The release of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish at the end of 2022 raised the bar for DreamWorks Animation like never before. At a time when Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse set new expectations for what an animated film could look like at its absolute most dynamic and colorful, Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado brought the studio behind Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon into the modern age, giving the Shrek spin-off a gorgeous watercolor style unlike anything in their repertoire. It’s part of the reason why the orange tabby cat’s death-defying tale of derring-do was hailed as one of the company’s best adventures to date. For the directing duo’s next film, however, they’re going even further.
Next week, on September 25, DreamWorks will send viewers out to the Forgotten Island, Crawford and Mercado’s colorful new 90s-set feature set in the Philippines. It tells the story of two lifelong best friends who wind up stranded in another world that they must escape as it slowly feeds on their memories of each other. More than that, though, it’s also an original passion project that pulls from a wide range of animation influences and their own memories of the decade to create a visual feast for the eyes. Before it hits theaters, Collider can exclusively share a new sneak peek that digs into the maximalist, cinematic style that pushed DreamWorks to its limits.
The video opens with the trio of stars, H.E.R., Liza Soberano, and Dave Franco, marveling at how the Forgotten Island team managed to use animation to create something that both felt surreal and artistic while still almost giving the impression that someone within its world is picking up a camera and capturing footage. For Mercado and Crawford, The Last Wish gave them a baseline for the kind of fantastical movie they wanted to make. However, with no existing franchise, they had no shortage of opportunities to let their imaginations run wild with what sort of creatures, friends, and foes the forgotten island of Nakali would have in store, as well as animation styles. Like Franco pointed out, they aimed for some shots with a “handheld” style, as if Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Soberano) were filming their journey, but constantly swap from more dreamlike visuals to a graphic novel style and anime, with a look inspired by Dragon Ball Z and Street Fighter, created in partnership with the Philippines-based Snipple Animation.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
‘Forgotten Island’ Is a Melting Pot of Pop Culture, Mythology, and Friendship
The result of these many different collaborations, hand-drawn styles, and ideas from all parts of the team mashed together is what Mercado and Crawford believe is one of DreamWorks’ most complex films to date. It’s billed as a love letter to the 90s and the colors and media that defined it, an homage to Philippine mythology, a dedication to enduring friendship, and a dream-like adventure all rolled into one. Forgotten Island also brings in a stellar voice cast to round it out. H.E.R., Soberano, and Franco are Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga. Even the music is designed to mesh with the style, taking cues from the Philippine music scene in the 80s and 90s and featuring contributions from not just H.E.R. and Soberano, but artists from the country, like the P-Pop band Bini.
Forgotten Island premieres in theaters on September 25. Check out the new sneak peek in the player above.
