Inside the Setting of DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island and the Mythical World of Nakali

‘Forgotten Island’ has become one of the more closely watched animated releases of the fall season, and much of the curiosity around it centers on a simple question of geography. Viewers want to know exactly where this story unfolds, since the film moves between a grounded, real world backdrop and a fantastical realm built from folklore.

The answer sits at the heart of what makes ‘Forgotten Island’ distinct from typical studio animation. The film comes from the directing duo behind Puss In Boots The Last Wish and tells an original story rooted in Filipino mythology and heritage. That grounding shapes both halves of the film’s setting, and it is worth breaking down each one.

The Setting of Forgotten Island Begins in the Philippines

The film opens far from any fantasy landscape. Forgotten Island opens in the Philippines in the 90s, introduced through a flashback that shows how its two central characters first met outside their school principal’s office. That decision to root the story in a specific decade and a specific country gives the friendship at its center a tangible, lived-in history before anything magical enters the picture.

The two friends at the center of that flashback are named Jo and Raissa. They are high school graduates who have been best friends since grade school but are now about to embark on separate life paths, a detail that sets up the emotional stakes long before the fantasy elements arrive. Their bond, formed in that Philippine setting, becomes the emotional anchor the rest of the film keeps returning to.

Before the story shifts into its fantasy segments, the pair spend one final night together as friends heading in different directions. While celebrating their last night together, Jo and Raissa stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them into a new world entirely. That portal is the hinge point of the entire narrative, and it marks the moment the film’s setting changes completely.

The Island of Nakali Anchors the Fantasy Half

Once the portal opens, the story relocates to a place unlike anything in the real world. The portal transports Jo and Raissa to the fantastical island of Nakali, a world packed with magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing about from their Filipino families. Nakali functions as the film’s central setting for the majority of its runtime, and it is where the bulk of the adventure plays out.

That island is not simply decorative backdrop, since the world building draws directly from stories the characters were raised on. Some of the figures they encounter on the island become friends, while others become foes, including one creature the film treats as its primary antagonist. That creature is the Dreaded Manananggal, voiced by Tony winning performer Lea Salonga, described in the film as the most feared creature on the island.

The stakes of staying on Nakali are made explicit fairly early in the story. Jo and Raissa discover that the memories of their entire friendship are the price for returning home, which forces them to race against time to leave the island before they forget each other forever. That ticking clock gives the fantasy setting real emotional weight rather than treating it as a simple backdrop for spectacle.

Reviewers who have already seen the film point to the island’s visual identity as one of its strongest elements. The creature designs on Nakali take familiar local monsters and give them an interesting twist, with the studio’s take on the Manananggal singled out as among the strongest character designs of the decade.

Filipino Mythology Shapes Every Corner of the Story

The decision to build an entire setting around Philippine folklore was intentional from the start. Throughout early presentations of the film, the filmmakers stressed that Filipino culture is not merely an influence on the project but the foundation on which the story, characters, mythology, and setting are built. That framing helps explain why Nakali feels distinct from other animated fantasy worlds built around more generalized mythology.

Director Joel Crawford spoke about the careful approach the team took even in early marketing, noting the challenge of introducing a world this specific to a general audience. He told Cartoon Brew that the team was curious about how to approach the teaser trailer and what exactly to lead with, given how much story and mythology sat underneath the initial footage.

To achieve the visual identity that mythology demanded, the studio brought in outside help rather than relying solely on its usual pipeline. Because DreamWorks does not have a 2D pipeline, let alone an anime capable one, the studio reached out to Snipple Animation in the Philippines to handle those sequences of the film. That collaboration blends traditional DreamWorks style 3D animation with 2D sequences meant to evoke a distinctly Filipino visual language.

Cast members involved in the project have echoed how personal the material felt. During the film’s trailer launch, H.E.R. told decine21 that she was able to share a piece of her own childhood in the work and with the world.

The Voice Cast Behind Forgotten Island’s World

Bringing that setting to life required a fairly large ensemble. The film stars Lea Salonga, H.E.R., Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, Liza Soberano, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon and Dave Franco. H.E.R. and Liza Soberano lead the cast as Jo and Raissa, with H.E.R. also known as a Grammy and Academy Award winning musician and Soberano recognized for her work on Lisa Frankenstein and Alone Together.

Dave Franco voices one of the film’s more comedic supporting characters, a weredog who joins the pair on their journey. He plays Raww, described as well meaning but hapless, alongside a small but mighty pack of other companions Jo and Raissa pick up along the way.

Behind the camera, the project reunites much of the creative team from a recent DreamWorks hit. The film is written and directed by Academy Award nominees Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado and produced by Academy Award nominee Mark Swift, the same filmmaking team behind Puss in Boots The Last Wish.

Critics who caught the film ahead of release have generally responded well to how the setting and cast come together on screen. One review called it one of DreamWorks’ finest films to date, noting that the directors continue to expand on the vibrant, painterly animation style introduced in their previous work while adding new 2D anime influences suited to this particular story. Another outlet awarded the film four and a half out of five stars, describing it as a rousing, poignant, and mature exploration of memory loss and the impact it can have on the people closest to us.

‘Forgotten Island’ opened in theaters on September 25, and it will expand internationally with a UK release date of October 16. Industry tracking ahead of release placed the film’s domestic opening weekend somewhere between twenty million and thirty million dollars, positioning it between recent DreamWorks originals like The Bad Guys and Abominable.

Between its grounded opening in the Philippines and its sweeping detour through the mythical island of Nakali, ‘Forgotten Island’ asks its audience to sit with a friendship worth protecting even when the cost of leaving is forgetting it ever happened, and it is worth asking which half of that journey, the real or the mythical, is likely to stay with you longer after the credits roll.