(Watching “Forgotten Island” in California)
Family members and I finally got to watch “Forgotten Island” here in our part of California. We opted to do it on a Saturday, when there would be more moviegoers, especially Filipino-Americans.
“Forgotten island” is a brave and well-intentioned attempt to nudge Philippine culture into global popular consciousness through animation. It is produced by DreamWorks, with characters voiced by such stars as Liza Soberano, H.E.R, Lea Salonga and Jokoy. It is the first ever such production of a Filipino story, if I am not mistaken.
Filipinos could relate to the movie, which is the tale of two girls, Jo and Raissa, best friends since childhood, who are on the brink of parting. What happens on the eve of Raissa’s departure to attend college in America and leave Jo behind is what the story is all about.
The themes are familiar enough—friendship, migration, separation, memories. Almost everything that symbolizes Filipinos and the Philippines is there. There are cultural markers like karaoke, lumpia, the jeepney. Everyday scenes include a lola or grandma caring for a grandchild in the absence of parents who are overseas, a nosy neighbor who wouldn’t mind her own business, a rowdy despedida party. Characters from Philippine mythology are all over the place: manananggal, kapre, siokoy, tiyanak, dwende. *
That’s my issue with the movie. The storytellers tried to fill it with all things Filipino, which worked against it. The result is almost two hours of frenzied on-screen noise and activity involving too many characters and subplots.
From a production point of view, I noticed that the main animation was in 3D, but there were flashes of 2D cartoons. It reminded me of anime, the old Japanese TV series Dragonball Z and the current The Apothecary Diaries, among others.
I had hoped the movie would have some kind of a pause, perhaps a part where the heroines reflect on their plight. I’m thinking Elsa in Frozen, Mirabel in Encanto, and Moana. The movie has a soundtrack and some good songs but they didn’t quite stick. After the visual and auditory overload of “Forgotten Island,” I don’t quite recall if there was a part where the characters sung one of the songs together. If they did, it didn’t quite stand out.
According to Box Office Mojo’s figures as of Oct 10, “Forgotten Island” has grossed more than $43 million worldwide since its opening on Sept. 25. Its production budget was $80 million.
Could “Forgotten Island” still manage to break even? It opens Oct. 16 in the UK and has reportedly been cleared for release in China, so it is possible. Who knows?
“Given the film’s exceptional reviews and audience scores, the hope was that strong word of mouth might produce unusually long legs,” said Jaime Lang of Cartoon Brew. He noted that it does not seem to be happening in this case. Ticket sales for “Forgotten Island” dropped 45% in the second week.
At the theater where we watched it, only less than a fourth of all seats were filled. There were Fil-Ams, for sure, and they laughed at some of the lines. “Forgotten Island” is probably a hit with homesick Filipinos all over the world, but that’s not enough to pull the movie up. It has to appeal to non-Filipinos to recoup the investment.
Our trip to the cinema was our toddler’s first movie. We wanted it to be a momentous occasion, hence “Forgotten Island” and Philippine culture. She was a trooper, sat through most of the movie, ate the popcorn, fidgeted a bit, till she finally blurted out, “I want to watch Gabby’s Dollhouse!” ###
* Creatures from Philippine mythology:
Mananggal – evil spirit who can separate the top and bottom halves of her body to haunt villages and eat babies
Kapre – large hairy creature who sits on trees and smokes cigars
Siokoy – merman
Tiyanak – evil spirit disguised as a baby
Dwende – Dwarves who inhabit the mounds of earth or anthills
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