Is Forgotten Island the next sleeper hit animated movie, and remembering the King of Calypso

In 2002, Ryan Wedding was an Olympic snowboarder at the top of his game. Ryan's style is really gunned and go. And in less than a minute, it slipped away. But he continued to chase the high. Ryan James Wedding. He controls one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations in this world. I'm Michelle Shepard and from CBC Podcasts and the Toronto Star, the most wanted Olympian. Available now. This is a CBC Podcast. Okay, quick. What is scarier? A monster that can split itself in half or the idea of your very best friend moving halfway across the world. For Garden Island is a new animated coming of age movie from DreamWorks. It's set in the Philippines in the 90s and 2000s and really taps into Filipino culture and mythology. I'm Elimina Dumahmoud. And this is commotion. We are going to get into it with Romero Candido and Christy Puchco. Welcome back to the show, friends. Hey, great. It's nice to have you here, listen, I'm going to just set the scene real quick about For Garden Island. It's about two childhood best friends. We got Joe. We got Risa. They've got a lifelong friendship, but we are not entirely sure what life after high school is going to look like for both of them. And to answer that, they go to a mythical island surrounded by monsters from Filipino folklore and they've got no way home. Remain I'm going to start with you. I understand that you were kind of a little bit skeptical going into this movie. Why the skepticism? What made you skeptical? Well, Filipino representation has very few chances at mainstream exposure. And so once it goes, once Filipino culture goes through the Hollywood kind of machine, I was wondering, are they going to water it down or are they going to get it right? Is it going to be a bunch of animated characters in brown face? So I think we've had very few chances to see ourselves on this kind of stage. There's Filipino animated movies, but not Hollywood. So I think a lot of us came in with a lot of skepticism. So you walk in and you're a little bit skeptical and you sit down and you say, "Hello, I'm Romeo. I'm a little bit skeptical of this thing," did it when you over? At first, I did not know. For probably the first three quarters of the film, I didn't know because it was too fast. Like, you know, when Neo is downloading the internet into his eyeballs in the matrix, that's how I felt. I felt like this. It was a lot, as the kids would say. But then by the end of it, I found the emotional heart of it. And just, you know, there's a thing that resonates when you do see yourself. I always say that representation doesn't matter anymore because we have YouTube and we see ourselves on YouTube every day. But there was something about seeing ourselves in a crowded theater that wasn't an Asian film festival with other people that really resonated with me and, yeah, so it did win me over for sure. I listened. I sat down. I took my kid yesterday and I sat down and I wasn't sure what to expect. And then by the end, I was weeping a lot. You know, I just cried sometimes I show emotion, Romeo. What do you want from me? Kristie, let me ask you about this movie. So far, it has not performed that well in the box office. But what's the thing that made Forgotten Island stand out to you among all the other movies you've seen recently? Oh, I've seen so many. As you know, I was a tiff. But yeah, that's the thing. This movie I saw, it was the third movie I saw that day because this is a crazy season. And it was my favorite thing that I saw the day. It might have been my favorite thing I saw that week because it's telling this story that is familiar in that who among us hasn't had a friend that we worried we were going to lose touch with, which is the core of this. What if my friend goes long distance, what is that going to mean? But then there are all these incredible creatures that I was not familiar with. And the film welcomes us into all of this adventure in such a, like, just propulsive way. I was hooked. I was on board. It's really fun. It's really colorful. It is very moving. I'm not only did I cry, but I'm like an easy person crying. But I heard a little child during the critic's screening just go like, I was like, oh, buddy. Oh. That was lovely. That was me. As a matter of fact, how a child is a little bit child. I also just really love that like, you know, I don't think there's a lot of movies where like girl friendships get to be kind of chaotic and messy. And so like, I connected to it on that level where I was like, I know these girls. Like, I feel I get this and like, it's not, it didn't do great the first weekend, but I think this is one that's going to build my word of mouth because like everybody, like, I think it's last I checked it was at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. And like everybody I've talked to loves it. And it's like, you