Just A Minute With: Ray Romano on "Ice Age"

By Laura Isensee

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Ray Romano, who became a major U.S. television star in the 1990s with his sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," has found another kind of fame -- as the voice of a woolly mammoth in the film "Ice Age."

In the third film in the franchise, 3D animated adventure "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which debuted in theaters on Wednesday, Romano's character Manny is starting a family when he and his motley clan of animals find a world filled with dinosaurs.

Romano is also preparing to return to TV for the first time since his Emmy-winning comedy ended in 2005. His mid-life crisis drama "Men of a Certain Age," which premieres on cable network TNT in December, looks at male friendship through the eyes of three college friends in their 40s.

Romano spoke to Reuters about "Ice Age", becoming a father and his new show.

Q: How do you think the 3D turned out?

A: "I'm used to seeing 3D be horrible ... I was pretty amazed because I thought they didn't really need to improve this. The animation is just unbelievable as it is ... But with this 3D, it's like a whole new experience."

Q: What else was different on this "Ice Age" film?

A: "The story's different. The only reason I wanted to do it was if they had a good story and something new ... It's such a clever thing to take the characters that we know and put them in this world of all this other excitement. That's the reason I did it ... I don't want to feel like we're just running it just to make another paycheck ... I want to make sure it's worth doing. And this one was."