Perhaps you’re Filipino and you watched KPop Demon Hunters while wondering why Hollywood couldn’t make an animated movie that brings your underrepresented culture to a mass American audience. If so, I’m here to tell you that your wait is over. That movie is Forgotten Island, and it opens this week.
Then again, perhaps you’re not Filipino — guilty, though other Asian people have mistaken me for such. In that case, I’m here to tell you that this movie throws you in the deep end and dares you to sink or swim in this highly distinctive Asian culture with heavy Spanish and American influences. I appreciate that, as well as DreamWorks Animation having learned from Sony’s experience of missing out on boatloads of cash from KPop Demon Hunters. Not willing to make the same mistake, they’re putting this movie out in thousands of theaters nationwide. The fact that this movie warrants comparison with last year’s Oscar winner is something you should find compelling.
Set in the 1990s, the story is about two teenage best friends: socially awkward science nerd Raissa (voiced by Liza Soberano) and rebellious troublemaker Jo (voiced by H.E.R.). With school over, Raissa waits until the last possible minute to tell Jo that rather than moving to Manila with her, she’s studying rocket science at Caltech. The night before Raissa flies off to Southern California to start her new life, the besties are having one last party together on the beach when they find a magic sand dollar that transports them to Nakali, a mythical island full of creatures from Filipino lore that Raissa’s late grandmother (voiced by Dolly de Leon) used to tell them about.
Those creatures are a big reason why the movie works so well, as the animators have great fun rendering them. These monsters and magical beings are not familiar to Western audiences, so your kids can be enthralled by the minokawa, the giant bird that transports our heroines around Nakali, or terrified by the manananggal (voiced by Lea Salonga), the winged vampire demon who hunts the intruders. A child-eating aswang would be even scarier, but maybe they’re saving that for a sequel.
Much like KPop Demon Hunters, this film takes its inspiration from the hand-drawn look of 1990s Japanese anime even though its animation is digital. This helps it depict cute things that can kill you, like the batibat (voiced by Jenny Slate) who eats people’s memories. The tiyanak (voiced by Manny Jacinto) looks like a giant baby and is still attached by his umbilical cord to his mother after 200 years of life — he’s helpful, but anyone who insults his mother will be very sorry. There is a terribly funny interlude when the girls meet a population of duendes. Despite being warned that the adorable creatures will murder a person for disrespecting them, Jo is overwhelmed by a desire to hug their king (voiced by Ronny Chieng), especially after discovering that his name is Trufflewuffle.
The cultural specificity doesn’t end there, as the soundtrack is dotted with period-appropriate 1990s hip-hop as well as karaoke songs from the 1980s performed by the older characters. Filipino food is everywhere, from the lechon roasted for Raissa’s going-away party to the banana lumpias that the batibat offers her guests to the spaghetti that makes Jo breathe and fart fire. When Jo accidentally sets fire to the fried chicken joint where she works, it’s enough to make you want to hit the nearest Jollibee location. (There’s one in Arlington, and their chicken is well worth the trip. The restaurant chain is running a promotion with the film, which is no surprise.)
All this makes up for the climax being entirely too drawn out, with too many elements in play. Forgotten Island still moves along well enough and has enough jokes that don’t require Filipino ancestry to get. The movie opens with the studio’s logo introduced by the characters from DreamWorks Animations’ biggest successes: Shrek, Puss in Boots, How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar. This film is better than any of those. Ponder that over your next bowl of pancit bihon.
Forgotten Island
Voices by H.E.R. and Liza Soberano. Written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. Rated PG.
