Scrat was strangely a no-show in January’s The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, which upset fans given that the acorn-obsessed rodent has always been a popular part of the franchise. But now we know the reason behind his absence — Disney was holding him back for his very own spinoff series. Ahead of its arrival on streaming next month, Disney Plus has just dropped the first trailer for short-form show Ice Age: Scrat Tales, which you can catch above.
As the trailer makes clear, Scrat Tales will finally see the title character discover something he cares for just as much as his beloved acorn, as he reunites with the offspring he never knew he had — the adorable Baby Scrat. But after initially bonding, father and son will find themselves viciously competing with each other to get their hands on their precious treasure. Chris Wedge reprises his role as Scrat yet again with Karl Wahlgren voicing Baby Scrat.
The series will consist of six animated shorts — you can get a flavor of what’s in store thanks to the first-look images in the gallery above — which will mine a lot of slapstick near-silent comedy from Scrat’s hapless attempts to be a dad and his endless quest to horde his acorn. Scrat Tales is produced by Anthony Nisi, with Robert L. Baird and Andrew Milstein on board as executive producers.
This is the second entry in the Ice Age franchise to be produced in-house by Disney after the Mouse House’s merger with 20th Century Fox and the subsequent closure of creators Blue Sky Studios. The show follows on from Scrat’s original artist Ivy Silberstein announcing they now own the rights to the character following Disney finally resolving a long-running trademark dispute they had with Fox.
Make sure to catch Ice Age: Scrat Tales when all six episodes defrost onto Disney Plus from Wednesday, April 13.