Gru, a criminal mastermind, adopts three orphans as pawns to carry out the biggest heist in history. His life takes an unexpected turn when the little girls see the evildoer as their potential father.

When Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, meets the fiercely independent Jewel, he takes off on an adventure to Rio de Janeiro with the bird of his dreams.

Times are changing for Manny the moody mammoth, Sid the motor mouthed sloth and Diego the crafty saber-toothed tiger. Life heats up for our heroes when they meet some new and none-too-friendly neighbors – the mighty dinosaurs.

Spix's Macaws Blu and Jewel and their three children—Bia, Carla, and Tiago—are living happily Rio de Janeiro until Jewel realizes that her children are becoming more like humans. Meanwhile, Blu's former owner, Linda Gunderson and her Ornithology husband, Tulio are on an expedition in the Amazon rainforest and, after a fall down a waterfall, discover a quick-flying Spix's macaw that loses one of its feathers. When word gets out about this through television, Jewel believes that they should go to the Amazon to help find the blue macaws. While the kids are ecstatic, Blu is uncertain, but he is pressured into going along. Rafael, Nico and Pedro decide to come along. Luiz attempts to follow but fails. Blu brings a fanny pack full of supplies, one of which he uses mostly is a Global Positioning System, much to Jewel's displeasure.

When Scrat's acorn sends an asteroid to Earth, the Herd must find a way to stop the asteroid from hitting Earth with the help of a returning friend.