Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 sets. Given the limitations of SD-DVD, this became an appealing presentation.
Sharpness worked well. Due to the format, a little softness hit some wider shots, but the majority of the film offered nice delineation. Jagged edges and shimmering failed to show up, and I saw no edge haloes or artifacts. Of course, the CGI program lacked any print flaws.
Colors seemed pleasing. Given its icy setting, the show went with a somewhat bluish, chilly palette, and the tones looked strong inside those parameters. The Easter elements allowed for a little more pep than usual as well. Blacks were deep and tight, while shadows seemed full and well-defined. I felt pleased by this quality image.
Though not as good, the show’s Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack fared well. The soundscape opened things up in a reasonable manner, with an emphasis on the forward spectrum.
Material meshed together and showed nice movement as well as some localized speech. Surround usage tended toward general reinforcement, though some elements such as an avalanche managed to use the back speakers nicely.
Audio quality was always solid. Speech seemed concise and distinctive, without edginess or other problems. Music appeared bright and full, while effects showed nice clarity and heft. This was a more than acceptable track.
A few extras fill out the set, Cosmis Scrat-tastrophe runs five minutes, four seconds, and shows Scrat in space. It’s simply material from Collision Course and nothing new.
In the same vein, The Story So Far lasts 13 minutes, 15 seconds. Also found on the Collision Course Blu-ray, if offers clips that sum up the first four Ice Age movies. It’s a cute recap but nothing memorable.
Five cartoons show up under Scrat Shorts. We find “More Nuts for Scrat” (3:56), “Continental Crack-Up” (5:16), “Gone Nutty” (4:47), “Missing Nuts” (7:06) and “Falling for Scratte” (8:29).
I believe all of these received prior release, so fans may already know them. They offer reasonable amusement.
Finally, Lost Footage breaks into three domains. We see “The Sloth: Nature’s Lovable Lisper” (2:02), “The Saber—Toothed Tiger: Nature’s Fearsome Feline” (1:27) and “The Possum: Nature’s Spunky Spectacles” (1:26).
Each of these pretends to provide an “educational film”, and they do give us a lot of facts about their mammalian subject matter. “Lisper” also uses John Leguizamo as narrator, which makes it more fun than the other two.
The disc opens with ads for Ice Age: Collision Course, The Boss Baby and Trolls.
Fans of the Ice Age franchise will find more of the same-old via The Great Egg-Scapade. It provides moderate amusement and that’s about it. The DVD brings us very good picture with fairly positive audio and a collection of added shorts. Egg-Scapade ends up as a watchable holiday special for kids.
