DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island, an original animated feature inspired by Filipino culture, mythology, and experiences, is now showing in theaters nationwide, with Lenovo technology helping power its production.
Lenovo Philippines detailed the collaboration in a recent release, describing the two companies’ technology relationship as long-standing. The stack spans Lenovo workstations, high-performance computing infrastructure, data center technology, and services supporting DreamWorks’ artistic and technical teams.
The technology behind the animation
DreamWorks made the relationship official in 2025 by naming Lenovo its preferred compute services, workstation, and solutions provider. That arrangement wraps Lenovo workstations, high-performance computing infrastructure, data center technology, and services into one support system for modern animation production.
It builds on years of shared work. DreamWorks studios have run Lenovo high-performance workstations across their workflows, and Lenovo infrastructure has carried the large-scale computing loads behind the studio’s animated worlds and characters.
“Every animated film begins with artists and storytellers, but bringing their ideas to the screen also requires a technology foundation capable of keeping pace with their imagination,” said Kate Swanborg, SVP, Technology Communications and Strategic Alliances, DreamWorks Animation. “With Forgotten Island, we had the opportunity to build a vibrant world inspired by Filipino culture and mythology. Having technology partners like Lenovo supporting our production environment helps our teams focus on creating the characters, environments, and moments that make that world feel alive.”
A Filipino story at the heart of a global film
The story centers on Jo and Raissa, lifelong best friends voiced by Grammy and Academy Award winner H.E.R. and Filipino actress Liza Soberano. With high school ending and their paths set to split, the two are transported to Nakali, an island filled with the magical and mythological creatures told about in their Filipino families’ stories.
Behind the film are writer-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, both Academy Award nominees, and producer Mark Swift, also an Academy Award nominee, the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Rounding out the voice cast are Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga.
“Forgotten Island is particularly meaningful for us in the Philippines because it shows how a story deeply inspired by Filipino culture can connect with audiences on a global scale,” said Michael Ngan, President and General Manager of Lenovo Philippines.
“At DreamWorks, there are countless creative decisions, ideas, and people working together. Our role at Lenovo is to provide technology that helps give those creators the performance and reliability they need so they can stay focused on what matters most—the story they want to tell.”
The technology behind the animation
DreamWorks made the relationship official in 2025 by naming Lenovo its preferred compute services, workstation, and solutions provider. That arrangement wraps Lenovo workstations, high-performance computing infrastructure, data center technology, and services into one support system for modern animation production.
It builds on years of shared work. DreamWorks studios have run Lenovo high-performance workstations across their workflows, and Lenovo infrastructure has carried the large-scale computing loads behind the studio’s animated worlds and characters.
“Every animated film begins with artists and storytellers, but bringing their ideas to the screen also requires a technology foundation capable of keeping pace with their imagination,” said Kate Swanborg, SVP, Technology Communications and Strategic Alliances, DreamWorks Animation.
“With Forgotten Island, we had the opportunity to build a vibrant world inspired by Filipino culture and mythology. Having technology partners like Lenovo supporting our production environment helps our teams focus on creating the characters, environments, and moments that make that world feel alive.”
Lenovo has backed Filipino creative work before. Earlier this year, the company partnered with Filipino toy designer Quiccs on a limited-edition Legion collection, placing a local artist’s designs in front of a global audience.
Filipino inspiration for a global audience
Beyond the tech, the film’s story is Filipino through and through. Jo and Raissa’s friendship and the island of Nakali anchor an adventure about memory, change, and holding on to the people who matter, with creatures and stories familiar to generations of Filipinos taking the spotlight.
“Technology is at its best when it helps people turn imagination into something others can experience,” Ngan added. “Seeing Filipino-inspired stories represented on this scale is something worth celebrating, and we are proud that Lenovo technology is helping support the creators bringing those stories to audiences around the world.”
Lenovo’s newsroom has more on its workstation and infrastructure portfolio, and DreamWorks Animation has details on the film. Forgotten Island is now showing in theaters nationwide.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Forgotten Island follows lifelong best friends Jo and Raissa, voiced by H.E.R. and Liza Soberano, who land on Nakali, an island filled with magical and mythological creatures from their families’ Filipino stories. It is an adventure about memory, change, and holding on to the people who matter.
H.E.R. and Liza Soberano headline the cast as Jo and Raissa, with Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga rounding it out. Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado wrote and directed, with Mark Swift producing, all Academy Award nominees and the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
Yes. The Lenovo release describes Forgotten Island as an original animated feature inspired by Filipino culture, mythology, and experiences, with Nakali’s creatures and stories rooted in Filipino families’ tales.
DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island is now showing in theaters nationwide.
In 2025, DreamWorks named Lenovo its preferred compute services, workstation, and solutions provider. Lenovo supplies workstations, high-performance computing infrastructure, data center technology, and services that back the studio’s production slate and its artistic and technical teams.
Emman Tortoza
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
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