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Still from Ice Age (2002)
Watch order · by Tessa Marlowe

Ice Age Movies in Order: Release and Chronological

The Ice Age movies in order are Ice Age (2002), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), followed by the Disney+ spinoff The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022). The chronological order is identical to the release order, and the next film, Ice Age: Boiling Point, is dated for February 5, 2027. If you are new to the herd, think of it like a long running television series: each film picks up with the same family a little older, so watching in sequence pays off.

Image: TMDB

Ice Age Movies in Order of Release

  1. Ice Age (2002) theatrical posterIce Age (2002)Directed by Chris Wedge
  2. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) theatrical posterIce Age: The Meltdown (2006)Directed by Carlos Saldanha
  3. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) theatrical posterIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)Directed by Carlos Saldanha
  4. Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) theatrical posterIce Age: Continental Drift (2012)Directed by Michael Thurmeier and Steve Martino
  5. Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) theatrical posterIce Age: Collision Course (2016)Directed by Michael Thurmeier
  6. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022) theatrical posterThe Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)Spin-off

Ice Age Chronological Order: Is It Different From Release Order?

  1. Ice Age (2002) theatrical posterIce Age (2002)Directed by Chris Wedge
  2. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) theatrical posterIce Age: The Meltdown (2006)Directed by Carlos Saldanha
  3. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) theatrical posterIce Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)Directed by Carlos Saldanha
  4. Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) theatrical posterIce Age: Continental Drift (2012)Directed by Michael Thurmeier and Steve Martino
  5. Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) theatrical posterIce Age: Collision Course (2016)Directed by Michael Thurmeier
  6. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022) theatrical posterThe Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)Spin-off

About the Release Order

Release order is the standard way to watch the Ice Age films, because each film continues the herd's story from the one before it. Here is the full list, with the director, year and US rating for each:

  1. Ice Age (2002), directed by Chris Wedge, 81 minutes, rated PG.
  2. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), directed by Carlos Saldanha, 91 minutes, rated PG.
  3. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), directed by Carlos Saldanha, 94 minutes, rated PG.
  4. Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012), directed by Michael Thurmeier and Steve Martino, 88 minutes, rated PG.
  5. Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), directed by Michael Thurmeier, 95 minutes, rated PG.
  6. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022), directed by John Donkin, 82 minutes, a Disney+ spinoff rated PG.

Next in line is Ice Age: Boiling Point, which Disney dated for February 5, 2027. It originally held a December 2026 slot, and TheWrap reported in May 2025 that Marvel moving Avengers: Doomsday to December 18, 2026 was expected to push the animated film out of that date. Disney announced the new title and date at Destination D23 in August 2025.

The first five are the main films, and Buck Wild is the spinoff, released on Disney+ in 2022. If you count every runtime above, a full marathon of the six films comes to 531 minutes, or just under nine hours, so it fits a long weekend better than a single evening. For a fuller look at the whole saga, see our guide to how many Ice Age movies there are.

Scrat is voiced by Chris Wedge in The Meltdown and Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Wedge also directed Ice Age (2002), so the same person who launched the series is credited as Scrat's voice in the middle films. For the full voice list, see the Ice Age cast page.

About the Chronological Order

The Ice Age chronological order is the same as the release order, so there is no second list to memorize. The setups of the films show how neatly the story runs forward. In Ice Age (2002) animals are heading south to escape a coming ice age, and Manny, Sid and Diego form their unlikely trio while returning a human baby to his people. In The Meltdown the ice age is ending, the valley is turning into a water park, and the herd learns a flood is coming.

Dawn of the Dinosaurs finds Manny about to become a father, with Sid taking three eggs from an ice cave and treating them as his children. By Continental Drift, Manny's daughter Peaches is a teenager clashing with him over her friends, and Scrat's acorn chase tears the land apart. In Collision Course, Peaches is engaged to Julian, and Scrat's trouble in space sends asteroids toward Earth. Each film moves the family forward by a stage of life, so watching in sequence rewards you, even though every story also stands on its own.

