History WesternAnimation / IceAge3DawnOfTheDinosaurs

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iceage3.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"We've been living above an entire world, and we didn't even know it!"'']]
''Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'' is the sequel to ''WesternAnimation/IceAge2TheMeltdown'', and the third film in the ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' franchise, released on July 1st, 2009.

The third movie, ''Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'' was released in 2009 and involves a LostWorld filled with [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs DINOSAURS!]] It turns out there is an entire prehistoric world that somehow survived by being located underneath the surface of the Earth. Manny and Ellie are expecting their first child, and Manny becomes compulsively over-protective of her as he tries to be readily prepared for when the time comes. Sid is jealous and raises three abandoned eggs. They turn out to be baby T-rexes, and when their real mother finds out they were stolen, she takes her three babies and Sid underground, and Sid's friends all go to his rescue. There they meet a seasoned, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} slightly insane adventurer weasel]] named Buck, who becomes their guide in surviving this new world, and with an agenda of his own.

Reviews for the film were mostly mixed from critcs, but it was well-received by the general public and was a blockbuster success. The film grossed $196 million domestically and $886 million worldwide against its $90 million budget, making the highest-grossing film in the franchise.

This film is followed by ''WesternAnimation/IceAge4ContinentalDrift''.
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!!This film provides examples of:

* AccidentalPervert: Sid tries to milk a muskox to feed his "kids", except...
-->'''Sid:''' ''(running away from the enraged muskox)'' I THOUGHT YOU WERE A FEMALE!!!!
* ActorAllusion: When the eggs hatch and the hatchlings start playing with Sid, the song "Walk the Dinosaur" comes on. The song appeared in John Leguizamo's first movie, ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' ([[OldShame even if he didn't admit it at first]]).
* AdultFear:
** Manny, who witnessed the deaths of his first mate and son, is essentially waiting for the bubble to pop. Then his new mate goes into labor during a dinosaur attack.
** Ellie has a moment of this when her mate and their friend both nearly get EatenAlive by a carnivorous plant.
** At least two kids are SwallowedWhole by one of the dinosaur babies. Although they turn out to be alive, the parents are appropriately horrified.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Buck makes a crack that he knew a giant moth creature when he was a caterpillar, before he "came out." Buck means that he knew him before his metamorphosis, but his tone suggests it's a DoubleEntendre referring to something else about the moth.
* AnimalsNotToScale:
** Many of the dinosaurs are portrayed as if Manny were the size of a human, and are therefore much bigger than they would be in real life. This is exaggerated with the ''Brachiosaurus'', which are close to Godzilla-sized as a result.
** Rudy is meant to be a ''Baryonyx'', but is portrayed as being significantly larger than a ''T. rex'', when the reverse is true in reality (''Baryonyx'' being estimated at around two tons, and ''Tyrannosaurus'' being estimated at over nine tons).
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Buck listing the rules for getting his help.
-->'''Buck:''' He who has gas, travels at the back of the pack!
-->'''Eddie:''' Aw... ''[hangs head, walks to the back of the pack]''
* AscendedToCarnivorism: The ''Ankylosaurus'' that attacks the herd is depicted with sharp teeth like a carnivorous dinosaur, [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology despite being a]] ''[[ArtisticLicensePaleontology herbivorous]]'' [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology dinosaur]]
* AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: Crash and Eddie charge toward a carnivorous plant while carrying sticks like swords and yelling battle cries...then run away screaming from the plant's attacking vines.
* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Manny, if he's the same size as a real mammoth, is about 11 feet tall at the shoulder. Which makes Mama ''T. rex'' and Rudy around 40 to 50 feet ''tall'' (real life ''Tyrannosaurus'' was 13 feet tall at the hips, ''Baryonyx'' was 9 feet tall, and for comparison ''Spinosaurus'' was 15 feet tall). And that's not getting into the very-oversized ''Ankylosaurus'' and ''Pachycephalosaurus'', the ''Stegosaurus''-sized ''Kentrosaurus'', and the Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-proportioned ''Brachiosaurus''. Pretty much the only animals decently sized are ''Triceratops'', ''Iguanodon'', ''Guanlong'', and ''Troodon''.
