My 4-year-old daughter Sadie has become quite the movie buff as of late.  In fact, buff is putting it mildly; the kid is flat-out obsessed with the cinema-going experience (especially the popcorn!).  Which thrills me to no end, as I had been eager to share the magic of the movies with Sadie, and was elated when, starting about a month ago, she not only expressed interest in going to more movies, but finally had the patience to sit through an entire flick with nary a whine or fidget in sight.  So of course we were both delighted when the folks at 20th Century Fox invited us to a sneak peek at Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, including a fun Q&A session with several of the cast members (including Queen Latifah, Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Aziz Ansari and Keke Palmer) prior to the screening. 

Although it was quite a treat to hear from the stars of Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, Sadie and I were even more thrilled with the movie itself.  Here's the scoop.  In Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, Scrat's nutty pursuit of the cursed acorn, which he's been after since the dawn of time, has world-changing consequences - a continental cataclysm that triggers the greatest adventure of all for Manny, Diego and Sid.  In the wake of these upheavels, Sid reunites with his cantankerous Granny, and the herd encounters a ragtag menagerie of seafaring pirates determined to stop them from returning home.  Along the way, the crew discovers the true meaning of family, as new relationships are formed and old ones are strengthened.  The film features the voice talents of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Jennifer Lopez, Aziz Ansari, Wanda Sykes, Keke Palmer, Drake, Peter Dinklage, Joy Behar, Josh Gad and more.

I don't think I've ever seen Sadie laugh so hard during a movie.  Indeed, she was in hysterics from the opening scene right through the closing credits, and is still repeating some of her favorite lines from the movie on what seems like an hourly basis!  And what I particularly loved was that it didn't matter that neither Sadie nor I had seen any of the previous Ice Age movies (although we certainly plan to watch them on DVD now that we know how much we like the franchise); we were able to get to know the characters and follow along with the story with complete ease. 

We were fortunate enough to see Ice Age 4: Continental Drift in 3D, and I must say, the 3D effects were absolutely stunning and definitely enhanced our movie-going experience.  I'm not often impressed by 3D movies and usually can't fathom how they could possibly be worth the extra charge or need to wear uncomfortable plastic glasses, but Ice Age 4: Continental Drift is the rare exception to my anti-3D stance.  Indeed, it was hands-down the best use of 3D I've ever seen, and both Sadie and I found ourselves reaching out to "touch" the objects and characters that appeared to be floating right in front of us.

Be forewarned, however, that the movie does contain some scenes that could be frightening or upsetting to very young kids (especially when Peaches and her mother are separated from Manny), and there are a few more utterances of the word "stupid" than I'd prefer (I'd prefer none), so you should definitely keep these things in mind when deciding whether to take your child to see Ice Age 4.  Fortunately, Sadie didn't seem too fazed by the scary portions of Ice Age 4, and we both found it to be a charming romp that left us eager to see the other films in the Ice Age franchise.  

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift opens July 13th in theaters everywhere.  For more information, visit www.iceagemovie.com.