No Time for Nuts (2006)

Lack of good storyline.

Dreadfully Boring

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This short was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short, losing to The Danish Poet. There will be spoilers ahead: This short is visually rather nice and there are a few funny gags. A lot of its potential is blunted, however, toward the middle, when some of the jumps are really too short to be more than a blur. It's probably a good idea to watch this more than once in order to catch some of the gags.Scrat is carrying a nut when he sees a glow, digs and comes up with a gadget. Look very closely in here for a very quick, throwaway sight gag which explains the presence of the device instantly with a rather sick (and funny) joke.Never having learned the truism, "If you don't know what it is, leave it alone", Scrat starts messing with it, it flashes and his nut disappears. Scrat freaks, attacks the device and off we go. It's a time machine.The first for jumps are a bit longer and more satisfying bits. They'll all be recognizable bits, all well developed and most enjoyable. I won't spoil them here. The short gets a bit frenetic here, with the jumps short and almost too chaotic to really take in easily. There's a nice bit dealing with time itself, which has its painful side for Scrat.The last bit has Scrat creating his own problems and the ending is perfect, with several mood shifts in the last few seconds.This short is available as an extra on various releases of Ice Age: The Meltdown and is well worth seeing. Most recommended.

In 2004, Fox Studio's little film GONE NUTTY was released in the theaters with the film ICE AGE. GONE NUTTY was a cute little film starring that little mouse-like creature as he tries to fetch an acorn and it was highly original--hence an Oscar Nomination for Best Animated Short. Now, two years later, another installment of the short film was released in conjunction with ICE AGE II and once again, the short film is quite cute and funny---however, it's not exactly original--being in many ways just a continuation of GONE NUTTY. In light of this, I am very surprised that it also received an Oscar nomination--especially when Pixar's nominated film for the 2007 Oscars was so much more original (it, too, did not win--this honor went to a rather flat Norwegian film THE DANISH POET).So if you watch it, be prepared for more of the same--more laughs, more action, more excellent CG animation and more of the same plot. Very good but also not exactly new.

I love time-travel stories and this was wildest I've ever seen. The only problem was that it was only a seven-minute cartoon. Man, this was so good and so much fun, I'd love to see a feature-length film done by the guys who make this fabulous "Scrat" cartoons. These additions to the "Ice Age" feature movies are just terrific.Here, Scrat the squirrel discovers a time machine buried in the ice near where he lives. He discovers that by hitting the machine in one spot, he instantly (and his favorite acorn) travels to a new time and era.The story accelerates as it goes on, with Scrat getting into one disastrous situation after another quickly hitting the machine to get away. It's amazing how many places he travels in such a short cartoon but all of them are not only funny but beautifully drawn. As with Ice Age, the animation is absolutely spectacular.I think there are just two "Scrat" cartoons, one accompanying the DVD of each Ice Age film, but I could watch hundreds of these. They are so well done, it's hard to describe. I agree with those who say this should have won an Oscar. I saw the winning one and this is superior, entertainment-wise.

Just like the other short, but with a twist to it.Scrat was wandering around the snow to find something glowing in the snow. Which is a machine of some sort. He has no idea what it was an presumed that it was an acorn. But after tampering with it, he made his acorn disappear within thin air, as well as him. And before he knew it he's traveling through time. And time travel can be dangerous and rough for a squirrel like Scrat.This short contains some great visuals and plenty of humor to give you at least a chuckle. It still has THE Chris Wedge as the voice of Scrat. And it still proves that acorns always put him in the heap of trouble.Another guaranteed short for all the Scrat/Ice Age/Blue Sky Fans. Found exclusively on the second Ice Age movie DVD.