On the surface, DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island is a bit of a hard sell. It’s an adventure based on Philippine mythology focusing on two best friends about to split after high school vacation who end up sucked through a portal into the dimension of the title. And the plot is basically like a supernatural version of The Hangover, with animation styles mostly sticking with a mix of SpiderVerse and KPop Demon Hunters, but also tossing in 2D animation inspired by everything from Street Fighter to Sailor Moon. The story will resonate hardest with teens about to graduate, but in terms of the frenetic pace and odd creatures ranging from a goofy dog man to a meme-inspired merman, trailers have leaned into it being aimed more at brainrotted Roblox players.
But. But! Just like with the shockingly excellent Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which was also directed by Joel Crawford (Crawford co-directs and co-writes here with Januel Mercado), Forgotten Island manages to bring all of these disparate elements together in a gorgeously animated movie about the enduring power of friendship that is by turns hilariously ludicrous and deeply heartfelt. It may have difficulty finding its target audience (full disclosure: as the parent of a kid who is currently in the midst of college applications, this movie hit hard), particularly being released in September when most high school students are in school (and likely less interested in an animated movie than, say, Resident Evil). But those who do seek out Forgotten Island will be well rewarded with a feast for the eyes and heart.
The movie focuses on Jo (voiced as a child by Kailey Crawford, and by H.E.R. as a teen), a hyperactive kid obsessed with her grandmother’s stories of Nakali, an island populated by fantastical creatures and horrible villains. After presenting the stories of Nakali as her family’s history (her grandmother, Lola, voiced by Dolly de Leon, claims to have visited), she’s sent to the principal’s office where she finds a kindred soul in the studious Raissa (voiced as a kid by Kayla Teruel, and as a teen by Liza Soberano), and the two become fast friends, bonding over Nakali and doing everything together… Right up until Raissa gets accepted by CalTech and has to move to America.
Their last night together, naturally, they discover a portal to Nakali, jump in… And wake up 12 hours later with no memory of what happened, and no way of getting home. Over the course of a Hangover-style “what happened last night” adventure they meet a wolf-man who just wants friends named Raww (Dave Franco), a giant baby named Bungi (Manny Jacinto) who literally needs to cut the cord, and a self-obsessed merman named, er, Mermahn (Kevin McCann), while they piece together the evening and try to get home… All while chased by the frightening demon Manang (Lea Salonga).
If you’re getting Wizard of Oz vibes from this whole thing, well: yes. But that’s just one of the many influences Crawford and Mercado tosses into a blender here as the Nakali adventure throws in stand-out set piece after stand-out set piece. Multiple music sequences to ‘90s tunes pepper the movie (this takes place in the ‘90s, perhaps another slight barrier to selling this film to kids/teens of today), and they’re filled with jolts of life, the camera pumping and bumping in time to the music as Jo and Raissa rock out, and even rap at one point.
Because of the deep mythology at play plus the decade-long friendship between the main characters and the piecing together of the initial, missing Nakali adventure, the early going of Forgotten Island can feel overloaded with exposition. Some bits, like Jo and Raissa’s first meeting with Raww go on too long, and are nowhere near as funny as the movie seems to think. But the overstuffed setup surprisingly sets a solid foundation for the second half of the movie, which loops back to Jo’s hurt feelings about Raissa abandoning her, and Raissa’s fear of how pursuing her dreams means leaving her friend behind. It’s a complicated view of friendship that feels inherently real, in the midst of the unreality around them.
Even better is the movie’s sharp focus on memory, and what we leave behind and lose as we grow up. Also in the mix is Batiba (Jenny Slate), a giant cat creature that looks like it’s on loan from a Miyazaki movie who trades information and favors for memories. And all she wants is Jo and Raissa’s memories of each other in exchange for the portal to go home. While Batiba’s introduction is also heavy on exposition, it helps set up the climax of the movie which is jaw-droppingly animated, devastatingly emotional, and on par with anything in the SpiderVerse movies (it’s actually closer to the climax of Last Wish, which also mixed action and emotion for a gut punch of a finale).
Not to keep calling out SpiderVerse, but that movie dropped like a bomb in animation, showing studios that what animators have been begging for, for years – the chance to animate things in different, unique styles – was financially viable. And thanks to the success of subsequent films, that trend has continued. While it may not reach its pinnacle in Forgotten Island, this is yet another high watermark for modern animated movies, and here’s hoping the target audience does find it… It’s an eminently relatable story that will leave you laughing, blubbering, and in awe of what you’re seeing on screen, as it exposes a little known (to non-Filipino audiences) mythology that is rich and involving, as wild and interesting as anything in the more popular Greek or Norse mythology.
And it’s the sort of film that will immediately make you want to give your childhood friend a call, or a text, or a surprise visit. Perhaps you won’t be able to recapture that feeling of endless possibility you had as kids, but the end goal of the movie is that it’s always there, under the surface, on the Forgotten Island. Give it a visit, won’t you?
Forgotten Island hits theaters on September 25, 2026.
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