Okay, this one is close to the heart for me. To date, there hasn’t been a single (long-form) animated film centered around Filipino mythology from any of the major Hollywood animation studios. However, as of today, Dreamworks Animation has finally announced, we have one coming!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly glad we got South Asian and LATAM representation in films like Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, and Coco. However, you’d be hard pressed to think of any that specifically tackle Filipino mythology and culture at their core from Disney or Pixar outside of just short films. Well thankfully Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Animation, the studio behind How to Train Your Dragon, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and last year’s masterpiece, The Wild Robot is finally going to change the game by being the first major animated studio to give us one! About time!
Today, the acclaimed animation studio announced that coming September 2026, they will be releasing a new feature called Forgotten Island. And while details on the film’s story are scarce, according to Deadline, it will center on a group of characters that gets transported to a long-forgotten, magical island rooted in Philippine mythology. The film will mark the directorial debut of Filipino animation director Januel Mercado, who will be co-directing and co-writing with long-time collaborator Joel Crawford. The duo were actually the ones responsible for bringing us the delightful Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. And I simply cannot wait to see what they do with this one!
To me this means everything. First off, I am an advocate for the animated medium, and have firmly spoken openly about how the industry tends to overlook it as a legitimate medium for amazing storytelling. I openly hate it when anyone says animation is “just for kids.” And it still boggles the mind to this day that the Academy could consider a movie like Emilia Pérez as an actual Best Picture nominee, and completely ignore a superior film like The Wild Robot simply because it’s animated.
Secondly, to finally get a major studio animated film centered on Filipino culture fills my heart as a Filipino Nerd of Color to the greatest degree. Again I’m happy Disney has attempted more diverse stories with many of their films. However, I personally didn’t feel entirely represented with all of their attempts. I’m happy so many of my peers did. However, I always felt left out, frankly. So to see Dreamworks, who I honestly feel (hot take!) has often been stealthily making superior animated product to Disney or Pixar over the past few years (IMO Wild Robot over Inside Out 2, Puss in Boots 2 over Strange World, How to Train Your Dragon 3 over Toy Story 4) stepping up to the plate and declaring proudly that they’ll be the ones to do an animated movie rooted in the complex history of Filipino culture, means so much.
And thirdly, this doesn’t sound like Dreamworks is going to be positioning this as just a throwaway movie, ala Boss Baby 2 or Dog Man. With a prime September spot (the same release window as The Wild Robot) and the directors of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, this is ramping up to be something that, I predict, will come out of now where to be at least a contender for the Best Animated Feature spot at the 2027 Oscars. Perhaps I’m getting a bit too ambitious here, but hey, a Filipino guy can dream!
In any case, we have a long way to go between now and September 2026. However, I’ll be delighted to continue coverage of Forgotten Island every step of the way as we find out more about this exciting project! Stay tuned!
