thoughtspresso

@misscherriously Yes it is a Bulul! It's just that Bulul is specifically Ifugao. The mummification is from Ibaloi of Benguet. But the statues are common throughout different regional cultures in the country. So I kind of just described it under the most general term available.

@MminaMac oh tbh i thought they were representing bululs (yung mga ifugao rice god carvings hehe kaya i was so excited when i saw them in the trailer), (also the upper right pic u shared is actually a bulul too/nm/gen)

Instead of two halves of a heart, Jo and Raissa have charms that are two halves of a Mananggal, the severed vampiric winged monster of Filipino folklore! DETAILS of Filipino culture from the new Forgotten Island trailer, a 🧵:

@MICHAEL59086061 It could be. Just didnt look like a rooster at the time I saw it.

@MminaMac It's sarimanok

IBONG ADARNA SPOTTED IN DREAMWORKS FORGOTTEN ISLAND!!!

@CookieCat153 @fianaverse Haha you guys are likely right!

@fianaverse @MminaMac Wait marriage booth too. Usually couples are handcuffed for that.

The reason why Jo and Raissa are handcuffed, and not wearing school uniforms, is likely due to the School Fair / Intramurals. They must be running a "Jail Booth", which is like a campus-wide game of tag. If you're caught by the jailers, you'll have to pay them a fee or be cuffed.

@zvenyy IT DESERVES

OMGGGG Wing of the Locust !!! Novel so good I actually wrote an academic essay on it hehe ✨

@talljohnsuh Maging cultural content pa yung may kasamang historical explainer with Prof Xiao Chua 😂 about PH folk beliefs and shamanistic practices

Alamat content idea from my sister: magpatawas kaya sila so they can figure out why they're always having technical issues

@diddlydoods Congratulations!

Forgotten Island's trailer is OUT! this is the film i've been working on for the past year and i'm unbelievably excited to share it with the world -- it's crazy funny, crazy heartfelt, and overall just crazy! i can't wait for you all to visit Nakali in Sep ❤️🏝️ #ForgottenIsland

THE WAY THE JEEPNEY IS FRONT AND CENTER IN THIS FILM TOO Forgotten Island says NO TO JEEPNEY PHASE OUT

@orxinustfu Manifesting Alamat to dance Aswang with Lea Salonga 😂

manifesting Lea Salonga villain song for her Manananggal character 🕯️🕯️🕯️

@unSauLicited @patrick_ganas Asking the important questions

@patrick_ganas Is it mother or lola?

Spotted some of my paintings in the Forgotten Island film! 🇵🇭

@patrick_ganas Gorgeous work!! Really looking forward to seeing it!

@heyrow EXACTLY! We already have these stories! x.com/i/status/20370…

With this Pinoy representation talk sa and yung craving ng FilAms to see themselves in media, pinaka-lucid na take pa rin yung sinabi ni Bretman na wala siyang craving because he chose to see himself in TFC where Filipinos are represented EVERY DAY. Lingon tayo sa atin!

DreamWorks is running a strategy no other animation studio has the discipline to copy. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish cost $90 million, opened to $12 million, and everyone declared it dead. It legged out to $484 million and $120 million in net profit. The Wild Robot cost $78 million and made $335 million. How to Train Your Dragon live-action hit $627 million. Five consecutive profitable releases in under two years. The studio’s cumulative global box office just passed Pixar’s. $17.3 billion to $17 billion. Now look at what they’re doing with Forgotten Island. This is their 50th animated feature. Original IP. Filipino folklore as the mythology. The same director and co-director who built the Last Wish visual style that rewired audience expectations for what animation could look like. A voice cast anchored by H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Lea Salonga, and Manny Jacinto. Margie Cohn told press the studio commits to one original and one franchise film per year. Forgotten Island in September, Shrek 5 in December. If both hit, 2026 becomes DreamWorks’ biggest year since 2014. Every other studio talks about balancing originals with sequels. DreamWorks is the only one actually shipping both on schedule while keeping budgets under $100 million. That cost discipline is the whole game. Pixar spent $200 million on Lightyear and lost money. DreamWorks spent $78 million on The Wild Robot and launched a franchise. The trailer dropped today. The internet is going to talk about the art style. The real story is the machine behind it.

If Forgotten Island can convince international audiences to consider taking Filipino stories seriously, it is a win for our writers and creatives too. Maybe then we carve a path that allows stories like the Alipin Trilogy to gain acclaim it deserves. Malayo pa, pero malayo na.

This isn't to say Forgotten Island shouldn't be criticized. Thinking about the food you chew is how you respect the chef. But I also think that we have distinctly homegrown Filipino stories already. They each play a role. Dreamworks is for the international audience.

If you find that the precolonial Philippine culture, language, and mythology are only represented at the surface-level, might I instead recommend you read the Alipin Trilogy? A boy learns the mystic art of Mambabarang to earn his family's freedom. His best friend is half-Kapre.

@rokuhoku_ I don't know, do FilAms relate to riding their bike in a bukid with saging, gabi, and tanglad in the background? 😅 Y'know even the talent show looking thing is more to the level of Filipino extracurriculars. NorthAm isn't as extra.

this is gonna sound harsh but i hope this movie can also be relatable to mainland filipinos and not just filams. i hope this movie’s portrayal of the culture is not just tongue in cheek and is actually a lived experience of what it is here

Saw Les Mis tonight, and I can't believe that Éponine is Jaedynn Latter's debut role!! She was so good 🥹 It's a little funny to find out she's half-Filipino too. Lea's legacy! On My Own is just OPM at this point. Certified Sawi Banger. SPM = Samahan ng Malamig sa Paris. 😂