We rather enjoyed Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and unlike the faltering Shrek series there’s an actual sense of expectation for this new chapter.

20th Century Fox and Blue Sky have great confidence in the prehistoric animation, so much so that there’s news this morning that Ice Age 4 is on its way.

Subtitled Continental Drift, this film has a release date of Summer 2012 so it will sit nicely alongside the other projected releases for Batman 3 and the SpiderMan reboot.

Variety shouted this one out, and there are no other details at present, but if it can repeat the huge box office return of the third film then this won’t be the last time we see Scratte, Ellie, Diego and Sid.

In order to stand out from the crowd of 3D animated fare currently assaulting the box office you need to create a cast of charming characters in a world that is unique, throw in a witty script with lots of visual invention. The bar 20th Century and director and Ivce Age veteran Carlos Saldanha have to overcome has been set very high with the likes of  Up and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs this year alone, and Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, released this week on Blu-ray and DVD, succeeds on many levels.

When the film was released earlier in the year we reviewed it here, and it was a positive review. The film’s cast has a great hold on the characters and the visual fizz and momentum makes for an eye popping experience. It’s a wild ride that I found a lot to like, there was charm and the new characters and locations capture the essence of what makes Ice Age an enjoyable series. There are a few too many Flintstones lite anachronisms for my liking but there’s enough here to keep children of all ages happy.

The Blu-ray is really where this film shines – plainly put: This film looks incredible, even for Blu-ray standards, from the wide open landscapes and misty, ghostly caverns down to the intricate character models – the clarity of detail and colour is amazing – this is one to show off the new player.

The special features are the typical mix between the making of docs, abandoned scenes and cast interviews, the full listing is below and there’s so much to enjoy. The Blu-ray is bundled with a DVD copy and a digital version to watch ‘on the go’.

It’s a shot in the arm for the Ice Age series and with the digital acumen of Blue Sky Studios ever increasing it won’t be too long before the series gets a fourth installment.

To celebrate the launch of Ice Age 3 on Blu-ray and DVD 20th Century Fox enlisted the help of world famous street painter Edgar Muller to create a record breaking anamorphic street scene featuring the Ice Age characters – check it out below.

Blu-ray Special Features

• Disc One:
  • Blu-ray Disc Feature Film
  • Ice Age Storybook Maker
  • Buck’s Survival Guide: Fun Fossilized Factoids
  • Evolution Expedition
  • Buck: From Easel to Weasel
  • Unearthing the Lost World
  • Two Unfinished Deleted Scenes
  • Walk the Dinosaur Music Video
  • Animated Shorts
    • Surviving Sid
    • Gone Nutty ““ Scrat’s Missing Adventure
    • No Time for Nuts
  • Falling for Scratte
  • Filmmaker Commentary
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character with Ray Romano
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character with Queen Latifah
  • Fox Movie Channel Presents Making a Scene

Disc Two:

• Digital Copy ““ a copy of the film allowing a one-time download for watching Ice Age 3 on the go

DVD Special Features:

• Buck’s Survival Guide: Fun Fossilized Factoids
• Walk the Dinosaur Music Video
• Falling for Scratte
• Buck: From Easel to Weasel
• Digital Copy