The Raiders of the Lost Ark parody we get during the egg hunt is a definite highlight. Scrat's latest mishap with his acorn is worth a chuckle too. A thankfully brief, but still entertaining, Easter special is a worthy addition to the list of Ice Age shorts.