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Carlos Saldanha

Carlos Saldanha

Director, producer, actor and writer · Born January 24, 1965 (61) · Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Oscar nominee · BAFTA Award nominee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Carlos Saldanha (born July 20, 1968) is a Brazilian director of animated films. He was the director of Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), 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 cofounders 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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Carlos Saldanha, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
January 24, 1965 (61)
From
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Works as
Director, producer, actor and writer
Titles
25 on MovieCove · 39 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 155 days to Oct 26Down 32% in 30 days

What are Carlos Saldanha's films like?

Across their 19 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
36%
Self
36%
Society
13%
Survival
10%
Ideas
4%
Power
1%
Family bonds9 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose6 titles, browse their movies with this themeCommunity6 titles, browse their movies with this themeObsession3 titles, browse their movies with this themeRomantic love3 titles, browse their movies with this themeSurvival4 titles, browse their movies with this themeSelf-worth3 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 19 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 17 · Serious 2 · Dark 0

Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 2 · Stylized 9 · Heightened 8

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

A split, not a type: Gentle 10 · Charged 8 · Intense 1

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 11 · Shifting 7 · Whiplash 1

Funny: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their funny movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 15

Even-paced: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their even-paced movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 12 · Relentless 2

Casual: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their casual movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 16 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 19 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful
16
Absurd
7
Thrilling
7
Warm
7
Tense
4
Other
15

How their films linger

Feel-good15 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteFun12 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful9 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end · 2 with a twist

  • Happy14
  • Bittersweet2
  • Ambiguous2
  • Cyclical1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Carlos Saldanha's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 17 of their 25 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (12).

Subscription and free streaming for Carlos Saldanha's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

39 credits, 25 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Ice Age: Boiling Point (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2027)

    Thanks

  • 100 Dias(2026)

    Director · Co-Producer

    Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Harold and the Purple Crayon(2024)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films

  • How To Be a Carioca (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Show 6 episodes · Director · Creator

  • Nimona(2023)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films

  • La Perra (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Executive Producer

  • Invisible City(2021)

    Show Creator

    Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all shows

  • Todas as Canções de Amor(2018)

    Co-Producer

    Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films

  • Ferdinand(2017)

    Director · as Screaming Matador / Additional Voices (voice)

    Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films

  • Before I Forget (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Executive Producer

  • Love.com (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    as Ele mesmo

  • Scrat: Spaced Out(2016)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films

  • Ice Age: Collision Course(2016)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films

  • Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade(2016)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films

  • Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Executive Producer

  • Ice Age: No Time for Nuts 4-D (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Executive Producer

  • Rio, I Love You(2014)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all films

  • Rio 2(2014)

    Director · Story · as Amazon Quail (voice)

    Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films

  • Ice Age: Continental Drift(2012)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 58th percentile of all films

  • Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas(2011)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films

  • Scrat's Continental Crack-Up: Part 2(2011)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films

  • Rio(2011)

    Director · Story · as Second Waiter (voice)

    Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films

  • Scrat in Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director

  • Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs(2009)

    Director · as Dinosaur Babies / Flightless Bird (voice)

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • Surviving Sid(2008)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films

  • No Time for Nuts(2006)

    Executive Producer

    Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films

  • Ice Age: The Meltdown(2006)

    Director · as Dodo (voice)

    Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films

  • Robots(2005)

    Co-Director

    Midcredits score: 63rd percentile of all films

  • Gone Nutty(2002)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • Ice Age(2002)

    Co-Director

    Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films

  • Fight Club(1999)

    Animation Supervisor

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films

  • Bunny (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)

    Visual Effects

  • A Simple Wish(1997)

    Visual Effects

    Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films

  • Joe's Apartment(1996)

    Supervising Animation Director

    Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films

  • Time For Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)

    Director · Producer

  • Horacio (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

  • Iemanjá - Ocean's Goddess (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

  • The Phantom Tollbooth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

  • The Traveling Musicians (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

Career shape

A full career of 39 titles, 33 of them dated from 1993 to 2024.

Biggest box office

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

$887M worldwide

Highest rated

Ice Age (2002)

Midcredits 93rd

Most popular right now

Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)

Film career

MilestoneNomination

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting6 of 39: 1 only acting, 5 with another role · typical Midcredits score74thDirecting18 of 39: 10 only directing, 8 with another role · typical Midcredits score72ndWriting2 of 39: 0 only writing, 2 with another roleProducing15 of 39: 13 only producing, 2 with another role · typical Midcredits score59thOther crew8 of 39: 7 only other crew, 1 with another role · typical Midcredits score63rd

39 titles, 8 with more than one role — directing and producing overlap on 2 of them.

By decade

1990s5 · crew2000s8 · 2 acting · 8 crew2010s15 · 4 acting · 14 crew2020s5 · crew

Billing

usually 23rd · top billed in 0% of 5 roles

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.

Awards

3 major nominations and no wins, 2004–2018.

  1. 2018
    • Oscar, nominated · Best Animated Feature Film
  2. 2014
    • BAFTA Award, nominated · BAFTA Kids Vote - Feature Film
  3. 2004
    • Oscar, nominated · Best Short Film, Animated

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Carlos Saldanha's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 66th percentile, the median of all 24; across their 19 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 66th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

66thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 19

Approval · how many liked their films

70thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 19

Reach · how many have seen their films

88thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 19

Midcredits score across 25 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up8
  • 50th to 74th11
  • 25th to 49th5
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

14 of their 25 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved4
  • Crowd Pleaser14
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed6

Most divisive · director, producer

100 Dias (2026)

80th percentile spread · 13% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director

Ice Age (2002)

Midcredits 93rd · 84% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 64/100 and the pacing 55/100 in their films, across 15 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Is Carlos Saldanha's work okay for kids?

Across up to 10 MovieCove titles with content scores, alcohol & drugs runs lighter than most films.

Their medianMedian of all filmsMiddle 80% of their titles
Violence & Gore10 titles32–45 · median 40 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 44
Sex & Nudity10 titles15–34 · median 30 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 32
Profanity10 titles11–32 · median 27 · mildnear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 36
Alcohol & Drugs10 titles11–28 · median 22 · mildlighter than most filmsMedian of all films: 33
Frightening / Intense10 titles35–46 · median 41 · moderatenear the median of all filmsMedian of all films: 39

Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.

Who does Carlos Saldanha work with?

People who share at least 2 of Carlos Saldanha's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Chris Wedge shares the most, 15.

Directors

Writers

Actors

  • John Leguizamo8 titles    See all 8 shared titles with John Leguizamo
  • Denis Leary7 titles    See all 7 shared titles with Denis Leary
  • Ray Romano7 titles    See all 7 shared titles with Ray Romano
  • Josh Peck5 titles    See all 5 shared titles with Josh Peck

Composers, cinematographers and editors

Producers