Carlos Saldanha

Carlos Saldanha is a Brazilian director of animated films who began his filmmaking career in 1991 upon leaving his hometown of Rio de Janeiro to attend the MFA program at New York’s School of Visual Arts to attain a Masters in Computer Art. He graduated with honors in 1993 after finishing two animated shorts, “The Adventures of Korky, the Corkscrew” (1992) and “Time For Love” (1993) which have been screened at animation festivals around the world. At SVA, Carlos met Chris Wedge, one of the founders of Blue Sky Studios, who invited him to join their growing team of artists.

Since joining Blue Sky in 1993, Saldanha has had a hand in creating Blue Sky’s most critically acclaimed projects. With Wedge, Carlos co-directed Blue Sky’s first animated feature, the Oscar™ nominated Ice Age (2002). His following project, a short called Gone Nutty (2004) also garnered him an Oscar™ nomination.

As a Director, Saldanha’s continued success came with building the franchise of Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) followed by Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), the fourth highest grossing international film of all time. Saldanha most recently directed the feature, Rio (2009). This passion project is the one closest to his heart as it allowed him to share the beauty and excitement of his culture and home country.