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DreamWorks and Marvel unveiled their plans for future film projects through the end of 2012, and while it's generally understood that studios have to work for years making movies, it's a little surprising to see artwork for these movies already.

Now, Fox is entering the future, according to an Ain't It Cool News source, who reports that Ice Age has already begun planning a fourth installment, going so far as to at least roughly outline the story and give the film a working title.

Ice Age: The Th4w is kind of like Madagascar meets Night at the Museum. In fact, it's exactly like that. The frozen Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, and Scrat are thawed in a modern day museum, and it's animals on the run!

Don't roll your eyes at Fox, though, because the fish out of water story this idea is incorporating has been used over and over again by animated movies since Toy Story. That one, Nemo (literally and figuratively), Shark Tale, Wall-E, Up, the Madagascar flicks, Bolt - they all use it to some degree.

The third Ice Age should be a huge hit this summer; the first two have combined for just over a billion dollars around the world. So planning a fourth one now makes sense, and I guess, in the environment where the headlines of today are comprised of the stories from three years in the future, so does announcing those plans.