Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This description applies to the acorns in this 5-minute animated short film by Carlos Saldanha ("Rio"), but also to the movie in general. "Gone Nutty" came out directly after the first of so far 4 "Ice Age" films, but it's really not particularly memorable. The animation, of course, is top-notch. The ice, the central character, the acorns - everything well done. Unfortunately, this cannot make up for the lack of a real story or great comedy in these 5 minutes. The only sort-of funny moment was when they showed the creation of the continents near the end. But other than that, it's a fairly forgettable short film. Then again, I may be a bit biased because I have never been too big on Scrat. Also, where did he get all these acorns in his storage. I thought he always fails to keep them. Anyway, I do not recommend this short film and I am actually quite surprised it managed an Academy Award nomination. Glad to see the far superior "Harvie Krumpet" took the prize.
RainDogJr
Gone Nutty, short film that is included as an extra on the DVD of Ice Age (and that was nominated for the Oscar), short film featuring the, sometimes, hilarious squirrel Scrat. Certainly it is just the story of its life: is Scrat with lots of acorns but with a problem, eventually is Scrat with only one acorn yet finally with only a sort of beret, no acorn. I wouldn't say this is absolutely hilarious, for me this isn't very special (just like Ice Age itself) but still it's good stuff, with the hilarious stuff of the continental drift theory! Certainly it's far from being as good as any of the best Pixar shorts but surely it's better than a short like Pixar's Boundin'.
MartinHafer
GONE NUTTY stars the cute little mouse-like thing from ICE AGE and consists of the many funny and painful things this guy does to try to break open this acorn. Clever writing take a very simple idea and milk the very most from it.How can anyone NOT like this cute little short that accompanied the release of ICE AGE?! This Fox short is amazingly good and quite comparable to products coming from Pixar and Dreamworks--in fact, I think it was much more enjoyable than the competition for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film from Pixar (BOUNDIN')--mostly because although BOUNDIN' was well animated, the story itself wasn't great. And that is where GONE NUTTY really excels. I remember the first time I saw it in the theater--lots of people were laughing out loud and that should be a good reason for considering this film for the Oscar. While it did lose to the very imaginative and weird HARVIE KRUMPET, the makers of this film have nothing to complain about--GONE NUTTY was a lovely short as was KRUMPET. Both are well worth your time.
Jack the Ripper1888
Just like MONSTERS, INC. which ICE AGE was released almost back-to-back with, this film just *has* to have a nice, little short film to accompany it's trip to VHS and DVD.MONSTERS, INC. included two short films. Not one, but two. The okay, MIKE'S NEW CAR and the 2001 Academy Award winning feature FOR THE BIRDS (which I do not see how it is possible). ICE AGE also just *has* to include a tiny little short film. This one is called GONE NUTTY. It is also titled "Scrat's Missing Adventure" on the box cover, but either way...Like the terribly unfunny FOR THE BIRDS, GONE NUTTY is somewhat mean-spirited and not very nice. Scrat sure does take an ass-whooping here in the short time this film runs (which is around 4 minutes, so its not like this film is wasting much time)...it is a nice appetizer to warm you up before you watch, ICE AGE, but it is just not great.GONE NUTTY: 3/5.
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