Stars, filmmakers, and fans filled the red carpet at Lucas Museum of Narrative Art this week for the Los Angeles premiere of Forgotten Island, DreamWorks Animation’s new original film about two best friends fighting to hold on to each other.

The premiere was a homecoming of sorts for the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Academy Award nominee Joel Crawford, who co-wrote and co-directed the film with Januel Mercado, walked the carpet alongside Academy Award–nominated producer Mark Swift. The trio’s last film won over critics and audiences, and expectations for their follow-up are high.

The night’s headliners were the film’s two leads: Grammy and Academy Award winner H.E.R. and Liza Soberano (Lisa Frankenstein, Alone/Together). They voice Jo and Raissa, high school graduates who have been best friends since grade school but are about to go separate ways. On their last night together, the pair stumble through a mysterious portal onto Nakali, a fantastical island full of the magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing about from their Filipino families.

Other cast members also turned out. Dave Franco voices Raww, a well-meaning but hapless weredog who joins the girls on their journey. Tony-winning icon Lea Salonga plays The Dreaded Manananggal, the most feared creature on the island. The film’s central stakes add emotional weight to its adventure: Jo and Raissa learn that the price of returning home is every memory of their friendship, and they have to race to find another way out before they forget each other forever.

The supporting voice cast includes Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Dying for Sex), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place, Top Gun: Maverick), BAFTA nominee Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness, Ghostlight), comedian star Jo Koy (Haunted Mansion), and Emmy winner Ronny Chieng (The Daily Show, M3GAN)

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Many attendees saw the premiere as a celebration of Filipino culture and representation. The film draws on Philippine folklore and brings together one of the most prominent groups of Filipino and Filipino American talent ever assembled for a major animated release.

Forgotten Island joins a long DreamWorks tradition of stories built around unlikely bonds: a boy and his dragon in How to Train Your Dragon, an ogre and a donkey in Shrek, and a robot and a gosling in The Wild Robot. This time, the studio focuses on a friendship that’s already there and what it takes to keep it.

DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island is distributed by Universal Pictures and opens in theaters on Friday, September 25, 2026.

Watch the cast’s carpet interviews below. Let us know what you think of them.

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Source: DreamWorks Animation