Carlos Saldanha is a Brazilian director of
animated films. He was the director of
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006),
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) and
Rio (2011), and the
co-director of
Ice Age (2002) and
Robots (2005).
Saldanha was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He left his hometown in
1991 to follow his artistic instinct and passion for animation. With a
background in computer science and a natural artistic sensibility, he
found New York City the perfect locale to merge these skills and become
an animator. He attended the MFA program at New York's School of Visual
Arts, where he graduated with honors in 1993, after completing two
animated shorts, The Adventures of Korky, the Corkscrew (1992) and Time
For Love (1993). The shorts have been screened at animation festivals
around the world. At SVA, Saldanha met
Chris Wedge, one of the
co-founders of Blue Sky Studios, who invited him to join their growing
team of artists.
He also worked as animator on Wedge's short film
Bunny (1998).