DreamWorks Animation has released the first trailer for Forgotten Island, the studio’s first film centered on Filipino culture and mythology, ahead of its September 25 theatrical release. The film marks H.E.R.’s voice acting debut.
Set in the 1990s Philippines, H.E.R. and Liza Soberano voice Jo and Raissa, lifelong best friends on the verge of going their separate ways after high school. During one last night together, filled with junk food and karaoke, the pair stumble on a mysterious portal that transports them to Nakali, a fantastical island rooted in the folklore they grew up hearing from their families, populated by shapeshifters, demons, witches, and other mythological creatures. As they navigate the island’s dangers alongside a well-meaning but hapless weredog named Raww (Dave Franco) and a small pack of new allies, they discover the cost of finding their way home may be the loss of their memories of each other entirely.
Written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the filmmaking duo behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the project grew out of their own friendship, which began when the two met as story artists on Kung Fu Panda 2. Mercado, who is Filipino American, and Crawford, whose wife is Filipina, drew on both their personal friendship and their families’ heritage in shaping the film, including a research trip to the Philippines that Mercado described as involving emotional family reunions.
Speaking at a trailer launch event at DreamWorks’ Glendale headquarters, H.E.R., the Grammy and Oscar winner born Gabriella Wilson, said the project let her revisit stories passed down from her own mother. “I was so excited. You have no idea. We were in the Philippines in 2019, and my mom was trying to scare us about all these stories. I literally grew up on them,” she said. “I get to share a piece of my childhood in this work and with the world. That’s super rewarding to me.”
Soberano described the film as the realization of a long-held goal to see her home country represented on a major studio’s screen. “It’s been a long-time dream of mine to be able to be in a project that really represented the Philippines in a very accurate way, but at the same time, is universal enough for people to be able to relate to,” she said. She was especially moved by an image in the trailer involving the sun, a significant cultural symbol in the Philippines. “The first time I saw it, I cried,” Soberano said. “I literally cried because I was just imagining all the children in the Philippines and what they would feel when they see it and just how proud they would feel to see something that beautiful representing our culture and our country on the big screen. It just felt like such a big moment.”
The voice cast also includes Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Jo Koy, Dolly de Leon, Ronny Chieng, Amielynn Abellera, and Tony winner Lea Salonga as The Dreaded Manananggal, the island’s most feared creature, drawn from the real Filipino folk legend of a vampiric being capable of splitting its body in two. The film’s score, composed by Nathan Matthew David, incorporates traditional Filipino and indigenous instruments, and H.E.R. and Soberano also teamed up on an original song for the soundtrack, “BRB.”
Forgotten Island is produced by Academy Award nominee Mark Swift and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film runs 108 minutes and opens in theaters nationwide September 25, following preview screenings the night before.