A year after Blue Sky Studios was officially shut down, the studio released one final hurrah. This project took the form of six shorts starring their beloved nutty mascot, and it was titled Ice Age: Scrat Tales. But while the shorts had their grand premiere today on Disney+, something extra was revealed to the internet and gave a perfect sendoff to the studio. Yes, Scrat finally got his beloved acorn. Watch the video below.
The short was uploaded on the YouTube channel Finale, as its only upload, and with the following in the description:
What makes this short so memorable, and bittersweet, is that it’s a perfect bookend to the very first shot from a Blue Sky Studios feature film, 2002’s Ice Age. Twenty years ago, audiences were introduced to the sabertoothed squirrel as he trotted on screen for the first time and began looking for a spot to hide his acorn. What started off as a cute introduction to the frozen world of Ice Age exploded into a multi-film struggle between Scrat and fate, as he found himself frozen, pounded, fallen to the center of the earth, the bottom of the ocean, and even to outer space!
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Since his introduction, audiences were hooked on the little squirrel/rat as he faced all levels of bad luck and adversaries. Every movie in the Ice Age film franchise involves a Scrat side plot of some kind that is separate from the other main characters (though once in a while they do cross paths). Usually, these plots are centered around him trying to simply bury his acorn, reclaim it, or get it back from another hungry beast. Like Charlie Brown or Wile E. Coyote, Scrat refuses to give up and continues to survive on willpower alone.
From his debut to his curtain call, Scrat was voiced by Chris Wedge. Wedge, aside from voicing the furry friend, is most well known for co-founding Blue Sky Studios as well as directing Ice Age, Robots, Epic, and Monster Trucks. In a 2002 interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Wedge talks about Scrat’s debut in the very first Ice Age movie.
Time has not been kind to Scrat as a character. The little guy has struggled with glaciers, lightning, crumbling earth, and just about every representative of the elements has been against him. And that’s probably the true power of this final shot. For once there are no wacky hijinks, no slapstick, no suffering. It’s just Scrat, in a pretty relaxed state, as he finally picks up his acorn and enjoys it for the first and last time. It’s truly the end of an era for Blue Sky Studios, but for the talented and hard-working people that made it something special, it’s an unforgettable chapter in an ongoing story.
