Which 2012 animated film sees Manny, Diego, and Sid separated from their families during a cataclysmic continental split, forcing them to navigate the open ocean and confront a gang of ruthless pirates?

The 2012 animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift (Review) accurately describes the adventures of Manny, Diego, and Sid as they are separated from their herd during a cataclysmic continental split. The fourth installment in the beloved Ice Age franchise, produced by Blue Sky Studios, sees our prehistoric heroes adrift on an iceberg, forced to navigate the open ocean. This unexpected journey leads them to confront a formidable gang of ruthless pirates, led by the villainous Gigantopithecus, Captain Gutt. Their quest is to reunite with their families, including Manny's wife Ellie and their teenage daughter Peaches, who are on the mainland dealing with the shifting landmasses.

The concept of continental drift, though exaggerated for comedic and dramatic effect in the film, is rooted in a real scientific theory. Proposed by German meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912, continental drift suggests that Earth's continents have moved and continue to move across the planet's surface over geologic time. Wegener's hypothesis, which predated the more comprehensive theory of plate tectonics, posited that all continents were once joined in a supercontinent called Pangea before breaking apart. While the film takes creative liberties with the speed and immediate impact of such an event, it draws inspiration from the dramatic geological forces that have shaped our world over millions of years.

"Ice Age: Continental Drift" was a significant box office success, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing animated film of 2012, earning over $877 million worldwide. The film brought back the familiar voices of Ray Romano as Manny, John Leguizamo as Sid, and Denis Leary as Diego, and introduced new characters voiced by a star-studded cast including Peter Dinklage as Captain Gutt and Jennifer Lopez as Shira, a saber-toothed tiger who eventually joins the herd. The animation studio, Blue Sky, faced challenges in creating the detailed water effects for the expansive ocean scenes, utilizing a combination of in-house software and commercial tools like Houdini and RealFlow for realistic simulations.