Although Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox began in 2019, there are still effects of the merger on a near-daily basis. While avid comic book film fans are blinded by the blessing of Fox-owned Marvel characters like X-Men and Fantastic 4 finally joining Marvel Studios sprawling multiverse, that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to rights-shifting.
With all of the subsidiaries involved in the deal, many companies were ultimately shut down, such as Blue Sky Studios, best known for their animated Ray Romano-led comedy franchise Ice Age. The beloved mega-franchise encompassed six movies and countless short films and television specials. Now Disney has begun promoting the characters as their own, receiving outrage and backlash from fans.
The House of Mouse took to Twitter this weekend to post a number of images featuring the cast of characters from the Ice Age franchise, despite having shut down the studio responsible for creating them merely six months ago. Promoting them as "the coolest cast in pre-history" quickly gained negative attention from those who are still upset about Blue Sky Studios's shut-down.
Ice Age: The Adventures of Buck Wild launches on Disney+ in early 2022, and although Disney's plan was to remind fans that they now own these characters, they merely invited conflict. Below you can see just a few of the adverse reactions that Disney was bombarded with on social media.
We only chose a few responses from the highly negative Twitter thread, and many of the fans seem to be upset about Nimona, a project Blue Sky was creating with an LGBTQ+ lead. With Nimona scrapped, many fans spoke out that Disney should be focused on the nearly completed project instead of capitalizing on the popularity of Ice Age.
What do you guys think? Are you looking forward to Disney's new Ice Age content, or would you have preferred to see Nimona instead? Regardless of your take, be sure to share it in the usual spot!
Ice Age: The Adventures of Buck Wild is expected to stream on Disney+ in early 2022.