4284. Scrat PEZ

Scrat is a saber-toothed squirrel who is obsessed with acorns, constantly putting his life in danger to obtain and defend them. He has his own stories in the film, independent of the main plot, which are parallel with the journeys of the other main characters, causing them to interact with him at times.
The character is enormously successful and Scrat is viewed as a breakout character, the most popular of the franchise. In a special feature in the second film's DVD, his name has been stated to be a mix of the words "squirrel" 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 Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha.
Scrat is voiced in all Ice Age movies and short films by director Chris Wedge. He directly interacts with the story's main characters on six occasions. In the first film, he attacks Sid when the latter tries to eat his acorn, successfully regaining it, and later appears when Manny asks him for directions to where the baby's family is and Diego kicks Scrat away before he could tell about nearby saber-toothed tigers. At the end of the second film, Scrat creates a hole in the valley and releases all the melted ice. He later attacks Sid for saving his life (when he had already died and gone to paradise and was about to eat a giant acorn). In the third film, Scrat is stepped on by Manny and falls into Sid's head while chasing his acorn. Finally, he appears when Sid's "children" are batting a ball around, the ball actually being Scrat.
Scrat constantly hunts for his acorn either to bury it or eat it, but fate always gets in the way. He invariably ends up in humorous or painful situations: being struck by lightning, pursued by avalanches, and repeatedly knocked unconscious while fighting for his acorn. Yet he never gives up. Scrat generally loses, except when he defeats a school of piranhas and successfully battles Sid for his acorn.

Pez (trademarked PEZ, in capitals) is the brand name of an Austrian candy and their mechanical pocket dispensers. The candy itself takes the shape of pressed, dry, straight-edged blocks (15 mm (5/8 inch) long, 8 mm wide and 5 mm high), with Pez dispensers holding 12 Pez pieces.
The name Pez was derived from the letters at the start, the middle and the end of the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminz, the first Pez flavor. Pez was originally introduced in Austria, later exported, notably to the U.S., and eventually became available worldwide. The all-uppercase spelling of the logo echoes the trademark's style on the packaging and the dispensers themselves, with the logo drawn in perspective and giving the appearance that the letters are built out of 44 brick-like Pez confectioneries (14 bricks in the P and 15 in each of the E and Z).
Despite the widespread recognition of the Pez dispenser, the company considers itself to be primarily a confectionery company, and says over 3 billion confectionery bricks are consumed each year in the U.S. alone. Pez Dispensers are part of popular culture in many nations. Because of the large number of dispenser designs over the years, Pez dispensers are collected by enthusiasts.

4281. Diego PEZ

Diego is a saber-toothed tiger, one of the main protagonists in all three of the films. He has a somewhat sarcastic personality, although it's usually not intended as malicious. He was sent by his pack to retrieve the human baby called Roshan; When he found Roshan in Manny and Sid's care, he pretended to lead them to the humans, but instead planned to lead them into an ambush by the pack. However, when Manny saved his life Diego changed his mind, telling him about the pack and helping to counterattack. He appeared to have been killed by the pack's leader, Soto, but survived and joined Manny and Sid on their travels. In the second film, he was revealed to suffer from aquaphobia, but he eventually conquered it in order to save Sid, Eddie and Crash. In the third film, he began to fear that he was losing his predatory abilities from being in the "herd" too long, and considered staying in the underground dinosaur world. He changed his mind after managing to save the labored Ellie from a dinosaur attack. He will reappear in the upcoming Ice Age movie, Ice Age: Continental Drift, while having a love interest in the movie with another Smilodon named Shira, voiced by Jennifer Lopez. He is voiced by Denis Leary.

Pez was first marketed as a compressed peppermint sweet or candy in Vienna, Austria. It was invented in 1927 in Vienna by a confectioner named Eduard Haas III. Haas invented peppermints using family owned baking powders, and decided to serve the mints in small, hand-size containers. He manufactured a small tin to hold the mints, similar to the modern Altoids tins. The first Pez mint dispensers, known as "regulars," were similar in shape to a cigarette lighter, and dispensed an adult breath mint marketed as an alternative to smoking. They were invented by Oscar Uxa. Haas Food Manufacturing Corporation of Vienna, Austria, was the first to sell Pez products.
World War II slowed marketing and production. In 1945, manufacturers devised and promoted the Pez Box Regular. In 1952 Eduard Haas introduced his product to the United States, and Curtis Allina headed Pez's U.S. business. In 1955, the Pez company placed heads on the dispensers and marketed them for children. Santa Claus and Mickey Mouse were among the first character dispensers. Since 1950, over 1500 Pez dispensers, including the original character dispensers have been created.
Pez vending machines were used in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The first German machines were introduced around 1954 and were produced by DWM (Deutsche Waggon- und Maschinenfabrik) and GWS (Georg Wiegandt und Söhne), both of Berlin, Germany. Machines were later introduced in Switzerland and then in Austria, in October 1956; these were produced by Glerios / R.Seipel & Co. and/or Theodor Braun (Vienna, Austria).
In 1973, Pez built a factory in Orange, Connecticut. In 1983, Scott McWhinnie became the president of the Pez company. He retired in 2003. Joe Vittoria became President of the company in 2004. Around 2005 the size of the original factory was doubled and the Pez dispenser line was expanded. In the mid-1990s peppermint flavored Pez candies were reintroduced along with remakes of the 'regulars'.
In early 2006 the family of the original founder of the company bought back 32.5% of the stock from investment company PGH for €18M. They now own 67.5% of the company. The headquarters are in Traun, Austria. The Pez candies are produced in Traun and Orange, Connecticut, while the dispensers are produced in Hungary and China.

2346. Manny