Young boy Angelo adventures through a magical woodland (and more) in a charming and exciting animated adventure, Into the Wonderwoods, directed by Alexis Ducord & Vincent Paronnaud.
Upon hearing the news of his grandmother’s illness, Angelo and his family head out to visit. Circumstances leave him alone at a rest area. With no other choice, he heads into the woods. A grand adventure of a multitude of creatures, helpers, villains, and animation styles in Into the WondeRwoods, or Angelo Dans La Foret Mysterieuse in its native France, a very fun, joyous adventure from Alexis Ducord and Vincent Paronnaud, playing as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2025.
It’s off to Grandmother’s house we go! The familiar fairy tale refrain is apt, not only in the direct plot but the whole of Into the Wonderwoods, pulling elements and styles from across the fairy tale pantheon. One of the many joys of Into the Wonerwoods, adapted by Paronnaud from his graphic novel, is the sheer amount of characters, animations, landscapes, and storytelling methods. It’s positively stuffed to the gills with everything Ducord and Paronnaud can shove in. I mean that as a positive.
Angelo is a wildly imaginative kid; somewhere around ten, he’s often forgotten between his surly teenager brother and the baby, figuratively or literally, as the family leaves him at a rest area. Oops. Where else ot go but into one’s imagination? Whether the adventure upon the journey is real or imagined, it doesn’t matter, as it’s a blast to travel with Angelo.
What a journey! The trip through the wonderwoods is fantastical and science fiction, of monsters and mechanical. Within the woods, Angelo stumbles into a continued battle of nature versus metal creations. A variety of fun characters help Angelo, a 90s neon skateboarding ogress who declares her love at first meeting, a squirrel who wants to be a bird, and a sentient green In a very fun touch, each of these creatures presents their backstory in a different animation style: 1920’s simplistic, cut-outs, etc. Angelo’s own interior monologue and thought process are anime-inspired. On the other end of the scale, the sterile, Harkonnen-coding villain ship and character design are great to pore over. The film is a visual treat.
It’s all beautiful and distinct. The main track of animation is just as beautiful: detailed, cartoony, and stylized 3d animation. It’s the type that looks like stop-motion, like Laika rendered on a computer, and true to the varied backstories, each character has its own, slightly different methods (for example, the toad and caterpillar look more traditional stop-motion than the rest, a cloud looks like a Terry Gilliam drawing). The design is expressive and energetic; the voices behind the visuals are perfectly suited
Ducord and Paronnaud are both well-versed in amazing animated films. Parranoud co-directed the all-time classic Persepolis, and Ducord created the very enjoyable Zombillenium. Together, keep the film energetic and moving with the story as the characters come and go, creating small vignettes connecting to the dual stories of stopping the self-obsessed Ultra (the villain with Minion-like eye robots as helpers) and getting Angelo to safety of his grandmother’s house (diversions to his unoticiing family are nice cut-aways, featuring some great humor in the dad vs an AI GPS). It’s exhilarating.
Into the Wonderwoods is a rousing animated family adventure, with a varied, impressive visual style and a thrilling story of fantasy and sci-fi. Wowing and fun, it’s a highly recommended fantastical journey.
Into the Wonderwoods screens as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, running May 15th – 25th, with select streaming screenings May 26th – June 1st. See www.siff.net/festival for more information.