have to see this. And I would say like like where may I was pointing out in theaters. It's such a fun thing to watch with other people because like, you get to hear other people like having this experience too. And it's just so rollicking and delightful and funny and smart and also weird. I love how weird this is. There's so many animated, yeah, there's so many animated movies now that just feel geared towards like selling you a like milk toast doll to give your child. Yeah. This is not that. These girls are not that. The creatures are not that. They were starfish nipples, literally, Romeo. You just read my mind. Like that sounds so spongebob to me. Yeah. It was it was one of those, oh, the stars, the star, the starfish nipples are just going to keep talking to us for the rest of the movie. Got it. I understand. Yeah. You've seen Moana. You understand talking tattoos. Yeah. We're leveling up. Yeah. Now that the accessories have conversations with us. So that is your Halloween costume. Thank you so much. I'm going to be merman for Halloween. Yeah. Really. Please. Thank you. Who also looks like handsome Squidward. Like everything about that character was spongebob for me and I was obsessed. I got it. I got it. I got it. I want to pick up on a thing that Christy just said that is that I think significant here, which is that Christy, you said that you think this movie is going to be sort of spreading through word of mouth. The last big movies, animated movies that I can think of the spread through word of mouth are in condo and K-pop demon hunters and there's something about the Halloween machine that says sometimes when they make an animated film about characters or were not white, you know, it takes a minute and it takes word of mouth. For those films to actually spread, but once they do, they become gigantic. I'm actually like, end up setting, you know, records in world over. Romeo, this movie is really rooted in Filipino culture. It appears in this film in a bunch of different ways. What do you think Forgotten Island gets right about that? Well, just the fact that it's introducing pre-colonial ideas, these creatures have existed for a long time, just the fact that they're putting forward, like they're not, you know, the Manana Nangal is actually more scary because it eats fetuses from, like it eats unborn bait. Like that's how the Manana Nangal wasn't in the film. Yes. Yes. So it didn't get that right, but we also don't want to scare the children. Yes. So, um, it just feels better. No, no, no. They should be fine now. Yeah, like, and then they just put their popcorn down. So, like it's, it wasn't, you know, the mythology and the creatures were, they were dream works survive, you know, it wasn't like completely, um, but I think what it got, it just carried the burden of putting everything Filipino into, like it's, it's really an Easter egg hunt of Filipino culture in the movie. So the fact that they, they put everything they could possibly put in, it gets it right, but it's also, it, for me, it also was a little bit too much. It's like, okay, you don't have to put everything, you don't have to put us out like everything. Well, I was going to ask you if there's something that didn't work for you. And is it maybe just like the sheer volume of stuff that you're trying to cram in? Like, is that something that didn't work for you, Romaine? I'm split. Like at first, I was like, it's too much, it's too much, it's too on the nose, it's too everything, you know, it's too much of a tour through every element of our culture. But at the end of the day, it's a rewatchable movie, people will like, you know, we'll hold on to the different references and, you know, and moving forward, as we're saying, K-pop Demon Hunters was not released in movie theaters. No. It was, it was, it was a streamer first. If this was a streamer first, then people wouldn't be talking about box office opening numbers. Like, it would be streamed, it would be, it will be streamed forever. It will be claimed by our community and the community's beyond. So like this opening box office number thing is really starting to upset me because I'm like, they can't predict how long, like how much, how the legs of this movie moving forward forever. It will be claimed forever. Yeah, the legs of this movie is going to have, I agree with you, you watch this movie and go, oh, years down the road, people will still continue to be talking about a film like Forgotten Island. I just want to play you guys a little bit of a clip from just some people can actually get to hear the delightful interactions between Joe and Rysal. So here's a little bit of the movie. No one even knows where we are. No one even believes in Akali. They'll never find us. Hey, hey, it's okay. Listen to me, Rysal. Who let the dogs out? No. Not right now. Come on. It's a good question. Who? Who? Who? Who? Okay. Thank you. That's sweet as the, Christy, you said you know these