Forgotten Island began with a question Joel Crawford says he and co-director Januel Mercado wanted to explore: “What if we told a story that celebrated Filipino culture and celebrated friendship?” The DreamWorks animated adventure draws on family experience, cast members’ perspectives, Filipino folklore and visual references—but its enchanted island is a creative story, not a comprehensive portrait of Philippine culture.
What is Forgotten Island about?
DreamWorks describes Forgotten Island as an original animated film written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, produced by Mark Swift and distributed by Universal Pictures. H.E.R. voices Jo and Liza Soberano voices Raissa, two friends who arrive on the island of Nakali. To get home, they must face the possibility that the memories of their friendship will be lost. DreamWorks’ film page also offers a downloadable activity kit.
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Crawford’s account of the film’s origins makes that premise personal: he describes it as a coming-of-age point in a friendship, when one person leaves and the other stays. In an interview with CGMagazine, he said the separation was part of the story from early on.
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How did family and migration shape the story?
Crawford connected Raissa’s migration story to his wife Cathy’s childhood. She grew up in the Philippines until age nine, then moved to the United States. He said that history helped inform the film’s account of a friend leaving, while the story developed into a broader reflection on identity: remembering where you came from as you move toward an uncertain future.
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That influence is a personal point of connection, not a claim that Raissa represents every Filipino experience. The film’s story turns a particular family history and friendship transition into fantasy.
What did the actors bring to Jo and Raissa?
Crawford says the directors wanted performers to contribute their own perspectives and cultural connections, rather than simply deliver written lines. “We didn’t just want someone to show up and perform these lines; we wanted partners in creating this story,” he told CGMagazine.
H.E.R. as Jo
Crawford recalled that H.E.R.’s enthusiasm while talking about Filipino food in a Vogue Philippines video helped the filmmakers see her as a fit for Jo. He presented that connection as part of the casting conversation, alongside her performance.
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Crawford pointed to Soberano’s acting and her experience of leaving a career in the Philippines to pursue goals in the United States as perspectives that could inform Raissa. In his telling, casting was one way the film’s character work could draw on lived experience, rather than treating cultural connection as a detail limited to the script.
How does Filipino culture appear in the film’s look?
Crawford describes the animation as computer-generated imagery with a hybrid 2D sensibility. He and Mercado drew on visual memories from anime they grew up watching, including Dragon Ball Z, a 1990s Street Fighter anime and Sailor Moon. The visual approach also shifts with the characters’ memories, so style can help distinguish the experience of reliving the past.
The Credits reports additional references in the film’s settings and design: Palawan and El Nido, a portal inspired by the sun on the Philippine flag, and a village modeled after the Chocolate Hills of Bohol. The outlet also discusses graphic linework, 2D art and 1990s rave culture as parts of the film’s visual vocabulary. These references sit alongside the directors’ anime influences; they are specific inspirations, not a claim to depict the country in full.
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What do the friendship bracelets mean?
The bracelets give visible form to things that cannot be held: shared feelings and memories. Crawford told CGMagazine, “They’re these tangible things that represent kind of intangible moments and feelings.” Individual objects in the film stand for moments from Jo and Raissa’s childhood and friendship, making the bracelets a story device as well as a visual motif.
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How does the film adapt Filipino folklore?
One specific example is Bunji, whose origins Crawford discussed with The Credits. He said Filipino creative consultant Anthony Francisco proposed adapting a tiyanak into the character. Crawford described the film’s comic interpretation as a 200-year-old baby who has never left home.
That is the filmmakers’ adaptation for this story, not a definitive account of tiyanak folklore. Folklore can have varied tellings, and Bunji’s characterization should not be taken as a summary of all versions.
Who from the Philippines contributed to the production?
A September 28, 2026, press release from the Philippine Embassy in Singapore reports that Quezon City-based Snipple Animation Studios contributed hand-drawn sequences to the film. The release also identifies soundtrack contributions: an original song by BINI and a song by Francis M. performed by SB19.
The embassy release covered a September 27 screening in Singapore and gives the film’s runtime as 109 minutes. That figure is reported in the context of the Singapore event.
A personal story built from several kinds of connection
Mercado described the film’s personal foundation in an interview with The Credits: “We both have personal connections to the Philippines, so this movie is a love letter to our families and a culture that shaped our values.” Crawford’s account shows how that intention reached the screen through different routes: a family history of migration, performers’ own perspectives, landscape and animation references, a particular folklore adaptation, friendship mementos and Filipino artists’ production work. Keeping those strands distinct makes the film’s cultural connections more concrete without asking one fantasy adventure to stand for an entire culture.
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