Introduction
Hello, fellow adventurers!Blaziker is back for another adventure, and since it has been some time since my previous standalone adventure, it is now time to do one more with perhaps one of the most anticipated animated movies of 2026, Forgotten Island!
Forgotten Island is the newest DreamWorks animated movie about two Filippino friends who found themselves transported into the mysterious island of Nakali, where they discovered that the memories they shared as friends could disappear forever if they ever escape from the island.
To say that I am excited about this movie would be an understatement. Ever since the teaser of this movie, the concept and potential for this movie was just too much for pretty much the entire animation industry to ignore, especially considering that Joel Crawford, who directed Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, is back with potentially another banger. I know what he is capable for, which was why I was so excited to cover this movie. Will Forgotten Island be another DreamWorks classic?
With that said, let’s get on with this adventure!
Key Information
- Director: Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado
- Animation Studio: DreamWorks Animation
- Country of Origin: United States
- Rating: PG
- Release date: 24 September 2026 (in Singapore)
Trailer
The Review
Story and Characters
Considering this is from DreamWorks, and Forgotten Island is directed by the directors who already directed a DreamWorks hit with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish back in 2022, I am not expecting any less regarding the writing, but even amidst my high expectations, the writing exceeded it very convincingly.
Considering its ambitious concept that celebrates Filipino culture and mythology, the many Filipinos that saw the movie with me during an early preview screening of this movie would agree the writing faithfully captures the Pinoy spirit and culture effortlessly, resulting in such a fun and thrilling adventure that takes inspiration from elements of The Hangover in a high-energy manner. However, while being an animated movie full of fun thrills, this is also a deeply impactful movie tackling long-lasting friendships and memories in such a grounded and unexpected manner. In fact, the third act might be one of the best third acts for any animated movie this year so far, but given we are getting dangerously close to spoiler territory, I will leave it at that.
Additionally, the world-building of the island of Nakali where most of the story takes place is something to be behold. Honestly, the directors of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish took what was amazing about that movie, and turned up many notches in with this one. Honestly, I was already immersed in the island itself. This movie explored most parts of the island with its many inspirations from Filipino mythology and make this adventure such a delight. Plus, the comedy is off the charts, but it never distracts from the emotional core of this movie, resulting in such a perfect blend of its various story elements.
Obviously, the top-tier writing resulted in top-tier character development, starting with the main girl duo of Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano). Watching their entire character development and friendship being tested, as well as the emotional ramification of their actions throughout the movie’s runtime, I appreciate how much care was taken to provide them with as much character development as possible. Again, I really wanted to talk more about them, but it would be consider spoiler territory, so I will leave it at that.
The other characters are worth talking about as well. Raww (Dave Franco), the comedic side character that accompanies Jo and Raissa the most throughout the movie, is one of the most surprising characters in the movie. I was expecting a lot from this weredog, but just like Perrito in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, he turned out to be a surprisingly well-developed character that is equal parts hilarious, and equal parts important to this story. There are just too many iconic side characters in this movie, and I even appreciate how much I love Manananggal (Lea Salonga), the main villain of this movie. Seriously, her presence alone might be why Forgotten Island got a PG13 rating in Singapore, a rarity in its own right.
Overall, it is not surprising how much the writing in Forgotten Island is just spot-on for me. It is a perfect blend of why I love covering animated movies in the first place, and then a bonus of being full of the Pinoy pride this movie is striving for. Seriously, the fact that there are so many parts of the writing I wanted to talk about, but felt it was not spoiling because it was this amazing, is proof of how perfect the writing in Forgotten Island is for me.
Animation
DreamWorks is honestly killing when it comes to the animation front, but even by their lofty standards, Forgotten Island exceeded those standards easily with an animation style that is as god as probably their best ever animated movie in 2024’s The Wild Robot.