* ArgumentOfContradictions: Happens between Sid and a beaver child and its mother when Sid's dinosaur-"kids" harass the other kids on the playground built by Manny.
-->'''Beaver mother:''' Aren't you going to do something?!
-->'''Sid:''' Why? My kid had it first!
-->'''Beaver child:''' Did not!
-->'''Sid:''' Did, too!
-->'''Beaver child:''' Did not!
-->'''Sid:''' Did, too!
-->'''Beaver child:''' Did not!
-->'''Sid:''' Liar, liar, fur on fire!
* BeneathTheEarth: The dinosaurs' LostWorld is directly under the icy surface world.
* BigDamnHeroes: Twofold during the climax: first Diego saves Buck from being eaten by Rudy, then Momma Dino saves Sid by [[DisneyVillainDeath pushing Rudy into a chasm]].
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: As Buck prepares to transfer Ellie to the other side of the Chasm of Death:
-->'''Buck:''' Now then, eyes forward. Back straight. Oh, and if you breathe in the toxic fumes, you will probably die.\\
'''Ellie:''' ''[[OhCrap Toxic fumes?!]]''
* ChasedOffIntoTheSunset: Played with, the movie ends with Buck realizing his nemesis Rudy (the great white ''Baryonyx'') is still alive, [[SealedEvilInADuel and goes back to continue fighting him.]]
* ChestMonster: This movie has a giant carnivorous plant that disguises itself as an innocuous fruit bush.
* CleanPrettyChildbirth: The baby mammoth Peaches is born, then shown dry and fluffy within seconds after birth. Given that modern day elephants are born in an absolutely torrential downpour of blood and fluids, and it's a movie for kids, this is probably for the best.
%% * CliffStack: At least once.
* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster prominently depicts Scrat staring down the mouth of a dinosaur. Scrat has little to no interaction with the dinosaurs in this film -- instead, most of his screen time is dedicated to his rivalry/romance with Scratte.
* CraftedFromAnimals: Buck's knife, which was created from the tooth of Rudy. Unlike several other instances of this trope, Rudy was no worse for wear for not having the tooth.
* DatingCatwoman: Scrat and Scratte spend most of the movie fighting over an acorn, but go through a RelationshipUpgrade and put the acorn behind them. [[DidNotGetTheGirl It doesn't last]].
* DidNotGetTheGirl: Scrat and Scratte go through a RelationshipUpgrade, but it ultimately falls apart when Scrat picks [[CompanionCube his acorn]] over Scratte.
* DidYouDie: When Buck is telling the story of his encounter with Rudy, Crash or Eddie asks, "Did you die?" Buck answers, "Sadly yes... but I lived!"
* DieLaughing: The way to the subterranean world goes through a crevasse full of toxic fumes, which is revealed to have very similar properties to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Joker's laughing gas]] in that it causes anyone who inhales it to laugh until they stop breathing.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Momma Dino knocks Rudy into a chasm to stop him from eating Sid. [[spoiler:{{Subverted}} in that he survives.]]
* DynamicEntry: "Go Momzilla!"
* EatMyDust: A gazelle mocks Diego after outrunning him.
-->'''Gazelle''': Eat my dust, Diego!
* EatenAlive: Little Johnny the aardvark gets eaten by one of the baby ''T. rex''. Thankfully, the baby ''T. rex'' spits him out.
* FeelingTheBabyKick: Ellie is pregnant throughout the film and the signs that her baby is about to be born come in the form of kicks that she feels throughout the film... Which unfortunately pop out at the worst possible moments while the Herd attempts to rescue Sid from the dinosaur world.
* FluffyTheTerrible: Rudy, the fearsome white Baryonyx. {{Lampshaded}} by Manny:
-->'''Manny:''' Oh, good. Good. I was worried it'd be something intimidating, like... ''Sheldon'', or [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Tim]].
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Manny says in the film that one day Sid will "find a girl with low standards, and no real options...". In the fifth movie, Brooke, a female sloth, appears who is attracted to Sid instantly. There also don't seem to be any other sloths in Geotopia, where she lives.
* GoodLipsEvilJaws: The good Mommy dinosaur vs the Albino dino monster.
* HartmanHips: Scratte.
* HeartInTheWrongPlace: When the acorn is abandoned by Scrat and Scratte, it drifts out to sea and washes up inside an intact ribcage on the beach, right where people who believe this trope ''expect'' a heart to be.
* HungryJungle: Not only is the Mesozoic LostWorld this in general, but it includes the aptly-named "Jungle of Misery" inhabited by flesh-eating plants.
