Scrat is a fictional character in the Ice Age franchise. He is a saber-toothed squirrel who is obsessed with collecting acorns, constantly putting his life in danger to obtain and defend them. Scrat's storylines are mostly independent of those of the Herd, though the two do intersect at times. Scrat is voiced in all Ice Age feature films and short films by director Chris Wedge, only directly interacting with the story's main characters on eight occasions, mostly with Sid. In a special feature in the second film's DVD, his name has been stated to be a mix of the words "chipmunk" and "rat", his species allegedly believed to have been a common ancestor of both. In the Ice Age DVD commentary, he is referred to as "The Scrat" by directors Wedge and Carlos Saldanha. The character served as the mascot to his co-animation studio, Blue Sky Studios, until its closure in 2021. Concept and creation The true origin of Scrat's design is unclear. Initially, Chris Wedge claimed that the character was created by illustrator Peter de Sève in late 1999 while crafting a clay model, and that the name emerged naturally from the hybrid of squirrel and rat. However, in 2009, screenwriter Michael J. Wilson stated a conflicting claim that his 3-year-old daughter Flora came up with the idea for Scrat, as well as the name itself. Furthermore, fashion designer Ivy Supersonic has claimed since 2002 that she had initially created the character, then called "Sqrat", and the idea was stolen from her by 20th Century Fox rather than pay her royalties. Internal documents showed that within Blue Sky Studios, the character's name was changed from "Sqrat" to "Scrat". She ultimately settled with Disney, which had purchased Blue Sky Studios, for the "Sqrat" trademark, but failed to stop Scrat from appearing in future Disney works despite the names being phonetically equivalent. In Ice Age: Scrat Tales, during the interview, Michael Knapp added that as a result, they had to remodel Scrat by re-furring, re-materializing and re-rigging the character. He was portrayed by Chris Wedge. Fictional character biography Ice Age In Ice Age, Scrat first attacks Sid when the latter tries to eat his acorn, successfully regaining it. He later meets Manny, Sid, and Diego with a human baby Roshan. Manny asks Scrat where the baby's family is and Scrat attempts to tell them about nearby saber-toothed tigers, but Diego kicks