Forgotten Island is the next DreamWorks Animation film, and it’s a celebration of Filipino culture as two childhood friends, Jo and Raissa, embark on a journey into a fantastical world of magic and wonder. However, their friendship is put to the test when they have to piece together clues to their forgotten memories of the world of Nakali.

The film is directed by Joel Crawford (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Croods: A New Age) and Januel Mercado (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), who are also childhood friends.

“We love being able to laugh while we’re doing our job,” Crawford tells Nerd Reactor about working with his friend, Mercado. “Making movies is incredibly hard. The schedules are long hours, and when you have friends that you can laugh through the tough times, and even when you can create something that the end result feels the same as you making it, there’s so much laughing and celebrating while we’re in production. So many times we say a joke, and we’re like, ‘Oh wait, put that in.’ It’s just a complete joy to work with my buddy.”

The film has nods to films like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Predator, and the filmmakers were happy to add them into the film.

“We’re such like lovers of cinema and love paying homage to the films that inspire us,” Mercado said. “A tone of this movie, too, that we wanted to communicate with the nostalgia is like when we were growing up, we remember we saw a lot of stuff that we loved, including Predator. I think we were probably too young to watch these movies. And that was something with the storytelling of, we’re big fans of Predator, and I think it would be funny that Jo and Raissa are watching Predator as kids at their Lola’s house.”

About Forgotten Island

The film features the voices of H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga.

Forgotten Island releases in theaters on September 25, 2026.