Carlos Saldanha

Carlos Saldanha (; born 24 January 1965) is a Brazilian animator, director, producer, and voice actor of animated films who collaborated with Blue Sky Studios until its closure in 2021. He was the director of Ice Age: The Meltdown, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), Rio (2011), Rio 2 (2014), Ferdinand (2017), and Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024), and the co-director of Ice Age (2002) and Robots (2005). Saldanha was nominated in 2003 for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Gone Nutty and in 2018 for Best Animated Feature for Ferdinand.

Early life Saldanha was born in Brazil, growing up in Marechal Hermes, Rio de Janeiro. Though he loved cartoons and drawing from an early age, by the time he was an adult, he initially considered a career in computer science, because he did not think a career in art was a viable option. This changed when he became aware of how CGI was revolutionizing animation, and discovered the continuing education program at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. He entered that program to major in computer animation, saying, "I knew from the first day in class that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life". One of his instructors, recognizing his talent, convinced him to enroll in the school's MFA program. Though Saldanha and his wife, Isabella Scarpa, thought this was a risk, they opted to stay in Manhattan so that Saldanha could do so. While at SVA, he completed two prizewinning film shorts that were featured in film festivals around the world. Saldanha graduated from SVA with a master's degree in Computer Art in 1993. For this purpose, he formed in June 2013 a Fox-based production company named BottleCap Productions. In 2014, Rio 2 was released, which he directed and co-wrote. For 2017, he directed an animated feature film adaptation of The Story of Ferdinand, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Saldanha is also directing for Fox a live-action adaptation of Royden Lepp's graphic novel Rust: Visitor in the Field, which he planned to make before Ferdinand. He was also developing an animated feature film based on a book Alienology from the Ologies fantasy book series. The film, which is also the first to be directed by Saldanha since 2017, was released on August 2, 2024 grossing only ~17.6M domestically and ~31.6M worldwide against a $40M budget, falling short of profitability. By measurable metrics (critical reception, box office, and awards attention), it is considered the worst film in Saldanha's career.

Personal life Saldanha and his wife, mathematician Isabella Scarpa, initially lived in a studio apartment in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, but after their second daughter was born, they moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, where they had friends. They continue to live there with their children, Manoela, Sofia, Julia and Rafael. Saldanha, Isabella and their oldest daughter compete in the HOHA (Hoboken Harriers Running Club), a 5k race. In Rio, Sofia voiced Linda Gunderson as a child.

Filmography Feature films Year Title Director Writer ExecutiveProducer Other Voice Notes 1996 Joe's Apartment Supervising animator: Blue Sky Studios 1997 A Simple Wish Creative supervisor: Blue Sky Studios 1999 Fight Club Supervising animator: Blue Sky Studios 2002 Ice Age 2005 Robots 2006 Ice Age: The Meltdown Dodo 2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Dinosaur Babies / Flightless Bird 2011 Rio Second Waiter 2012 Ice Age: Continental Drift 2014 Rio 2 Amazon Quail Rio, I Love You Segment: "Pas de Deux" 2016 Ice Age: Collision Course 2017 Ferdinand Screaming Matador Additional Voices 2019 Spies in Disguise Senior Creative Team 2023 Nimona Blue Sky Studios 2024Harold and the Purple Crayon 2026100 Days Docudrama

Short films Year Title Director Animator ExecutiveProducer Other Notes 1998 Bunny 2002 Gone Nutty 2006 No Time for Nuts 2008 Surviving Sid 2011 Scrat's Continental Crack-Up Part 2 Acts as Ice Age: Continental Drift Teaser Trailer #2 2015 Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe Acts as extended Ice Age: Collision Course Teaser Trailer 2016 Scrat: Spaced Out Ice Age: Collision Course archive and deleted footage 2022 Ice Age: Scrat Tales Disney+ Original Short Films; Ice Age Creative Trust

Television

Critical reception Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) 57% 58 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) 46% 50 Rio (2011) 72% 63 Rio 2 (2014) 48% 49 Ferdinand (2017) 71% 58

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Film Result2003 Annie Award Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature ProductionShared with Chris Wedge Ice Age DVD Exclusive Award Best Audio Commentary, New ReleaseShared with Chris Wedge Best New, Enhanced or Reconstructed Movie ScenesShared with John C. Donkin 2004 Academy Award Best Animated Short Film Gone Nutty Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy Cristal 2007 Annie Award Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production Ice Age: The Meltdown Satellite Awards Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature 2010 Saturn Award Best Animated Film Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Russian National Movie Awards Best Animated Feature Film 2012 Annie Award Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production Rio Cinema Brazil Grand Prize Best Foreign-Language Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) Best Foreign-Language Film (Melhor Filme Estrangeiro) - Audience Award Italian Online Movie Award Best Animated Feature Film (Miglior film d'animazione) St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Best Animated Feature Film 2014 BAFTA Children's Awards BAFTA Kids Vote - Feature FilmShared with Bruce Anderson, John C. Donkin, Don Rhymer, Carlos Kotkin, Jenny Bicks & Yoni Brenner Rio 2 CinemaCon Award International Filmmaker of the Year 2015 Visual Effects Society Award Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion PictureShared with Bruce Anderson, John C. Donkin and Kirk Garfield Rio 2 2018 Golden Globe Awards Best Animated Feature Film Ferdinand Academy Award Academy Award for Best Animated Feature