DreamWorks Animation has released a new trailer for Forgotten Island, an original animated fantasy adventure heading to theaters this September.
The film follows Jo and Raissa, two lifelong best friends celebrating their final night together before life pulls them in different directions. When they stumble into a mysterious portal, they are transported to Nakali, a magical island filled with creatures, legends and dangers inspired by Filipino folklore. Their only way home may come with a devastating price: losing the memories that made their friendship matter in the first place.
That premise gives Forgotten Island a strong emotional hook. This is not just another colourful fantasy world full of cute creatures and chase scenes. At its centre is a friendship being tested by distance, change and memory itself — the kind of emotional setup DreamWorks has often handled surprisingly well when it gets serious beneath the jokes.
The new trailer also shows off the film’s striking visual range. Alongside its main CG animation style, Forgotten Island appears to include stylised 2D sequences with anime-inspired energy, giving the movie a more experimental look than a standard studio fantasy adventure. Recent animation coverage has already noted how those stylistic shifts have sparked discussion online, with some praising the boldness and others debating how the anime influence is being used.
The voice cast includes H.E.R. and Liza Soberano as the central best friends, with Lea Salonga, Dave Franco and other performers also attached. The official movie site lists Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado as writers and directors, with Mark Swift producing. Crawford and Mercado previously worked on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which gives this project an especially interesting creative pedigree.
For fans of animated movies, Forgotten Island looks like one of DreamWorks’ more promising original releases: bright, mythological, funny, emotional and rooted in a friendship story that could hit harder than expected. The island may be magical, but the fear underneath it is very real — what happens when growing up means forgetting the person who helped shape who you are?
Forgotten Island opens in theaters on September 25, 2026.
Video source: Universal Pictures