The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022) holds the sixth slot in both orders. It follows the possum brothers Crash and Eddie, who set off an avalanche, leave camp to prove they can look after themselves and wander into the Lost World, a land full of dinosaurs. Buck, the weasel voiced by Simon Pegg, rescues them. Pegg is the only returning voice actor, and Manny, Sid, Diego and Ellie are voiced by Sean Kenin, Jake Green, Skyler Stone and Dominique Jennings. That is something to know going in, as the voices sound different from the theatrical films.

Ice Age: Boiling Point has not been released, so it is not part of either list yet. When it opens, it will follow Buck Wild in release order. For a story by story breakdown, the Ice Age timeline movie page goes deeper.

Where Should You Start? My Advice by Household

In my opinion, the best place to start is the beginning, with Ice Age (2002), because it is the shortest film at 81 minutes and it sets up the Manny, Sid and Diego dynamic that every later film leans on. It is rated PG in the US, U in the UK and G in Australia, which makes it the gentlest entry for a first family movie night. If your child is on the younger side, the official ratings are the guide to follow.

If you want one more film after that, I would go to The Meltdown, since Ellie, Crash and Eddie arrive there and Manny's worry about being the last mammoth gives the series real heart. Perhaps the main reason to keep going in order is that the family keeps growing: by Dawn of the Dinosaurs Manny is about to become a father, and the dinosaur adventure (with Buck joining the cast) is the one I would pick for kids who want something bigger. It could be argued that Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the most crowd pleasing film in the middle of the saga, and its worldwide gross, which is the highest of the series according to Box Office Mojo, suggests plenty of other people agreed.

Continental Drift is best for anyone who enjoys the father and daughter story between Manny and Peaches, and Collision Course suits fans who want the most outlandish Scrat set piece, as his acorn chase reaches space. Buck Wild is the only one I would call optional for a first pass. It centers on Crash, Eddie and Buck, so a viewer can follow it without the earlier films, but the voice cast is different.

So, if you are short on time, watch the first two, then pick the film whose setup sounds like your household. If you have the whole weekend, follow the list in release order, and then check where to watch Ice Age for the service that carries each film in your country. When you are done, head to Ice Age movies ranked to compare notes.

Facts

FAQs

What order do Ice Age films go in?

The Ice Age films go in this order: Ice Age (2002), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012), Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), then the Disney+ spinoff The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022). Release order and chronological order are the same. Ice Age: Boiling Point is next, dated for February 5, 2027.

Which Ice Age is best?

That is a matter of taste, and the answer is on our Ice Age movies ranked page. By money alone, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs earned the most, about $887 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo, ahead of Ice Age: Continental Drift at about $877 million. Each of the five theatrical films has its fans.

Who are the main characters across the Ice Age movies?

The central trio is Manny the woolly mammoth (Ray Romano), Sid the ground sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the sabertooth (Denis Leary). Scrat, voiced by Chris Wedge in The Meltdown and Dawn of the Dinosaurs, chases his acorn through every film. Later films add Ellie (Queen Latifah), Crash and Eddie, Buck (Simon Pegg), Peaches, Shira and Granny. See the Ice Age characters page for each one.

Why did Ice Age 5 flop?

Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) earned about $402 million worldwide on a $105 million budget, according to The Numbers, well below Ice Age: Continental Drift at about $877 million. Its domestic gross of about $64 million was the lowest of the five theatrical films, against about $161 million for the film before it. No studio or trade report gives a reason for the drop, so any explanation would be speculation. See the Ice Age box office page for every figure.

Is Ice Age 7 confirmed?

No film called Ice Age 7 has been announced. The next film is Ice Age: Boiling Point, with a US theatrical release of February 5, 2027, and TheWrap's coverage refers to it as Ice Age 6. Disney+ confirms Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah and Simon Pegg in the cast, and John C. Donkin as director. See the Ice Age Boiling Point page for the latest.

Do you need to watch the Ice Age movies in order?

It helps, because the herd ages and grows from film to film, but each movie sets up its own adventure. A viewer who skips ahead will still follow the plot. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is the easiest one to watch on its own, since it focuses on Crash, Eddie and Buck.

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