DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island Puts Filipino Folklore In Hollywood Spotlight

DreamWorks’ animated Forgotten Island has brought Filipino mythological figures such as the manananggal and the tiyanak into a major Hollywood production, giving Filipinos in the Philippines and abroad an unusual moment of cultural recognition.

Folklore heard in childhood reaches cinemas

Stories of the manananggal, described as a creature said to split its body in two, and the tiyanak, which takes the form of an infant, are part of the folklore many children grow up hearing in the Philippines.

Those figures are now among the mythological creatures featured in Forgotten Island, DreamWorks’ animated film.

The film opened in the Philippines on Wednesday and is due to be released in the United States on Friday.

It has been described as the first major Hollywood production to showcase Filipino culture and mythology.

Recognition for Filipinos at home and abroad

For the Filipino diaspora, the film offers a rare point of recognition, while also reflecting the US industry’s growing interest in Asian audiences.

The response from viewers familiar with the folklore points to why the film’s cultural references matter beyond animation.

“We first saw the trailers in the cinema, and I wasn’t expecting to see a movie with Filipino stories that I grew up with back in the 1990s,” Berlynn Tuazon-Bradshaw, 34, told This Week in Asia.

Her reaction captures the surprise of seeing stories many Filipinos know from childhood placed inside a DreamWorks production aimed at audiences in both the Philippines and the United States.

Source: South China Morning Post