* IChooseToStay: When offered the chance to return to the surface world with the herd, Buck briefly considers it before deciding to stay in the prehistoric world.
* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: The path to Sid.
* InflatingBodyGag: As a charging pterosaur prepares to eat the possums, they shoot an explosive berry right in its open mouth, making a hilarious outcome.
* InstantBirthJustAddLabor: Ellie gives birth in the middle of a ''Guanlong'' fight, screaming and wincing, and Peaches comes out already clean, happy and sleepy. One of the most exaggerated Hollywood births ever.
* JerkassRealization: Both Manny and Diego have this as they spend the first night in the valley. Manny for his insensitive remarks towards Sid which led to this whole mess, and Diego for his selfishness in leaving the herd.
* KillItThroughItsStomach: Buck successfully frees Manny and Diego from the ManEatingPlant by entering through its mouth and forcing it to vomit, using WireDilemma as a RuleOfFunny. Not only does the plant regurgitate the two, but ''[[CoveredInGunge it explodes into a gooey mess]]''.
* KingOfTheDinosaurs: Momma and her babies are ''Tyrannosaurus''.
* LastMinuteBabyNaming: Manny and Ellie have apparently not decided on what to name their child. After the baby mammoth's birth, Manny suggests they name her Ellie, but Ellie decides on the name "Peaches", which had been their code word for Ellie to tell Manny she was going into labor.
* LetsGetDangerous:
-->'''Buck:''' It's time to get...Buckwild!
* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the somber, dramatic ''Ice Age'' and the perilous, apocalyptic ''Meltdown''.
* LivingDinosaurs: Discovered in a LostWorld BeneathTheEarth.
* ManEatingPlant: Or mammal-eating plant.
* MeadowRun: Spoofed when Scrat is "reunites" with his acorn after running away from Scratte, and the acorn falls down a hill in slow motion towards Scrat who is also running in slow motion.
* MidairRepair: Buck performs mouth-to-mouth on a pterosaur knocked unconscious by a mid-air collision.
* MirrorCrackingUgly: Sid falls through into a cave because of this.
* MistakenForPregnant: Sid mistakes a female beaver's fat for a baby bump. Said beaver promptly nails him with a stick.
* MobySchtick: The film plays this out with Buck and Rudy.
* MonsterDelay: Rudy doesn't appear in full for most of the film. Only certain parts of him are seen in a few glimpses (such as his feet or eyes), and he's often obscured by shadows or clouds in wider shots. It's only until the climax that the audience gets a decent look at him when he finally attacks the Herd.
* NewBabyEpisode: A recurring theme in this movie is that Ellie is pregnant and may go into labour at any time. At the end of the movie, a baby named Peaches is born.
* NoTimeToThink: Buck ends up facing a WireDilemma while inside the carnivorous plant, with only minutes before they're digested. After doing the classic "Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo" (in a muffled voice due to being under the digestive juices), he just shrugs and cuts one of the "wires".
* NotReallyABirthScene: Ellie is giving birth while Diego fights off some ''Guanlong'' trying to kill her. At one point Diego is the one appearing to go through labor pains, and then the camera pulls back to show him pushing a pair of ''Guanlong'' off a ledge.
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: During the NotReallyABirthScene, Ellie's telling Diego to push, and he claims that she has no idea what he's going through. When the camera reveals Diego is pushing back a pair of ''Guanlong'', there's a moment of silence as he processes what he just said before sheepishly apologizing.
* PlatonicDeclarationOfLove: Between Crash and Eddie while they're falling from the sky.
-->'''Eddie:''' I love you, dude!\\
'''Crash:''' I know!
* PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure: Diego and Manny have a rift in their friendship when the former decides he's leaving the herd, which greatly offends the latter. The rift starts to close when Diego offers to protect Ellie from the ''Guanlong'', and he and Manny finally reconcile when the saber declares he's staying.
* PteroSoarer: There are two types of pterosaurs in the film, both of them generic. One of them (labeled as "Pterodactyl") resembles ''Harpactognathus'', while the other (labeled as "Pterosaur") looks like ''Pterodactylus''.
* RapidFireNailBiting: One of the possum twins bites off his own nails, then his brother offers him one of his hands so he can continue biting
* RaptorAttack: Averted, for ''Guanlong'' (a primitive tyrannosaur) is used as a substitute for raptors. Played straight with the ''Troodon'', which look more like ''Coelophysis'' and lack feathers, and the ''Archaeopteryx'', which has a lizard-like head and is flightless.
