‘Forgotten Island’ Hosts An Unforgettable Celebration of Filipino Pride

We are officially less than a month away from the debut of DreamWorks’ new upcoming classic, Forgotten Island. And to celebrate the release of the first major animated studio film rooted in Filipino culture and mythology, DreamWorks and Universal invited us to a very special screening of the film followed by a terrific Q&A with directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), and Filipino film stars Liza Soberano and Manny Jacinto.

We’ve covered the film extensively on our site because Filipino representation in mainstream studio films is so incredibly rare. That said, this isn’t just a landmark for representation — it’s also just an incredible film. Forgotten Island is simply unforgettable. This may be DreamWorks Animation’s finest film to date. A rich celebration of Filipino culture, mythology, and friendship full of beauty, wonder, humor, and so much heart. The animation is incredible, and the characters feel so real. Essentially, it is a brilliant mash up between Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Hangover. A rare masterpiece that breaks your heart then makes you smile as you fall in love with every frame of this epic, wonderful adventure! 

As our correspondent, Lauren Lola said, such a charming and terrific film deserves the pomp and circumstance of a culturally relevant film like K-Pop Demon Hunters. Thankfully, Universal and DreamWorks felt the same way, as they threw a terrific Filipino festivity to celebrate the film’s release, complete with Jollibee, karaoke, and fun! During the event, Mercado, Crawford, Soberano, and Jacinto were on hand to discuss the film, the performances, and its importance to the Filipino community. Here’s what they had to say.

To kick off the discussion, Crawford and Mercado discussed the origins of the film, and how it was inspired by their own friendship. “We’ve been working together for almost two decades at DreamWorks. We started as storyboard artists a long time ago, and when we started, we ended up sharing an office. We just found that we had the same humor and the same kind of — I think not just the same humor, but the same instincts,” started Crawford. “We love to laugh, we love to cry, we love action, and so we found this instant shorthand with each other. After doing multiple franchise movies and having the opportunity to do something original, doing something that felt so original and personal was what kicked it off. It was a movie about friendship, and a movie about the Philippines.”

“Yeah. A lot of times you have those ‘aha!’ moments — sometimes in the shower, where these ideas come to you,” added Mercado. “Joel and I take walks all the time, even just to the commissary or the parking lot. I distinctly remember walking to get lunch, and we were talking about how, if we wanted to do something original, we should definitely do something to honor Filipino culture. We were like, ‘Yeah, the mythology is so rich — especially with the aswang.’ I remember that becoming another ingredient. There was the friendship, there was this fantasy world that already inherently lived in this mythology, and then, of course, we wanted to pay homage to our families — and specifically the women in our families: [Joel’s] wife, Kathy, and my sister, Jo. We call them out a lot, but really, there are a lot of family members who inspired us.”

Forgotten Island centers on a deep and beautiful friendship between H.E.R.’s and Soberano’s characters, Jo and Raissa. So, naturally, Soberano discussed how her real-life chemistry with H.E.R. (real name Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson), translated onto their characters on-screen. “Gabby and I, before we started recording Forgotten Island, had only met twice at major events,” she began. “So I didn’t really know her on a personal level. But obviously, I was a fangirl of hers — no pun intended. When I found out that she was cast as Jo, what I did was start watching a lot of videos of her, like interviews on YouTube, because I wanted to get to know her personally. But we didn’t really have the time [to meet], because everything happened so quickly once we got cast. So it started with me building this parasocial relationship with her. But then we had our first recording session together, which is apparently a very rare occurrence for animation. That really helped give us a better understanding of the dynamic we both have. And I think because we both grew up with Filipino parents and grandparents, there was just an instant connection. We instantly clicked. It’s the Filipino connection, I say, because there are a lot of things in our upbringing that we’ve both experienced and can identify with and relate to. It really helped that we had those two sessions in person. And also, Gabby is such a warm, friendly person. She made so many efforts to reach out to me and hang out before we went into recording.”

As part of the film’s “Wild Pack,” Jacinto plays a giant, 200lb blue demon baby, named Bungi. He was asked about how he found his comedic voice for the character. “Januel and Joel were like, ‘Hey, we want you to play a 200-year-old baby demon.’ And I was like, ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life,'” Jacinto joked. “Yeah, this is my life’s acting — big-ass baby. You made it happen! No, I mean, working with these guys, it really felt like — I don’t know — it felt like I was working with a bunch of my best friends back home. From when they first presented the project, I was just so stoked to be able to be a part of it and to contribute. I think we worked out where the voice would come from and how he would act. But yeah, it was a team effort.”