One reason why this is the case is that the animation in Forgotten Island has a clear, stylised CG identity that blends both 2D and 3D elements so seamlessly, resulting in an energetic animation style without suffering from too much noise. There is a wide variety of animation sequences inputted in this movie, and each of the sequences was executed nearly flawlessly. Sure, there is a higher risk of being way too cartoony and not well-executed (such as the short-lived cartoon series My Life Me, where its anime style is way too exaggerated and poorly executed),
Another reason is the extensive use of 2D hand-drawn sequences in this movie. Normally, in a 3D CG animated movie, sometimes there are a couple of hand-drawn sequences, but in Forgotten Island, there was more hand-drawn sequences than what you would expect, and this has some of the most colourful and technically difficult hand-drawn animation sequences from a Hollywood animation studio; however, every hand-drawn animation sequence is just mesmerising for me.
I also feel the character and background designs deserve a special mention, since those designs felt very Pinoy-coded with its Filipino influences being front and centre, and have a sense of high-energy thrills that I was hoping to see from this movie, without being too overstimulated. If there was one thing I appreciated about the animation designs, it was that they do not feel too much like pure visual noise, but blend seamlessly with the rest of the animation. This is an underappreciated aspect of Forgotten Island’s animation, as sometimes exercising restraint could elevate the animation style even further.
Overall, I absolutely adore the animation in Forgotten Island, even amongst some of DreamWorks’ greatest hits such as The Wild Robot. In fact, the fact that Forgotten Island’s animation is as top-tier as that of The Wild Robot, which already has one of the best animation styles of the 2020s animated movies so far.
Soundtrack, Other Elements, and Level of Enjoyment
Considering the involvement of H.E.R. as one of the voice actors in this movie (especially considering she already won an Oscar for Best Original Song), it was not surprising the soundtrack was going to be awesome, and it absolutely is. What I am surprised regarding the soundtrack, however, was who upended her in the soundtrack, and that is Filipino girl group BINI, who composed and performed “A Parallel World” for the soundtrack. Let’s just say this song could be in contention for Best Original Song, so I will keep it at that since describing it any further would spoil key moments of this movie.
As for the marketing, there was some criticism over the marketing based on the trailers, but in hindsight, the marketing hid just enough surprises for the movie and the surprises are what made this movie so complete. The purpose of movie marketing campaigns is to entice moviegoers to go check out the movie without spoiling the movie too much, and given so many animated movies now spoil the movie a bit too much with the trailers, it feels refreshing to see a marketing campaign that did not spoil the fun too early.
As for my level of enjoyment, given I saw this movie during an early preview of the movie, I knew this movie was going to be worth the hype, and in a way, it definitely is! Given my screening was mostly dominated by Filipinos, who are basically the target audience of this movie, the fact that every one of us were having fun and feeling deeply moved in this screening, Forgotten Island was worth the hype I had for this movie for many months. It had me excited throughout the movie’s runtime and overall, I had a fantastic time with this movie.
Conclusion
Honestly, am I surprised by the end result? Forgotten Island was yet another island-hopping adventure that was damn worth the trip, especially given I covered Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island so far!
Forgotten Island is another reminder from DreamWorks why they are one of the most beloved Hollywood animation studios around, with this love letter to Filippino culture, friendships and the memories built upon long-lasting friendships being so flawlessly executed. This is especially so with its strong cast of characters that pay homage to Filippino mythology in the best way possible. The animation is both top-quality and also fun with its expert usage of 3D CG and 2D animation styles that blend seamlessly together to produce yet another stylised CG masterpiece, complete with one of the best soundtracks of the year so far with a suite of banger songs within.
Most importantly for me, however, Forgotten Island reminded me that DreamWorks is an animation studio that never stops innovating and, while they are about to hit a few bumps with The CocoMelon Movie up next (which I will straight up announce I will not be bothering with this movie at all), there is no denying that DreamWorks is still at the top of their A-Game, even if they already did so with The Wild Robot two years ago.
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. We got a few more animated movies to cover before another heavy hitter comes at the hands of Aardman, so why don’t we get to those movies before getting our hands at a brand new Shaun the Sheep movie? Until next time, see you on the next adventure!
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