* RescueRomance: Scrat and Scratte's relationship really kicks off after he rescues her from death by lava when they are hanging by a thin root on a cliff.
* RedWireBlueWire: Hilariously spoofed in the carnivorous-plant action-sequence.
* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: When Sid is on the playground that Manny built for his yet unborn child.
-->'''Manny:''' Sid, I don't want you touching anything. This place is for kids. Are you a kid?\\
'''Sid:''' Uh--\\
'''Manny:''' Don't answer that!
* SandInMyEyes: Invoked and subverted by Diego after Peaches is born, as well as Crash and Eddie.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: When the Herd track down Momma to the hole, Crash and Eddie decide to write off Sid as dead and leave, but Ellie stops them.
-->'''Crash:''' Well, he's dead.\\
'''Eddie:''' Real shame.\\
'''Crash:''' He will be missed.
* SeldomSeenSpecies: Probably the first theatrical film to feature ''Baryonyx'', ''Kentrosaurus'', and ''Guanlong''.
* SherlockScan: Buck tries to make it seem like he has this, but it is really but another product of his madness. At one notable occasion, Buck uses his supposed awesome deduction skills to deduce from a broccoli on the ground that Sid had gone AxCrazy and beat down Momma with the broccoli and turned the giant dinosaur into a vegetable. After being told this was implausible because Sid was not violent, he remakes his theory to that Sid was eating the broccoli when he was eaten by Momma, thereby turning the broccoli into a vegetable.
* StockDinosaurs: This film has ''Tyrannosaurus'', ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Triceratops'', ''Ankylosaurus'', ''Iguanodon'', ''Pachycephalosaurus'', ''Archaeopteryx'', and ''Troodon''.
* TakeThat: Possibly one against ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. In the third JP, a ''Tyrannosaurus'' is killed after [[SpinosaurusVersusTRex a brief fight]] with the ''Spinosaurus''. Well, at the end of the third Ice Age, Mama (a ''Tyrannosaurus'') turns up just at the last moment and attacks Rudy (an overgrown ''Baryonyx'', related to ''Spinosaurus''), effortlessly charging him, slamming him through the jungle and knocking him off a cliff. He doesn't actually die, but it was an incredible asskicking for the supposed BigBad of all dinosaurs in the series.
* TakingTheKids: The storyline with Sid, Mama Dino and the baby dinos is a parody of this trope, with Sid and Mama Dino playing the divorced parents fighting for custody.
* TemptingFate: In the Jungle of Misery, Diego warns Manny when the latter is trying to pick some fruit. Manny scoffs that he'll be afraid of a "pretty flower''. Cue carnivorous plant...
* ThatCameOutWrong:
** When Manny and Diego are inside the carnivorous plant, they have this awkward exchange as the plant's digestive juices start to rise:
--->'''Diego:''' I feel all tingly.\\
'''Manny:''' Don't say that when you're pressed up against me.\\
'''Diego:''' Not ''that'' kind of tingly!
** After seeing Peaches for the first time, Buck innocently asks a pterosaur "Have you ever thought about having kids?" The pterosaur gives Buck an awkward glance, then [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere quickly takes off]].
* ThirdIs3D
* TheVamp: Scratte, who might also count as a squirrel version of LadyInRed.
* TheVoiceless: All of the dinosaurs.
* UvulaEscapeRoute: Buck tells the rest of the gang the story of how he lost his eye and obtained his tooth dagger, which entails him having to escape from a dinosaur's mouth by swinging on its uvula.
* VerbalTic: Listening closely to Buck reveals that the weasel is somehow prone to neglecting the usage of the letter H in his speech...which is probably due to Simon Pegg (his voice actor) being English.
* WhamLine: Followed by a WhamShot. The rest of the herd become affected by the fumes in the Chasm of Death and laugh themselves silly, against Buck's commands. Buck then shows Ellie (and the viewers) why the chasm lives up to its name.
-->'''Ellie:''' They're just laughing. What's so bad about that?\\
'''Buck:''' ''(points to skeletons below)'' They ''died'' laughing!
* WhoIsDriving: Buck captures a pterosaur and commandeers it like an aircraft, along with possums Crash and Eddie, in a tow to rescue Sid. This trope plays with all three of them looking down to check on Sid as they escape; apparently, the pterosaur ''can't'' be trusted to [[FridgeLogic fly by itself]].
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* InstantBirthJustAddWater: Ellie gives birth in the middle of a ''Guanlong'' fight, screaming and wincing, and Peaches comes out already clean, happy and sleepy. One of the most exaggerated Hollywood births ever.

