Studio Cut

Manny and Diego of “Ice Age” phenomenon are back the third time around in “Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” as they step into the uncharted terrain of the dinosaurs to save their pal Sid the sloth from extinction.

The Ice Age gang’s game-changing, grand adventure starts out on familiar turf: the makeshift family comprised of mammoth Manny, his wife Ellie (who’s now expecting a mini-mammoth), Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and possums Crash and Eddie, is shifting as each finds his or her place within the family.

Manny, the de facto leader of the herd, prepares to face a new challenge – parenthood.  He’s taking it very, very seriously, going so far as trying to baby-proof nature itself by removing the innumerable stones, twigs and other potential “hazards” around him.  Frantic preparations for fatherhood are clearly something that Manny’s alter-ego, Ray Romano, identifies with.  “It wasn’t that different from my own life,” he notes. “Getting crazy preparing for a new arrival comes with the territory.”

Romano also appreciated Manny’s arc through the three “Ice Age” films.  “He was kind of a misanthrope in the first film, with a real chip on his shoulder,” he says.  “Little by little, Manny’s developed friendships, found love, and become a more well-rounded guy.”

Manny’s best pal, saber-toothed tiger Diego, is facing a different kind of crisis: Lately he’s been feeling more like a kitty cat than a fearsome feline, and fears that joining the herd is making him lose his edge.  Instead of participating in the preparations for the baby’s arrival, Diego heads out on his own in search of adventure, wondering if it’s time for him to move on from the herd.  “He’s breaking off on his own,” says actor-comedian Denis Leary, who completed voicing his third turn as Diego before returning to work on his hit series “Rescue Me.”  “Diego also has some great moments with Ellie at a critical time for her, and that was a lot of fun to play.”

Leary continues to marvel at the franchise’s broad appeal, having witnessed it at screenings of the first two films.  “I was with adults, teens, kids – everybody had a great time,” he remembers.   What about the notion of a secret world lying under the ice?  It’s great, says Leary, an avid amateur hockey player and fan:  “But for me, personally, anytime there’s ice, I want to be on top of it, not below it.”

Ray Romano (Manny’s voice) played the lead in CBS’ most respected tv sitcom hit “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He won numerous awards for his work in the sitcom, including an Emmy® for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series in 2002, and received two additional Emmys, as an executive producer, for outstanding comedy series, in 2003 and 2005.  After stints at odd jobs, including futon mattress delivery man and bank teller by day, and journeyman comedian by night, he decided to leave the 9-5 ranks and pursue comedy full-time, eventually winning a standup comedy competition sponsored by a major New York radio station.

Following that success, he continued to regularly appear at comedy clubs throughout the country, leading to appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and then with Jay Leno.  He was eventually invited to appear on “Late Night with David Letterman.”   He made his big screen debut as the voice of Manny the woolly mammoth, in “Ice Age,” and subsequently starred in the follow-up hit, “Ice Age: The Meltdown.” He has also starred in “Eulogy,” “Welcome to Mooseport” with Gene Hackman, “Grilled” with Kevin James and Burt Reynolds, “The Grand” with Woody Harrelson, and “95 Miles To Go,” an autobiographical documentary of his life on tour.  He is the author of The New York Times best-selling book based on his comedy,  “Everything and a Kite,” as well as a children’s book, “Raymie, Dickie, and The Bean: Why I Love and Hate My Brothers.”

Denis Leary  (Diego’s voice) was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a drama, as well as an Emmy for best actor in a drama, and best writing – all for his critically acclaimed hit series “Rescue Me,” which he co-produces with longtime creative partner Peter Tolan.  For the acclaimed HBO film “Recount,” Leary was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television, as well as an Emmy as outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries or movie.  In his long and varied movie career Leary has starred in the box office hits “Wag the Dog,” “A Bug’s Life,” “Ice Age,” “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “Suicide Kings” and ‘Ice Age: The Meltdown.”   He gained critical praise for his portrayal of a cowboy junkie in the indie hit “Jesus’ Son,” as a drug-addled Irish gangster in “Monument Ave.,” as an ethereal trumpet player in “The Secret Lives of Dentists,” and as a hard-working Southern farmer in Terence Davies’s “The Neon Bible.”  His first big project with director Ted Demme, “The Ref,” has become a Christmas-time cult classic.

“Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” opens July 3 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.