DreamWorks Animation has released the first official trailer for its upcoming original film “Forgotten Island,” and it already looks like one of the most culturally meaningful animated features in years. The film stars Grammy and Academy Award-winning artist H.E.R. and Filipino-American actress Liza Soberano as Jo and Raissa, lifelong best friends whose final night together takes a turn neither of them could have anticipated.
Set for a theatrical release on Sept. 25, 2026, Forgotten Island is directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado the same duo behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Two best friends, one very unexpected portal
The story opens on a single night: Jo and Raissa are celebrating their last evening together before college pulls them in different directions. The two high school graduates are sharing junk food and singing karaoke when they stumble upon a magical portal that transports them into a world drawn entirely from Filipino mythology. Shapeshifters, demons, witches and monsters all pulled from stories their families passed down populate the dangerous landscape they must now navigate together.
The film is set in the 1990s, a choice the directors made deliberately. Mercado has spoken about wanting to capture a time before smartphones, when every moment between friends felt weighted with permanence. The decade also lends the film a distinctive visual texture Polaroid photographs serve as a key narrative device, with exactly 12 shots available to the characters, each one demanding a real choice about what is worth preserving.
What the trailer reveals about the look and feel
Visually, Forgotten Island pushes well beyond what audiences typically expect from mainstream animation. Crawford and Mercado built on the hand-drawn, painterly style they developed on PussY in Boots: The Last Wish, layering in anime-inspired character expressions and action sequences alongside a live-action cinematography approach that uses wider lenses and lens flare to create a grounded, textured feeling. The result is something that looks and moves unlike most of what is currently in theaters.
The lighting throughout the trailer leans into themes of memory and nostalgia, giving the whole film a warm, slightly faded quality as if you are watching something half-remembered.
For H.E.R., the role is deeply personal
H.E.R., born Gabriella Wilson, is of Filipino and African American descent, and the project carries particular resonance for her. The singer has spoken openly about growing up on the same folklore that the film brings to life, describing the experience of voicing Jo as a chance to share a piece of her own childhood with the world. “Forgotten Island” marks her first foray into voice acting, adding another dimension to a career that has already spanned music, film scoring and live performance.
Her co-star Liza Soberano, who was born in the Philippines and raised partly in the United States, has described the film as the fulfillment of a long-held hope to see Filipino culture represented authentically at a major studio level. The actress and model is already a household name across Southeast Asia and has been steadily building her Hollywood profile in recent years.
A cast packed with Filipino and Asian American talent
Beyond its two leads, Forgotten Island has assembled one of the more intentional ensemble casts in recent animation history. Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Lea Salonga and Manny Jacinto were among the original cast announcements, with Jo Koy, Dolly de Leon, Ronny Chieng and Amielynn Abellera subsequently joining the production. The casting reflects a conscious effort to ensure the cultural specificity of the story is matched by the voices bringing it to life.
Salonga, in particular, carries deep symbolic weight the Filipino musical theater icon and Disney legend lending her voice to a film built around the very heritage she has spent decades representing on world stages.
Why the film arrives at the right moment
Forgotten Island comes at a time when audiences and critics have been increasingly vocal about the need for animated films that center non-Western mythologies and non white friendships without treating either as a novelty. The film does not appear to be positioning Filipino folklore as an exotic backdrop it is the entire foundation of the story, treated with the same seriousness and creative investment that past DreamWorks originals have brought to their source material.
With awards season potentially on the horizon and a growing appetite for representation-driven storytelling, Forgotten Island looks well-positioned to become one of the more talked-about theatrical releases of fall 2026.
