Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, and Jenny Slate Discuss Their Work on Forgotten Island

Voice actors on an animated studio movie are often distanced from the end result of their work. Voice work typically comes early in production, often years before the movie is completed. The character designs likely are not finalized at that point, and the actors often do not have any idea what the movie they are making will eventually look like on the screen. Dave Franco, co-star of the fantasy adventure Forgotten Island, says the lengthy production time means the actors eventually get to experience the movie like any other audience member, with no idea what to expect.

What is so amazing about animation is that it is such a long process, putting these films together, he says. I think our directors have been on this movie for over five years. And then we come in, and we are in the recording booth for, I maybe went in eight to 10 times. Which is a very small part of the whole scheme of things. So when we see the final movie, we really get to watch it objectively. There is so much they have done over the last five years. I am like, Oh my God, this is what you guys have put together and we get to be a part of it?

Dave Franco and fellow actors Jenny Slate and Manny Jacinto play three of the film ensemble cast of aswang, creatures drawn from Filipino folklore. Franco plays a jaunty were-dog named Raww who befriends the main characters, Raissa and Jo, when they arrive on the magical island of Nakali. Slate plays the batibat Batiba, a catlike demon covered in runes that glow when she performs magic. Jacinto plays the tiyanak Bungi, a big blue baby-like demon with three eyes. Slate and Jacinto both say the final versions of their characters surprised them when they finally got to watch the movie.

I just really, really, really love when Batiba lights up, Slate says. Even though I knew she did that, I really enjoyed it.

When Dave and I watched it the first time, it was not complete yet, Jacinto says. So when you watch the finished product, you just really notice how talented the animators are. You do this voice in a booth, and you do not know how it is going to look. But they bring it to life, and give it so much emotion and character. My character specifically, I love that the whole time, he is thought of as a big demon baby, but at the end, he kind of gets to save the day a little bit with his massive pinkeye blast. That was very satisfying to see.

Asked which line or scene he put the most work into getting right, Franco called out a particularly goofy sequence where Raww tells a story about his adventures with Jo and Raissa, and the animation heavily references nineties anime series.

There is a scene where my character goes full Dragon Ball Z, he says, laughing. I am recounting this memory, and I am talking about myself like I am way more macho than I really am. So I got to do a deeper, stereotypical masculine voice for that. And then I am voicing the two girls in the scene as well. I was like, OK, there are a lot of different ways to do this. Let us just throw everything against the wall, have fun, and be as silly as possible.

Manny Jacinto and Jenny Slate talked about the balancing acts inherent in their characters. Batiba, who trades magic for memories, is a complicated character with several sides to her personality, and Slate wanted to bring that across in her voice work.

Batiba has a couple things going on at once, she says. When a character is presenting themself one way, but maybe they have something else that is actually the real objective, you do not want to give it away. So it is about having a light touch while still being entertaining. I enjoyed finding that balance.

Similarly, Jacinto wanted to make sure his childish, occasionally fearsome demon character was not pushing too hard into comedy, especially when he is the conduit for the audience to learn more about the movie big bad, the monstrous Manananggal.

With Bungi, there are a couple of times where he recounts Manananggal terror around the city, he says. And it is a fine line between horror and comedy. Focusing on those particular scenes was a bit of a challenge, because how far do you take it each way? Those sequences were particularly interesting.

Forgotten Island is in theaters now.

Source: Polygon