--- description: Noah Hawley's high-minded sci-fi series seems to have some very clear intentions in referencing the second-rate kids' movie franchise. title: What's the Deal With Ice Age and Peter Pan in Alien: Earth? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb65683716d3fc21d/6998c91bd32e93730fcd7438/AE_103_PBR-2202-0039r.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Television](/tag/television/) ## Television Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What's the Deal With _Ice Age_ and _Peter Pan_ in _Alien: Earth_? by [James Grebey](/author/james-grebey/) ## James Grebey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Grebey is a contributor for TIME. Aug 21, 2025 4:28 PM CUT  Alex Lawther as Hermit, Sydney Chandler as Wendy in Alien: Earth Alex Lawther as Hermit, Sydney Chandler as Wendy in Alien: EarthCourtesy of FX by [James Grebey](/author/james-grebey/) ## James Grebey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Grebey is a contributor for TIME. Aug 21, 2025 4:28 PM CUT Viewers of the new series _Alien: Earth_ were probably expecting to see gnarly chest-bursting aliens and creepy robots. They were _not_ expecting to see Sid, a lisping ground sloth from the second-rate CGI kids film series [_Ice Age_](https://time.com/archive/6666068/movies-ice-age/ "undefined"). And yet, there he is, prominently featured in _Alien: Earth_'s opening episodes. The absurd contrast between series creator [Noah Hawley's](https://time.com/4667769/noah-hawley-legion-fx/ "undefined") high-minded sci-fi horror and this silly cartoon animal [went viral](https://x.com/eggbulb3/status/1955445488712339920 "undefined"), though for as fun as it is to wonder what the hidden metaphorical meaning of _Ice Age_ might be, the real contrast is between it and another children's movie that’s woven into the narrative. _Peter Pan_ is a big part of _Alien: Earth_, and the differing context of the two pieces of kids entertainment is a sly bit of commentary on childhood, arrested development, and storytelling tropes. No facehugger latches on to Sid's schnoz; he's not actually a character in _Alien: Earth_. Instead, Sid appears via a scene from [_Ice Age: Continental Drift_](https://entertainment.time.com/2012/07/12/ice-age-continental-drift/ "undefined")_,_ the fourth film in the _Ice Age_ franchise. Two of the main characters in _Alien: Earth_ fondly remember watching the 2012 movie when they were kids despite the series taking place well over a century later. Wendy (Sydney Chandler) watched the movie with her older brother Joe Hermit (Alex Lawther) back when they were kids—back when she was still named Marcy, before her consciousness was transferred from her terminally ill 11-year-old body into a synthetic frame and given a new name. When _Alien: Earth_ starts, Wendy and her brother are separated, and Joe thinks his sister is dead. They only have fond memories to reflect on—like watching _Ice Age: Continental_ _Drift_ and making Sid's quote of "taste my fury" into an inside joke. Of all the possible movies that the siblings could've bonded over, _Ice Age: Continental Drift_ is a bizarre choice. Even if you suspend your disbelief that the pair are watching a 100-year-old animated movie rather than any bit of future kids entertainment that would be contemporary for them in the 22nd century, why _Ice Age_? Why the fourth movie in the franchise instead of the first one? _Continental Drift_ made nearly $900 million when it came out, though the reviews were middling at best, and none of the _Ice Age_ movies are exactly hailed as classic cinema. **Read more:** [_FX’s_ Alien: Earth _Is the Best Thing to Happen to the Franchise Since_ Aliens](https://time.com/7306915/alien-earth-review-fx/ "undefined") There are some explanations for _Ice Age_'s inclusion, though. Disney, which owns FX and Hulu, the networks on which _Alien: Earth_ airs, owns _Ice Age_, having acquired the franchise when it bought Fox. Disney acquired the _Alien_ IP in the same merger. (_Continental Drift_ came out the same year as _Prometheus_, [Ridley Scott's](https://time.com/6837057/ridley-scott-napoleon-history/ "undefined") first _Alien_ prequel that is not part of [this TV show's canon](https://time.com/7011192/alien-movies-ranked/ "undefined"), so maybe featuring it in the show is a meta nod to the other 2012 movie not existing in this world.) But even beyond the practicalities of ownership, there are thematic explanations, too. The _Ice Age_ franchise is fundamentally about characters grappling with the end of an era that will eventually render their species extinct—and there are dangerous predators out there. If you squint, there's a similarity to how _Alien: Earth_ is about mankind trying to render itself obsolete with cyborgs and synthetic bodies, not to mention the Xenomorphs hunting them. _Continental Drift_ features some pirate-like characters, including Captain Glutt, the [gigantopithecus](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06900-0 "undefined") featured in the scene Joe and Wendy are watching. It shares pirates in common with _Peter Pan_, the other kids flick featured in _Alien: Earth_. However, _Ice Age_ as a contrast to _Peter Pan_ is what's really key to it showing up in this series. While a little girl and a little boy love _Ice Age_ in _Alien: Earth_, a different sort of boy is obsessed with _Peter Pan_. Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin), the world's youngest trillionaire and CEO of the Prodigy corporation responsible for giving Wendy her synthetic body, may be immature, but he's very much an adult. Given that he is attempting to invent a technology that makes people immortal, and that the first step toward accomplishing that is putting children's consciousness into unaging bodies, it tracks that he'd find something relatable in _Peter Pan_. He shows a clip of the 1953 Disney movie to Wendy and the other kids during the transfer process; he's often seen reading the book to them; and he calls his hybrid creations his Lost Boys. Their new names—Wendy, Slightly, Curly, Nibs, Tootles, and Smee—are all from _Peter Pan_. **Read more:** [_How FX’s_ Alien: Earth _Fits Into the_ Alien _Universe_](https://time.com/7308896/alien-earth-series-timeline/ "undefined") Thematically, Boy Kavalier's interest in _Peter Pan_ is a little on-the-nose. It is also very uncomfortable because he is a grown man fixated on a work of children's fiction. He is going to great lengths to showcase the depths of his _Peter Pan_ fandom, and you can feel that effort. It's almost a sort of twisted virtue signalling, except instead of signalling some enlightened view of life, what he's really conveying is: "I am a big creep." (The Disney _Peter Pan_ movie, it should be noted, is staggeringly racist, making Kavalier's adoration even more offputting.) It's not like real-life tech CEOs are known for [their](https://x.com/dianetuman/status/1874874299217277035 "undefined") [maturity](https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1941292156418916640 "undefined")_,_ and _Peter Pan_ is exactly what one who calls himself a boy genius would make into their whole thing. The content of the story is secondary to the metaphor and what Kavalier thinks the references are projecting about himself. Compare that to Wendy and Joe watching and enjoying an _Ice Age_ sequel when they were actually kids—and Wendy, despite her grown-up synthetic body, is still a kid. Any parent who ever had high-minded aspirations that their children will be cultured and only watch enriching works during screen time understands that, in reality, kids are drawn to what they like. They watch a lot of what discerning adult audiences might consider trash—like, for instance, _Ice Age: Continental Drift_, with its 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes. For whatever reason, kids’ fare like this is often the thing that sticks with young viewers rather than so-called classics like _Peter Pan_. Wendy doesn't love _Ice Age_ because the movie has some greater metaphor that she can use to enhance her persona: She loves it because it was something she watched with her brother. _Alien: Earth_ acknowledges that kids watch kids entertainment, not metaphors. By having Wendy love _Ice Age_ and Kavalier put so much of his identity into _Peter Pan_, _Alien: Earth_ is reminding the audience who the real children are; no matter how adult Wendy looks or how childlish the boy wonder acts. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7310989/alien-earth-ice-age-peter-pan-meaning/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7310989/alien-earth-ice-age-peter-pan-meaning/"},"headline":"What's the Deal With Ice Age and Peter Pan in Alien: Earth?","datePublished":"2025-08-21T16:28:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T01:49:09.846Z","description":"Noah Hawley's high-minded sci-fi series seems to have some very clear intentions in referencing the second-rate kids' movie franchise.","url":"https://time.com/7310989/alien-earth-ice-age-peter-pan-meaning/","keywords":["Television","freelance","Second click","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb65683716d3fc21d/6998c91bd32e93730fcd7438/AE_103_PBR-2202-0039r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"James Grebey","jobTitle":"Grebey is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/james-grebey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb65683716d3fc21d/6998c91bd32e93730fcd7438/AE_103_PBR-2202-0039r.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AE_103_PBR-2202-0039r","caption":"FX's Alien: Earth -- \"Metamorphosi\" -- Season 1, Episode 3 (Airs Tues, August 19) -- Pictured (L-R): Alex Lawther as Hermit, Sydney Chandler as Wendy. 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