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A tale of a young boy’s adventures in a magical forest is among the most-anticipated animated movies being showcased at this year’s Cartoon Movie. Based on an acclaimed graphic novel by Vincent Paronnaud, who co-directed Persepolis with Marjane Satrapi, the 2D/3D animated feature is directed by Paronnaud and Alexis Ducord, and is expected to be ready for delivery this May.
“Paronnaud, who is known by his artist’s name, Winshluss, likes to play with the codes and genres of literature and cinema,” says Je Suis Bien Content producer Marc Jousset. “He manages to bring together the elements of children’s stories and genre films, highlighting strong themes such as ecology. “Je Suis Bien Content has a long history of producing 2D animated features, so we asked Arnauld Boulard of Gao Shan Pictures, which specializes in CG, to co-produce the film with us.”
The film’s central character is an adventurous young boy named Angelo, who dreams of being an explorer and zoologist. When he is accidentally abandoned at a rest stop by his distracted parents on their way to visit his ailing grandmother, he has to find his way through a mysterious forest inhabited by strange creatures.
‘We were lucky to have a very good animation team that succeeded in bringing the characters to life with humor and irony, but also with a great deal of tenderness.’
—Producer Marc Jousset
Jousset, who also produced Persepolis, April and the Extraordinary World and last year’s acclaimed feature Mars Express, says he likes the fact that Paronnaud is allowed to move away from the original graphic novel while retaining his style. “Together with Alexis Ducord, he has achieved in creating an ambitious visual dimension with his multiple references to science fiction and musicals,” says the veteran producer.
Into the Wonderwoods (French title: Dans la forêt sombre et mystérieuse) is billed as a France-Luxembourg co-production with three producers, Je Suis Bien Content in Paris, Gao Shan Pictures on Reunion Island and Zeilt Production in Luxembourg. Beaux et Bien Habillés and Amopix in other French regions completed the production team. According to Jousset, the filmmakers and art director Luciano Lepinay were able to succeed in creating a singular CG-2D style by playing with the production’s lighting.
He adds, “One of our great challenges was maintaining visual coherence with these different animation styles. The film is structured in CG, which allows us to go into narrative digressions with the 2D sequences. We also faced a technological challenge, using real-time rendering with Epic’s Unreal Engine.”
When asked about the state of animation in 2024, Jousset tells us, “Well, the market has surely been in better state. However, we’re fortunate to have a very diverse range of films, both in terms of animation techniques and storylines, for both young and adult audiences, as can be seen at Cartoon Movies with films in development or in production. Studios continue to offer new graphic and narrative styles, while investing in technological developments to meet the needs of audiences always attentive to original projects. We also need distributors, broadcasters, streamers and our other partners to match this ambition with our productions and authors.”
Jousset says he believes that his film’s unique style makes it stand out from many of the animated features aimed at family audiences. “Winshluss has a very particular universe,” he points out. “He’s a well-known author of adult comics. After he became a father, he immersed himself in the great classics of children’s literature and animation to create a comic strip and then a film for children. So there are several levels of reading pleasure for young and old alike. We were lucky to have a very good animation team that succeeded in bringing the characters to life with humor and irony, but also with a great deal of tenderness.”
For more info, visit jsbc.fr and gaoshanpictures.com.
