Alex Woo is an American animator, filmmaker, and the founder and CEO of Kuku Studios, an independent animation studio. Alex participated as a story artist for Pixar Studios on several major, well-known films, including Ratatouille, Wall-E, Cars 2, Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur, and the Incredibles 2. He recently directed and co-wrote the original animated feature film In Your Dreams which premiered on Netflix in November 2025.

OCT: Congratulations on this film, you have had a long career in the animated world of movies. The new film is wonderful for families. What we really love about this film is that it shows a family that’s not perfect. The love is still there and that really resonated. Let’s talk about this family.

AW: The movie is about Stevie and Elliott, two siblings who live in the Midwest in Minnesota, which is where I grew up. Their family is going through some changes and of course you know change is hard for kids. Stevie tries to adapt as she’s the eldest sibling. And like the movie, I’m the oldest sibling and can relate. Stevie tries to keep her family together and keep things as they are. This is a very personal film as it is sort of based off of what happened to me when I was a kid. When I was about six or seven years old, I woke up one morning and my mom was at the front door with her bags packed. She had to gently explain to me and my brother that she was going away for a little while to figure things out for herself and for our family. I think my parents got married quite young, so I think parenthood was sort of thrust upon them quickly. She had to figure out who she was, what she wanted to do, and who she wanted to be. I totally understand that now but as a kid it’s very scary. I think you just want your family to be whole, to be together and perfect. This movie is very much an exploration of imperfect people with imperfect parents in an imperfect family. The key is realizing that that’s okay and that’s what life is about. It’s imperfect, messy and it’s the coming together and getting through those messy times that makes a family a family. It’s what makes life meaningful.

OCT: One of the parts that we really liked about this film is that there’s no guilty parties here. No one is right or wrong. This is just parents doing what they do with no lack of love. As a creator of children’s films, is there a lot of discussion as to what kids can absorb, not only as the characters but also the viewers? The kids, Stevie and Elliott, travel into a dream world to meet Mr. Sandman to get their wish granted. Was there a discussion about how much kids can digest?

AW: Yes, we obviously had to think about the audience and what they’re able to digest, what’s palatable for them. We worked with a lot of child psychologists, and we showed two or three of them the film early on to get their insights. It was validating for us because we explored a lot of different emotions and we kind of didn’t hold back. I wanted to approach this movie to tell the story as honestly and as authentically as possible. When I was a kid, I went through a lot of emotions when this was happening to my family. This is why we have Stevie and Elliott go through all those different emotions. The psychologists were happy to see that because these moments are very challenging for kids and they do go through every single emotion that you can imagine. 

OCT: We I love the storyline that you created when they must go to this magical world full of scary cereals. There’s one great line that we know we’re never going to hear again when one of the characters says “Dad, there’s a dead girl in my cereal”. You need to add these magical elements, so you don’t manipulate the children viewers but it’s a great way to get them hooked into what you’re trying to tell them. Would that be correct?

AW: Yes, absolutely. I mean we tried to create something cinematically that people haven’t seen before. That’s what encourages me to go to the movies. I want to see something new and fresh. I also want to see something funny and be entertained. That’s what I love about going to the movies. It can take you through this emotional roller coaster, and you feel every single emotion. The best movies do that, they give you comedy, drama, adventure, and action.

OCT: It is remarkable to see how far animated films have come, where you can say this film is not just a top film in the animated category, it is a top 10 movie. You’ve had a great history in your career and spent time as a story artist at Pixar Animation Studios, a studio that was involved with movies that everybody knows. You’re an Emmy winner. Let’s talk about how much that helped you in your career and how you were able to finally step out on your own with Kuku Studios. 

AW: I loved working at that studio, and it was instrumental for me. I love the people there and I loved my time there. I feel so lucky to have worked with some of the greatest filmmakers in our generation. I learned so much from them and everything that I have learned about film making in cinema, I really learned during my time there. I brought all that knowledge to this new film and to Kuku Studios. Hopefully I’m able to add my own sort of spin to things and make things my own. 

In Your Dreams is now available for streaming on Netflix.