The power of friendship and the importance of cherishing memories are at the heart of DreamWorks Animation’s 2026 release, Forgotten Island, written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado.
Forgotten Island opens in the Philippines in 1990, with two young girls parked outside the principal’s office to be disciplined. Jo (voiced by Kailey Crawford), an imaginative and outgoing rebel, quickly makes friends with Raissa (voiced by Kayla Teruel), who is shy but incredibly smart. The two lonely outcasts become best friends and soon create all kinds of mischief together. They also love listening to Jo’s grandmother (voiced by Dolly de Leon) tell stories about the mystical island called Nakali, which is inhabited by strange and wondrous creatures.
After a frantic montage showing Jo and Raissa growing up together, it’s now graduation day and the almost adult Raissa (voiced by Liza Soberano) reluctantly breaks the news to Jo (voiced by R&B artist H.E.R.) that she is going to college at Cal Tech in America. Jo puts on a brave face but is devastated by the news that her best – and only – friend is leaving her behind.
Determined to have one last unforgettable night together, Jo and Raissa go out dancing and partying and have a blast. As the night gets late, the BFFs are relaxing by the ocean when a portal accidentally opens, and the two young women fall into it.
They wake up 12 hours later and discover they have no memories of what they did over that time. They’ve also lost the special object that helps the portal open. Raissa, desperate to get home and not miss her flight to America, becomes obsessed with finding the object, while Jo is keen to explore the magical island they landed on.
To their delight, Jo and Raissa realize they’ve traveled to Nakali. They make friends with a wacky shapeshifting weredog named Raww (voiced by Dave Franco), who happily volunteers to be their guide. Raww is able to go over everything they did together so they can, hopefully, find a way to open the portal and get Raissa home in time for her flight.
Their quest will be fun but also perilous. To return home, they’ll have to contend with a memory demon that will demand part, if not all, of their precious memories as payment for leaving the Forgotten Island.
Colorful and chaotic, Forgotten Island is an animated fantasy adventure with a solid message for kids about the importance of friendship but suffers terribly from its overly frenetic pacing and loud, intrusive soundtrack. It’s a frenzied mess of a film.
The voice cast does a solid job of bringing the characters to life. However, none of the characters, even the fantastical ones on the island, are memorable or even all that likeable. In fact, a few such as Bungi, the giant baby demon (voiced by Manny Jacinto), are downright annoying.
Another massive problem with Forgotten Island is its tone, which is all over the place, from hectic action scenes to silly dialogue and scenes of sadness and emotion that never ring true. In the final 30 minutes, the movie gets extremely dark and scary for little children with the introduction of a vampire demon hunting the girls. Be warned, parents, these scenes are far too intense for children under the age of eight.
DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island is such a whirlwind of chaos and noise that it’s best left off your watchlist. There are far better 2026 animated adventures, including Hoppers and Toy Story 5, worth your time.
GRADE: C-
Rating: PG for thematic elements, rude humor, language, brief tobacco imagery, scary action, and some violence
Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
Release Date: September 25, 2026
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