First look at the snow sloths of “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age”

A first-look clip from the award-winning natural history series “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age,” has been released, giving a sneak peak at the work undertaken by our studios in London, Montreal and Mumbai.  Featuring the playful snow sloths of the Pleistocene, “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” will take viewers millions of years beyond the extinction of the dinosaurs into a world shaped by ice, survival, and the emergence of a new group of giants — the iconic megafauna.

The newly released clip provides a first look at one of the Ice Age’s most surprising and charming creatures: a snow sloth (Megalonyx jeffersonii), a remarkable, barely-known animal perfectly suited to life in a frozen environment. Unlike its modern cousins, this Ice Age relative could climb rocky slopes with ease, using powerful limbs and massive claws to reach sparse vegetation. During this period, sloths thrived in a wide variety of forms, from giant ground-dwellers to smaller, tree-dwelling species. Their adaptability allowed them to flourish across many habitats during the Ice Age. In this playful footage, the snow sloths tumble and slide in the snow — a joyful, unexpected glimpse into life during one of Earth’s coldest ages

Reconstructed through the latest scientific understanding, Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age combines the latest science with cinematic visuals to reveal the intelligence and intricate social behavior of the Pleistocene’s most iconic species. From woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats to dwarf relatives of elephants and carnivorous kangaroos, each episode explores how life across the planet adapted to survive amid dramatic climate shifts and transformation.

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age is executive produced by Jon Favreau and Mike Gunton, and produced by BBC Studios Natural History Unit and narrated by Tom Hiddleston.  Framestore’s production side VFX supervisor Russell Dodgson oversaw all the visual effects and the series features a theme by Hans Zimmer, with an original score by Zimmer, Rozman and Talve for Bleeding Fingers Music.