* {{Transgender}}: Very briefly implied/alluded to. While on the trip, the group's path is blocked by a butterfly. Buck shoos him off. He says "I knew him as a caterpillar, before he came out."

* CliffStack: At least once.

* AnimalsNotToScale: Many of the dinosaurs are portrayed as if Manny were the size of a human, and are therefore much bigger than they would be in real life. This is taken UpToEleven with the ''Brachiosaurus'', which are close to Godzilla-sized as a result.

* TyrannosaurusRex: Momma and her babies are ''Tyrannosaurus''.

-->'''Sid:''' ''(running away from the enraged muskox)'' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar I THOUGHT YOU WERE A FEMALE!!!!]]

* DieLaughing: The way to the subterranean world goes through a crevasse full of toxic fumes, which is revealed to have very similar properties to [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Joker's laughing gas]].

* GagReflexGag: Buck explains that he escaped the mouth of a dinosaur by swinging from its uvula.

* TakeThat: Possibly one against ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. In the third JP, a ''Tyrannosaurus'' is killed after a brief fight with the ''Spinosaurus''. Well, at the end of the third Ice Age, Mama (a ''Tyrannosaurus'') turns up just at the last moment and attacks Rudy (an overgrown ''Baryonyx'', related to ''Spinosaurus''), effortlessly charging him, slamming him through the jungle and knocking him off a cliff. He doesn't actually die, but it was an incredible asskicking for the supposed BigBad of all dinosaurs in the series.

** When Manny and Diego are inside the carnivorous plant, they have this awkward exchange:

* WhamLine: Followed by a WhamShot. The rest of the herd become affected by the fumes in the Chasm of Death and laugh themselves silly, against Buck's commands. Buck then shows Ellie (and the viewers) the reason why the chasm does live up to its name.

* KillItThroughItsStomach: Buck successfully frees Manny and Diego from the ManEatingPlant by entering through its mouth and forcing it to vomit. Not only does the plant regurgitate the two, but ''[[CoveredInGunge it explodes into a gooey mess]]''.

-->'''Buck:''' Eyes forward. Back straight. And uh, if you breathe in the toxic fumes, you will probably die.\\

* ThatCameOutWrong: After seeing Peaches for the first time, Buck innocently asks a pterosaur "Have you ever thought about having kids?" The pterosaur gives Buck an awkward glance, then [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere quickly takes off]].