Ice Age Character Scrat Finally Gets His Acorn As Blue Sky Studios Says Goodbye
The very first creature we ever see in a movie by Blue Sky Studios is Scrat the Squirrel, as he tries to obtain (and keep) a single acorn to last the entire winter. That was 20 years ago, in the opening of "Ice Age," and ever since then, the poor squirrel/rat hybrid has been through literal hell and back.
But all things must come to an end. Like Coyote catching the Road Runner, or Sylvester eating Tweety, Scrat finally got his due, and the animation gods granted him his wish of eating the acorn in one of the most bittersweet animated shorts in recent years.
Sweet, because the darn squirrel looks so happy. But bitter because this is the very last piece of animation we'll ever see from Blue Sky Studios.
A fitting goodbye
The short was posted anonymously by a group of former Blue Sky artists as a farewell following the studio closing. The video is accompanied by the message:
"In the final days of Blue Sky Studios, a small team of artists came together to do one final shot. This shot is a farewell, a send-off on our own terms."
Blue Sky Studios was founded in 1987, but it wasn't until 2002 that the studio would debut its first feature-length animated film in theaters with "Ice Age," an entertaining tale of prehistoric animals trying to return a human baby to his tribe. Since then, the studio has produced funny, family-friendly animated movies that offered something different than the Disney formula or DreamWorks franchise-ready output (with the exception of the "Ice Age" franchise). From the genuinely delightful "Peanuts Movie," to the underrated "Robots." The studio's last movie, "Spies in Disguise," is one of the funniest animated movies of the past few years.
Sadly, following the Disney acquisition of Fox, the house of mouse shut down Blue Sky Studios, cancelling all future projects, and even projects halfway through production. This month saw the release of the last remaining studio project, "Ice Age: Scrat Tails" on Disney+, after decades of legal disputes. Thankfully, at least one project was brought back from the dead, with Netflix and Annapurna Pictures announcing they will produce and release the film adaptation of "Nimona."
The last Scrat short serves as a lovely farewell from the folks at Blue Sky Studios: a tribute to a character that defined a studio, as well as a reminder of the horrors of megacorporation mergers. But at least we'll get a superhero multiverse, right?
Goodbye, Blue Sky Studios, and thanks for all the laughs.