What Ice Age was Ellie pregnant?

In the beloved prehistoric comedy franchise Ice Age, woolly mammoth Ellie stunned her mate Manny and the rest of their motley herd when she announced she was expecting a baby in the 2009 film Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. This third installment sees the group finding and protecting a lost world of dinosaurs hidden beneath the ice, where Ellie goes into labor and gives birth to her daughter Peaches.

Ellie and Manny‘s Relationship Leading Up to Pregnancy

Ellie entered the Ice Age movies as a newcomer in 2006‘s Ice Age: The Meltdown, joining Manny the mammoth‘s herd of animal friends struggling to survive glacier floods together. Ellie quickly bonded with the gruff but good-hearted Manny, calling him out for his standoffishness and encouraging him to accept help from others.

By the end of the second movie, Manny realized his feelings for Ellie had grown deeper, and the two officially became mates. Inbetween films, their romance must have continued blooming leading up to Ellie‘s pregnancy reveal at the start of Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 2009.

The Lost World Setting for Ellie‘s Pregnancy

Expectant mother Ellie informs Manny of her pregnancy early on in Dawn of the Dinosaurs, leading him to become extremely doting and overprotective. This instigates tensions amidst discoveries of a lost world of dinosaurs beneath their ice age refuge.

Various dinosaurs cause chaos for the herd, from attacking Guanlong packs to a massive carnivorous T-Rex they dub "Rudy." This makes their underground sanctuary frequently hazardous, especially with a pregnant Ellie along for the ride.

The Birth of Peaches

After sustaining harrowing dinosaur encounters and Manny‘s anxious hovering throughout her pregnancy, Ellie goes into labor—prompting panic amongst Manny and the herd. They scramble to find shelter, fending off more Guanlong raids until a grateful Ankylosaurus offers protection.

Finally, surrounded by friends, Ellie safely delivers her babygirl. The adorable little furry mammoth is enthusiastically named Peaches, then happily welcomed into the icy Pleistocene world by her doting parents.

Significance for Franchise Story Arcs

Ellie‘s pregnancy and Peaches‘ birth kickstarted the franchise‘s next generation of characters beyond Manny, Diego, Sid and the original herd. Baby Peaches appears sporadically through remaining films, rapidly growing up into a teenager by Ice Age 5 then young adult by Ice Age 6.

Her courtship, marriage and personal milestones allow fresh storylines continuing the series‘ sweet intergenerational appeal. Ellie‘s pregnancy arc specifically also cemented Manny and Ellie as the central "parental" mammoths through later sequels.

Connecting to Real-World Mammoths

While played for laughs, Ellie‘s pregnancy offers some connections to real woolly mammoths during the last ice age. Female mammoths likely gestated for around 22 months before giving birth. Babies were dependent on their mothers for potentially 3-4 years afterwards, grazing on mammoth milk that was remarkably rich in fat and nutrients.

Peaches the cartoon mammoth may grow up faster for the speedy sequel pace. But Ellie‘s attentive nursing and nurturing reflects ancestry strategies that allowed calves to mature into the mammoths‘ advanced age spans, similar to modern elephants.

Fan anticipation for more Manny-Ellie stories

Devoted Ice Age fans have loved seeing Manny and Ellie‘s romance bloom over successive films, from their meet-cute in The Meltdown through married life with Peaches by Collision Course. Many speculate the parents will feature again if the currently dormant franchise sees revival, whether in more sequels or the previously proposed TV spinoff.

Perhaps they could even see Ellie pregnant again, or the spotlight shift to a now grown-up Peaches starting her own family. There remains plenty of fertile ground storywise for this beloved prehistoric clan.