Robert Reynolds
This short was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short, losing to The Danish Poet. There will be spoilers ahead: This short is visually rather nice and there are a few funny gags. A lot of its potential is blunted, however, toward the middle, when some of the jumps are really too short to be more than a blur. It's probably a good idea to watch this more than once in order to catch some of the gags.Scrat is carrying a nut when he sees a glow, digs and comes up with a gadget. Look very closely in here for a very quick, throwaway sight gag which explains the presence of the device instantly with a rather sick (and funny) joke.Never having learned the truism, "If you don't know what it is, leave it alone", Scrat starts messing with it, it flashes and his nut disappears. Scrat freaks, attacks the device and off we go. It's a time machine.The first for jumps are a bit longer and more satisfying bits. They'll all be recognizable bits, all well developed and most enjoyable. I won't spoil them here. The short gets a bit frenetic here, with the jumps short and almost too chaotic to really take in easily. There's a nice bit dealing with time itself, which has its painful side for Scrat.The last bit has Scrat creating his own problems and the ending is perfect, with several mood shifts in the last few seconds.This short is available as an extra on various releases of Ice Age: The Meltdown and is well worth seeing. Most recommended.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This is a an animated short film from almost 10 years ago and it runs for 7 minutes, unusually long compared to the other Scrat short movies. Here he has trouble with a time machine that keeps teleporting him and his beloved acorn to different periods throughout the centuries. So he pulls the famous sword out of the stone, but also collides with the Titanic. And there is a scene where he sees the main characters from the "Ice Age" films (pretty uninspired how they were standing there looking) including his own self. Well... I watched almost all the Scrat short films and I cannot say I was impressed by a single one of these. This one here is certainly not the worst, but it's not particularly good either. I would not say that it deserved the Academy Award nomination, but at least it did not win like the equally mediocre Danish entry. I was really hoping for "The Litte Match Girl" back then. Anyway, I do not recommend "No Time for Nuts". Director and writer Chris Renaud really improved afterward with the "Despicable Me"-movies.
Gordon-11
This short is about Scrat desperately clinging onto his nut through time travel.I am not a fan of "Ice Age", but I find "No Time for Nuts" very likable. Scrat is cute and adorable. The way he clings onto his nut just like a piece of priceless jewel is hilarious. His reactions are over the top and fun, making the short very entertaining. The pace is quick, packed with humour and action. The creative scenarios created by the time machine provide different backgrounds to his adventures; everyone of them is fun. The filmmakers must have spent a long time thinking what scenarios they could have incorporated into the short!
ccthemovieman-1
I love time-travel stories and this was wildest I've ever seen. The only problem was that it was only a seven-minute cartoon. Man, this was so good and so much fun, I'd love to see a feature-length film done by the guys who make this fabulous "Scrat" cartoons. These additions to the "Ice Age" feature movies are just terrific.Here, Scrat the squirrel discovers a time machine buried in the ice near where he lives. He discovers that by hitting the machine in one spot, he instantly (and his favorite acorn) travels to a new time and era.The story accelerates as it goes on, with Scrat getting into one disastrous situation after another quickly hitting the machine to get away. It's amazing how many places he travels in such a short cartoon but all of them are not only funny but beautifully drawn. As with Ice Age, the animation is absolutely spectacular.I think there are just two "Scrat" cartoons, one accompanying the DVD of each Ice Age film, but I could watch hundreds of these. They are so well done, it's hard to describe. I agree with those who say this should have won an Oscar. I saw the winning one and this is superior, entertainment-wise.
AD
