DreamWorks Animation made a significant move this morning, releasing the first official trailer for its upcoming original film “Forgotten Island,” and the early response from those who caught the reveal is something close to electric. The trailer, which dropped on March 25 via Universal Pictures, offers the clearest look yet at what could be one of the most culturally distinctive animated films to come out of a major Hollywood studio in years.
The story centers on Jo and Raissa, two lifelong best friends navigating the bittersweet threshold of life after high school. On their last night together before heading down separate paths, the two stumble through a mysterious portal and find themselves transported to Nakali, a fantastical island drawn from Filipino mythology and folklore. What begins as an adventure among magical and mythological creatures quickly turns into a race against time. The island holds a cruel bargain: the only way home may require Jo and Raissa to surrender every memory they have ever made together.
The trailer opens by flashing back to how the two became friends outside a principal’s office in 1990, setting up the full emotional arc with efficiency and charm. In a choice that is simultaneously playful and thematically loaded, the trailer is scored to the Simple Minds classic “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” a needle-drop that doubles as a wink to the audience and a statement of intent from the filmmakers.
Grammy-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist H.E.R., born Gabi Wilson, voices Jo, while Filipino-American actress Liza Soberano voices Raissa. Both were present at a trailer reveal event held at DreamWorks headquarters in Glendale this morning, alongside directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. For Wilson, the project carries a deeply personal resonance. Speaking at the event, she reflected on growing up with Filipino folklore, saying she grew up on the stories her mother used to share and that the film allows her to bring a piece of her childhood to a global audience. Soberano framed the project in equally meaningful terms, describing it as a long-held dream to represent the Philippines in a way that is both culturally accurate and universally relatable.
The film boasts a stacked voice ensemble assembled with clear intentionality. Dave Franco voices Raww, described as a well-meaning but hapless weredog who joins the two leads on their journey. Tony Award winner Lea Salonga voices The Dreaded Manananggal, the most feared creature on the island and the film’s primary antagonist. The supporting cast includes Emmy nominee Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, BAFTA nominee Dolly de Leon, comedian Jo Koy, and Emmy winner Ronny Chieng, with Amielynn Abellera also among the additions confirmed earlier this month.
Behind the camera, “Forgotten Island” represents a third feature collaboration between director Joel Crawford and producer Mark Swift, the team behind “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which earned Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations for Best Animated Feature. For Mercado, who served as co-director on “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and as head of story on “The Croods: A New Age,” the film marks his first full directing credit alongside Crawford. That pedigree gives the project immediate credibility, and the trailer suggests the visual ambition to match it. Crawford previously described his approach to animation as one that lets the brushstrokes show, drawing from 2D traditions to give dimensionality and texture to the 3D work, and the frames visible in the new footage carry that same richly painted quality.
“Forgotten Island” is also a milestone within DreamWorks’ own history: it will be the studio’s 50th animated feature film. It is the first original, non-sequel property the studio has produced since “Orion and the Dark” in 2024, and the first time since 2015’s “Home” that the studio is releasing only a single animated feature in a calendar year. That singular focus speaks to the weight the studio is placing on this title. Industry observers have already begun drawing comparisons to “The Wild Robot,” DreamWorks’ previous critically acclaimed original, which landed three Academy Award nominations and nine Annie Awards after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival.
With a September 25 theatrical release locked in, a deeply felt cultural story at its core, and the full force of Universal Pictures’ distribution apparatus behind it, “Forgotten Island” is arriving with everything it needs to make a serious run at the conversation around the year’s best animated films. This morning’s trailer is only the beginning of that campaign, and if the response is any indication, the island of Nakali has already claimed its first willing visitors.
