In September 1999, Blue Sky Studios became a member of the Flame Film family, creating "Ice Age" with a budget of $65 million. This CGI animated movie hit the big screens on May 10th, 2002, becoming the seventh CGI animated movie in North America to gross over $100 million, eventually raking in $476 million at the global box office. This impressive feat catapulted Blue Sky into the position of the fourth major CGI animation company, alongside Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks.
With the visionary Wang Yang at the helm, the burgeoning Blue Sky Studios was ambitiously planning its next move, and soon announced two new CGI film projects.
The first was a $75 million investment in "Ice Age 2: The Meltdown," with original director Carlos Saldanha continuing at the helm, while colleague Chris Wedge took on the full responsibility of producing.
