Product Info

Studio

Dreamworks Animation

Director

Joel Crawford, Januel P. Mercado

Genre

Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Rated

PG

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Sep 25, 2026

Film Length

1hr 49min

Purchase From

Home » Forgotten Island (Review)

Forgotten Island is Dreamworks’ latest animated film about two high school graduates who spend one last night together before going their separate ways after transferring to a magical island where they must find a way back home. It’s a high-octane movie, very colorful, with a platter of laughs and thrilling adventurers.

Friends Forever

© 2026 DreamWorks Animation. All Rights Reserved.

The animated film follows two best friends, Jo, voiced by H.E.R. (The Color Purple, Judas and the Black Messiah), and Raissa, voiced by Liza Soberano (Lisa Frankenstein, Trese), in the Philippines during the 1990s. They have been best friends since elementary school, and their bond has only grown stronger over the years. The two grew up listening and inspired by Filipino folklore told by Jo’s grandmother and her only family member.

Watching their memories of spending time together brings laughs and fun for all ages. The movie spends enough time exploring the years between the two friends through a montage. Some of the popular ‘90s tracks like “Take Me On,” “Don’t Stop Belevin’,” and “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” were brought in to represent the timeframe of the film’s setting, drawing in the target audience of the Millennial and Gen X parents. While the original orchestrated soundtrack by Nathan Matthew David (The Mandalorian, Tenet) works just fine, and typically licensed music takes away the original feeling of the film, these license songs actually cooperate with the film, thanks to the scenes cattering to them such as the boombox blaring and karaoke events.

We’re then brought to the present, where both Jo and Raissa have graduated from high school. Raissa tells her friend Jo she is heading to America for college, leaving her best friend behind. The two decide to spend one last night together goofing off by the beach they’ve always hung out at until Jo finds a glowing sand dollar that opens a portal. A bright portal swallows the two energetic teenagers, transporting them to a magical island called Nakali. This is the same island that Jo’s grandmother once visited and shared tales about with Jo and Raissa.

In the next scene, the teenagers awaken, but their memories are completely wiped out for the day they spent on the island. It follows a similar formula to popular movies like The Hangover and Dude, Where’s My Car? with the plot of amnesia and blackout comedy moments to reach their goal. Unlike those movies, Forgotten Island is animated and carries a lot of fast-paced action as they retrace their steps to find their way home. An original DreamWorks story that feels fresh, colorful and fun. It’s a competitor for this year’s best animated film.

A Magical Place

© 2026 DreamWorks Animation. All Rights Reserved.

Unique characters influenced by various folklores from the Philippines populate Forgotten Island. For example, a tiyanak named Bungi, voiced by Manny Jacinto (Top Gun: Maverick, Freakier Friday), is like a Dracula baby; Kataw, a merfolk named Prince Mermahn, voiced by Kevin McCann (Dog Man, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish); a batibat named Batiba, voiced by Jenny Slate (Zootopia, The Secret Life of Pets), that’s a female demon residing in the trees; a manananggal named Manang, voiced by Lea Salonga (Mulan, Aladdin), that carries vampire-like features. The film does make some adjustments to other creatures, such as a mixed-breed dog called an aspin named Raww, voiced by Dave Franco (Neighbors, 21 Jump Street), who transforms like a werewolf. The film features an additional cast of colorful characters that provides various levels of laughs, villainous moments, and more.

There are a lot more colorful characters that add support to the teenage girls’ adventures as they try to reminisce about their forgotten memories when they first arrived on the island. We haven’t seen many animated films utilize mythologies from the Pacific Ocean aside from Mulan, and watching a world of unexplored folklore like Forgotten Island makes it a fun ride.

A Colorful Time

© 2026 DreamWorks Animation. All Rights Reserved.

With the animation team from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, expect outstanding animation techniques; the team utilizes both 3D and 2D techniques. Its visual moments of expressing emotions and energetic sequences give a resemblance to what you see in Japanese animation (anime) and the popular Netflix film, KPop Demon Hunters. The virtual cameras create a dynamic and lively feel in the scenes, showcasing some of the best uses of animation.

There are a few scenes when the film goes into a backstory; the style of animation changes. For example, Raww explains how he met Jo and Raissa is done in anime, 2D-style animation that resembles shonen anime like Dragon Ball Z. Its variety of animation styles makes it fun but for some it can showcase to be too much.

The film’s animation, original story, timeline, and soundtrack were driven towards targeting parents of the ’90s era and using animation style resembling anime and Kpop Demon Hunters to pull in the next generation. It’s a home run hit from DreamWorks that works.

The visuals and story’s pacing are engaging, and have an energetic feel to them. The movie does have it’s 1 hour and 49 minutes of runtime but there are portions when the pace does slow down for a short while for the story to take its shape. The film is comforting in both tone and presentation, but there are moments that could have been more fully developed. The story could have been more in depth, if the girls watched Jo’s grandmother’s memories from Batiba’s chambers and learned more about Manang’s backstory. It felt like the movie was going to build something around the fearsome creature but didn’t do enough. Personally, the film could have completed the story by establishing a connection between Manang and Jo’s grandmother.

Final Memory

Forgotten Island is a colorful and energetic adventure by DreamWorks that blends ‘90s nostalgia, Filipino folklore, humor, and anime-inspired animation into a fun experience for the whole family. The strong friendship between Jo and Raissa keeps the adventure moving as they search for a way to find their way home.

An early screening was provided for this review. Forgotten Island arrives in theaters on September 25, 2026. Fans can visit the film’s official website for more information.