Mercado was asked about the distinct Filipino qualities showcased in the film, and its connection to the Filipino community, down to even the food depicted in different scenes. “Food is a big part of the culture. In many cultures, it’s a common thing of, like, ‘If you’re here with us at a party, you eat. You better eat here! It’s so disrespectful if you’re not eating.’ Even if you’re not hungry, you better eat. You better take it to go. You’re not wasting any food,” he joked with a modicum of truth. “But with so many communities, it’s just such common sense: We’re here together, so let’s eat together. Food is sustenance. It’s life. This is what connects us. So I appreciate all of you really reacting to all that love in the movie because, we say this every time, our crew and our cast — and again, people in the Filipino community and people outside the Filipino community — they put everything into this. And it means so much. We worked so hard, and this is why we make art: so we can communicate and reach out and feel that connection. And for you to feel that and give it back to us is everything. So if you keep watching them, we’ll keep making them.”

While the film contains wonderful depictions of Filipino culture and mythology, like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it’s also incredibly hilarious. Crawford was asked about the origins of the film’s quirky, wild, and terrific sense of humor. “Yeah. When we’re writing, we’ll switch the scene. I’ll write over Januel, and he’ll write over me. And the rule is, if it makes us laugh, we believe it’ll make other people laugh. We have a great team with our producer, Mark Swift, and our editor. We’ve worked on multiple movies together,” he stated. “We have kind of a core group that we bounce things around with and really try to find the best version. So the script is worked out and has the laughs built in — we think! But we also love working with improv. We know we have something in there, but the fun is to go, ‘Let’s surprise ourselves. Let’s go too far. We can always pull back.’ I think that’s really so much of our sensibility: just get silly with it and don’t judge it while we’re doing it. We always appreciate the trust our cast gives us to be stupid in the room. I think so much of animation is, because you start with nothing, and everything is intentional, you have to work extra hard to find spontaneity. So we’re constantly relying on the moments we share in the booth with our cast to find the thing that surprises us and feels like a real conversation. I think so much of the characters you feel on the screen comes from the way our cast bounces off each other and the way we bounce off of them. We’ve all found this shorthand through this journey.”

The team also chatted about surprising casting during the film, with Jacinto revealing that Mercado has a cameo as Raissa’s karaoke-singing father, noting that he has “the voice of an angel” (not untrue!). Soberano was then asked about the dramatic moments in the film and her comfort levels with performing those scenes. “Actually, it’s those sequences that I find the most comfort in,” she stated. “I feel like they come more naturally to me than the comedic moments because the story of a Filipino moving overseas is such a familiar story. We have this thing called OFWs — Overseas Filipino Workers — and so everybody has had a family member or a friend or somebody they know who had to make that big move. It’s just such a familiar feeling of longing, fear of abandoning loved ones or them abandoning you, and uncertainty when it comes to moving to a new territory. So I feel like, just from the experience of having gone through that myself, and also having family who had to move because they had to make a living for their family, it was really easy for me to tap into those emotions. But also, at the same time, to be honest, throughout the whole film I was thinking of my little sister. I have a nine-year-old sister who is based in the Philippines. And when I got cast in this film and I moved, she was actually the person I was most scared of leaving because she was only seven when I left. I’ve always wanted to kind of raise a little sister because my siblings and I all kind of grew up in different households, except for my full brother. So I was really scared of leaving my sister. When I was working on those emotional scenes, I was thinking of her when I was talking to Jo.”

Jacinto was then asked about the multiple layers of Bungi. “I mean, the great thing about Joel and Januel’s work is that they make sure all these characters aren’t super flat and one-sided,” he stated. “They give them layers. They give them things to play with. Coming into it, I didn’t know what to expect. But, yeah, you feel for Bungi. You kind of feel sorry for him, too. But then you mess with him, and he can mess you up. He can hold his own.”

For the final question, Mercado and Crawford were asked about potential Easter eggs scattered throughout the film. There were a few obvious ones that DreamWorks die-hards will definitely uncover, such as nods to How to Train Your Dragon. However, some of the less obvious ones involve some of the A-listers from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish having secret cameo voice roles in the film. While the team revealed that Harvey Guillén, who played Perrito in Last Wish definitely is one of them, they played coy about revealing the other one.

That means you’ll just have to watch the movie to find out who that A-lister is! All kidding aside, Forgotten Island hits theaters September 25. Given how wonderful this tribute to Filipino culture and friendship truly is, we can say with absolute certainty that, Easter eggs or not, this terrific movie is truly worth your time!

We have all sorts of coverage on Forgotten Island coming soon! So stay tuned to The Nerds of Color for more!