Viewership Whip Media, which tracks global viewing habits from over 1 million daily worldwide users of its
TV Time app, calculated that
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was the 10th-most-anticipated movie of January 2022. Analytics company
Samba TV, which gathers viewership data from certain
smart TVs and content providers, calculated that 797,000 US households watched the film in its first two days of streaming.
Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, reported that
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was streamed for 347 million minutes between January 24–30, making it the third most-streamed film of the week. Whip Media announced that it was the eighth most-streamed film in the U.S. from January 28–30. The film subsequently moved to tenth place between February 4–6.
Critical response On the
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes, 19% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Suffering from subpar animation and a dull story,
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild is missing virtually all of the ingredients that made earlier installments enjoyable."
Metacritic, which uses a
weighted average, assigned the film a score of 30 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Courtney Howard of
Variety gave the film a negative review, saying how the story's focus is on the major characters of the previous
Ice Age films, rather than solely on the titular Buck. She also points out the problematic
disability representation and how the animation is "akin to a late-stage
pre-viz pass", ending the review saying that the film "should've remained on ice." Natalia Winkleman of
The New York Times said that she was disappointed to see the film replace almost all of its celebrity voices and stated that of all the "sins" in the movie, the omission of Scrat was unforgivable. Laura Millar from
The Michigan Daily wrote that she was somewhat disappointed in the cast change and the "elementary plot", but said that she was most upset that the film was not made for the same audience as the past
Ice Age films. Johnny Loftus of
Decider complimented Simon Pegg's performance, but said the world depicted across the movie appears empty and generic, and found the appearances of several characters uninteresting, writing, "
The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild feels like a tangent, or perhaps a try-out pilot for a small screen Crash & Eddie ‘toon. What it doesn’t feel like is a feature film." Jennifer Green of
Common Sense Media rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote: "
Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild [...] has frequent animated action involving perilous situations and some mild language. [...] Characters discover qualities in themselves that allow them to gain confidence and improve their relationships. The film has messages about existing peacefully alongside those who are different from you and being a contributing member of your herd [...] and there's some potty humor involving peeing, farting, and other bodily functions." Giving the film a D+, ''
The A.V. Club's'' Jesse Hassenger negatively compared it to Disney's other direct-to-video sequels, saying: "The new direct-to-streaming
Ice Age sequel is a generic chunk of content." Mark Kennedy of the
Associated Press gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing: "Visually and storytelling-wise it's not a cut above much of what kids can watch on TV these days. This is a franchise that looks like it's slowly going the way of the dinos, while we drool."
Accolades Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Non-Theatrical Animation at the 2022
Golden Reel Awards. ==Sequel==