Sneak peek: Scrat heads to space for 'Ice Age' short

Everybody’s getting stuck in outer space these days — first it was Matt Damon, and now it’s the fan favorite Scrat from the Ice Age films.

The saber-toothed squirrel is always getting into trouble during his relentless pursuit of his beloved acorn, but he’s actually bringing about the Big Bang in Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe, a new animated short playing before The Peanuts Movie (in theaters Friday).

With his signature squeaks and growls again coming courtesy of Ice Age executive producer Chris Wedge, Scrat discovers a spaceship encased in ice and, after pushing a few buttons he probably shouldn’t, gets blasted into space.

“He basically rearranges the solar system to become the one we know of today,” says producer Lori Forte, whose team “howled” when they saw The Martian spoof poster replacing a certain A-list star with Scrat.

“There are so many things to do with him, but this was something that just sparked and we felt the short would be a perfect vehicle for it.”

The little guy is the Forrest Gump of the Ice Age franchise, haplessly finding himself involved in every large-scale life-changing event. In the 2002 original film, he was responsible for bringing on the Ice Age, started the meltdown in 2006’s Ice Age: The Meltdown, introduced dinosaurs into the mix in 2009’s Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and created the supercontinent of Pangea in 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift.

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He has stumbled into all these experiences simply trying to chase his acorn.

“The thing we love most about Scrat is his perseverance and always getting knocked down and always getting back up, all with the single focus of getting or burying his nut,” Forte says. “He’s very Chaplin-esque in a way, that dignity (where) there’s always another chance and never gives up no matter what happens to him.”

His next major “Scrat-tastrophe”? In Ice Age: Collision Course (in theaters July 22, 2016), Scrat goes cosmic again, setting off a series of events that threaten the herd back down on Earth.

Manny (Ray Romano), Diego (Denis Leary), Sid (John Leguizamo) and the gang have their own story while Scrat is off on his journey, and often their tales intersect, Forte says. “But (Scrat’s) just so delightful because he’s also a little bit of a departure. Our Ice Age characters are rooted a little more realistically, and we can do anything with Scrat.”

There don't seem to be any limitations to Scrat’s quests — he’s even traveled through time, as seen in the 2006 short No Time for Nuts.

Even though Collision Course marks his fifth feature-film appearance, “I don’t tire of seeing him or coming up with ideas for him,” Forte says. “You can’t be too outrageous with him. In so many ways, he’s a delight to work with.”