Vincent Parannoud is the Oscar nominated co-director of Persepolis and now (with Alexis Ducord) the charming, sweet and quite funny animated feature Into the Wonderwoods. It’s available on VOD and Digital from Shout! Studios starting Tuesday June 24th. (This Animation Scoop Q&A is edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: It’s about a 10 year old boy named Angelo who is left behind at a rest stop on a family road trip and wanders into unique woods. I love this concept and how you build a team of characters Angelo meets — and the lessons he learns from them. What did you want to explore with this story?

Vincent Parannoud: A lot. Everybody’s complex, and you have to take time with people to understand them. I want to speak about the complexity of the world and of people. When kids meet people, it’s important to take time to understand them. The frog who wants to be a bird — it’s like a metaphor about the world.

JM: There’s a lot of layers to the story. Angelo has such a deep connection to his grandma. That relationship is so vital to a kid’s life — and so emotional. Did you bring your own life into that?

VP: When I made the book before the movie, it was also about my grandmother. When I was young, she died. It’s kind of a tribute to my grandmother. She was so special. She was funny and a strong woman. I loved her very much, and I was really sad when she died.

JM: I loved my grandmothers as well. Angelo’s facial expressions are so charming and authentic. Were there a lot of challenges with them and his reactions?

VP: Yes. There are good animators and they understood to create what we wanted. Sometimes very cartoony and sometimes very fragile. The balance between both is cool.

JM: Angelo is such a strong character who plays well with the smart comedy in the film. How much of an emphasis did you want to put on the comedy?

VP: It’s important for me to be sad but in a funny way — and fun in a sad way. (laughs) Even in “Persepolis”, there is always a time for laughing and fun, and even if it’s sad, it’s life. It’s for children… (laughs)

JM: (laughs) But honestly, I think lots of adults are gonna find this movie hilarious as well. The scenes with Angelo’s father in the car, talking to the A.I. GPS that’s trying to guide him, are really funny and intelligent. Not a lot of people are poking fun at A.I. in the ways that you are.

VP: Yeah, for sure. When I wrote the sequence with the GPS… it takes two years to make a movie… I was thinking maybe somebody would do the same thing as me in another movie. But no. It’s so stupid this idea — this GPS searching for the meaning of life.

JM: And you also have a lot of commentary on the environment. That’s a little more serious because there are a lot of issues with that today, and you explore that with the villain character Ultra. How important was this?

VP: It’s important for me to speak to children and kids to think about the end of the world. It was not my generation that thought about the end of the world.

JM: You mentioned “Persepolis”, which has had a huge impact since it came out in 2007. What do you remember about that awards season and the Oscars experience — and making the film?

VP: I remember I was tired. (laughs) And I didn’t want to speak about “Persepolis” anymore. But it was a great moment for me and Marjane [Satrapi] because we made the movie like an artisan movie in Paris. When we went to Cannes and the Oscars, I was on my knees. I did not enjoy them. It’s interesting because there are young people watching Persepolis again and they like the movie.

JM: Angelo has a spirit of adventure. For those who want to get into animation, what’s your advice for those who want to have a spirit of adventure feeling when making animation?

VP: I like adventure. When you jump and you don’t think. (laughs) It’s why I like kids. It’s sad when a kid begins to understand the world. The world is complicated and the bad guys win most of the time.