Can you imagine Ice Age without Scrat? You’re going to have to. Disney does not currently hold the rights to the saber-toothed squirrel, despite having inherited the entire franchise. How’d that happen?
Since 20th Century Fox owned Blue Sky Studios — creators of the Ice Age movies — and Disney acquired 20th Century (minus the Fox) in a gazillion-dollar deal, Ice Age is now a Disney property and the latest product to use the brand, the series Adventures of Buck Wild, made its debut on Disney+ instead of somewhere else.
But back in 1999, an artist named Ivy Silberstein pitched a character to Blue Sky she called “SQRAT,” a combination of a squirrel and a rat. Blue Sky wasn’t interested in a movie based on such a character…at least Ivy thought, until the trailers for the first Ice Age started coming out. She was shocked to see what looked like a squirrel-rat hybrid, who only differed from her idea by one letter. She immediately called her lawyer.
Silberstein’s lawsuit against 20th Century Fox resulted in a draw, with the judge ruling that both Fox and Silberstein owned equal portions of the Scrat character. But Silberstein was not satisfied with less than total ownership, and wanted the removal of what she viewed as a stolen character. When Disney bought 20th, a renegotiation was on the table, and Silberstein was in a position to take Scrat (or rather, Sqrat) back. Surprisingly, considering this is Disney we’re talking about, she got what she wanted.
Silberstein sent out a celebratory tweet a few days ago, beaming while holding her US Copyright Office certificates (that comically say “SQRAT” in large letters).
No #Scrat in #Disney #IceAge 6
Thank You @WaltDisneyCo @abigaildisney for Respecting My Trademarks & Character#Sqrat I Created May 19, 1999. 20 Years Ago March 12, 2002 The First Ice Age Released, it's been a 20 Year Fight! I WON! https://t.co/kqanxC0YkI https://t.co/ptM6UgfqJ7 pic.twitter.com/MHq39xOBex— IVY SUPERSONIC (@IWantJustice) January 28, 2022
What this means is that the existing Ice Age cartoons that have Scrat are still allowed to exist. But if another Ice Age movie is ever made, Scrat could only appear if Silberstein allows it, and considering the long struggle she’s had trying to get him in the first place, that is unlikely.
This is not the definitive END of the character in Ice Age — a series of shorts called Scrat Tails was created prior to the renegotiation and has yet to premiere — but after that, he’s gone. This poster image for the short Cosmic Scrat-Astrophe now feels especially ironic:
Be careful what you wish for, Blue Sky!
And does anyone REALLY want an Ice Age movie without its most iconic character? We’d say this is a good time to put this series to bed. Six films and a million spinoffs is enough.