DreamWorks Animation’s newest movie, starring H.E.R. and Liza Soberano, deserves all the hype it’s received — and more. After receiving early praise from critics at CinemaCon and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year, Forgotten Island is now poised to move audiences in the U.S., the Philippines, and the world over.
Written and directed by Puss in Boots: The Last Wish makers Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the story centers on childhood friends Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Soberano). The girls have just graduated high school, and while Jo struggles to make something of herself, Raissa has been admitted to the California Institute of Technology. With their friendship hanging in the balance, the Type A-Type B duo find themselves transported to Nakali, or the titular Forgotten Island.
When they wake up, they soon learn that they’ve already spent 12 hours on the island, getting tattoos, shaving their heads, and wreaking havoc on the island’s inhabitants, but have forgotten all about it. As they retrace their steps (The Hangover-style) and try to make their way back to their world in time for Raissa’s flight, they encounter the were-aspin Raww (Dave Franco), a batibat aptly named Batiba (Jenny Slate), and a vengeful Manananggal (Lea Salonga).
Other creatures on the island include a tiyanak named Bungi (Manny Jacinto), the merfolk prince Mermahn (Kevin McCann), Truffle Wuffle (Ronny Chieng) and his cute, gigil-inducing duwende army, and a kapre named Datu (Jo Koy).
A Masterclass in Animation and Storytelling
When Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse came out in 2018, many lauded its use of mixed animation styles. You’d think that eight years and one KPop Demon Hunters later, the method would have worn thin, but Forgotten Island makes yet another case for mixed animation as a dynamic storytelling tool.
The animators also aren’t beholden to existing ideas of what a mythological creature should look like, and it makes for fantastical and memorable character design. The Manananggal, for example, is still terrifying to watch in chase scenes even though the gore of her dismemberment has been dialed down. Mermahn, on the other hand, looks like Handsome Squidward and wears sentient starfish pasties voiced by Nico Santos.
Despite these strengths, I found the use of the Filipino language to be mildly distracting. Jacinto’s Bungi is so entertaining to watch that I could almost forget his name should be pronounced “bu-NGI” instead of “BUNG-gee.” Side characters, like Raissa’s parents (voiced by Mercado and The Pitt’s Amielynn Abellera), all have what sounds more like a forced Filipino accent — so much so that it’s a relief to hear Dolly de Leon as Lola Fatima, whose English is tinged with the inflections of a true native Filipino speaker.
Like any animated film made for children, there’s a lot to pick up from Forgotten Island. The themes of friendship and memory are clear-cut, but I wasn’t expecting such a deep dive into Jo’s fear of abandonment and struggle to find her purpose in the absence of loved ones. There’s also the agoraphobic Batiba, whose preference for stealing memories instead of making her own might resonate with a doomscrolling, anxious, and asocial generation. Forgotten Island has a lot to say about putting oneself out there to form relationships, even at risk of hurt and disappointment, and the film says it all very well.
Aside from the lapses in the language department, the film does a great job of representing Filipino culture without being overly saccharine. We have yet to see if it will captivate audiences the way Encanto and KPop Demon Hunters have, both being films that sought to represent other cultures before a global viewership. But with its vibrant animation and a wildly entertaining and heartwarming story, Forgotten Island is something that Filipinos should be proud to call theirs.
Forgotten Island arrives in Philippine cinemas on September 23.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crawford and Mercado have both worked on several projects together since 2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2. They also worked on The Croods: A New Age, with Crawford as director and Mercado as head of story, and co-directed Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Forgotten Island is primarily animated in 3D, while varying 2D animation styles are used to depict the memories of various characters. Old anime like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon are cited as references for the 2D animation sequences.
Forgotten Island stars H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Lea Salonga, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, Kevin McCann, Amielynn Abellera, Januel Mercado, and Nico Santos. KATSEYE’s Sophia Laforteza, Harvey Guillén, and Wagner Moura also make voice cameos.
Forgotten Island is set in a province in the Philippines in the 1990s. It also takes place in the fictional Nakali, an island inhabited by mythical creatures.
Forgotten Island, an American production, is set for worldwide distribution by Universal Pictures. It will be released on September 23 in the Philippines.
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