girls. Tell me about what the thing that makes them different, the thing that makes them so watch them on the screen. I mean, to me it really took me back to like watching Clueless and like I was in the third grade when Clueless came out, but like it's the fact that like you don't just see these girls caring about each other. You get to see them kind of like getting gruffly. with each other points, and there's a moment in this that feels very much like you're a virgin who doesn't know how to drive. We're like, (gasps) - Yeah, very kind of one. - We all know that's, yeah, where we're like, "We know that's true, "but you don't need to say it." But it's like also that you can recover from those moments, and like, you know, I think that Joe, it's like, "Joe gets to be a character, "we don't get to see girls play about a lot," where she is messy and chaotic, and she isn't necessarily looking to have the settled life, the races, and looking for, and like, the film doesn't really judge her for that, which I also just really love, but also the way they interact, all the inside jokes, like, there's so much in here that it feels like we're let into that even if you're not getting all the pop culture references, whether it's because they're Filipino or because you are too young to remember the '90s. (laughs) I think it's still, it doesn't matter. It's still welcoming you in. It's like, their energy is so effusive that like, you feel like you're part of the wild pack. - Yeah, I was gonna say, "Romey and I both withhold comment "about the idea of being too young to remember." The '90s, we have nothing to say to that particular, where I was like, "No, I'm fine." - I'm a Gen Zalpha. (laughs) - I'm a Gen Zalpha, I have no idea. (laughs) - A lot of Robert Patton's in here. - Well, to that end, remember, you did go see this movie with your young son. Tell me about this idea of like, how do you think younger audiences will respond to a movie like Forgotten Island? - Well, for us, oldies, the first three quarters is so fast. It's so, like, it's so kinetic. It's-- - This is to be for yourself, I was fine. - Okay, you're fine. Well, for us-- - It's a generation. - Yeah, no, but like, it's fast. Like, the pace was fast, it was a lot. But then, Rizal, my child said, "That's my speed." Like, they're talking my speed, they're talking, 'cause they're, they're ability to ingest, you know, like, they are a neo from the Matrix. That's their everyday. So, they were watching it. They, they, it wasn't too fast for them. And at the end, they said it was their favorite movie. At the end, it made them more curious but Filipino mythology, at the end, they loved the relationship, they liked the colors, they loved how weird it was. Like, for, you know, and for the generation that's growing up on anime, the generation that's growing up on, that's not growing up on, like, Beauty and the Beast Disney, but that's really growing up on anime. It's in that pocket. And so, I think for the younger people, I think, you know, like, I saw a lot of the parents going, "That was a lot," but then, the younger generation, it's on their frequency, it's on their vibration. - I was going to say, like, Mike gets nine and they were like, "Yeah, I'm having a, having a ball." - Thank you. So, I, they also did not share your concerns. Christy, I'll give you a last word here, but this idea, like, this, we talked about the comparison being K-pop demon hundreds, but like, it doesn't have a golden. Do you still think you can sort of have the life? - I'll dare you. - I'll dare you, I'll dare you. - I was gonna say, that's a wild thing to say, the soundtrack slabs, that's a wild thing to say. - That's a wild thing to say. - I'll say, I'll dare you. - Oh wow, wow, dare you. - I didn't realize this was a controversial thing to say. - That doesn't have a golden. - You look at Beanie, you look at, just, I'm sorry. - No, no, I was a time. - Thank you, Reo, I was like, I'm dare you. - No, my point is that golden helped K-pop demon hundreds. - Sure. - It was a number one song, you guys. - Sure, Mike, do you think this, yes. - This does have a slapping soundtrack that includes some of the voice talent from this and some other incredible artists. So, I do think there is that element to it, but I think what we're gonna see is, like, we mentioned in Kanto, we mentioned K-pop demon hundreds, I think it's gonna be the easier it gets for kids to see this, the more you're just gonna keep seeing it. Like, I'm already, my TikTok is full of people who are talking about how much they love this movie and it's only been out a week. I think that, like, as Comic Con conventions come along, you're gonna see more people cosplaying it. I think you're gonna, you're gonna continue to hear about this. And you're gonna, especially because the way it embraces the 90s is reflective of where we are in pop culture, now where people are nostalgic for that moment. And so, I think you're just gonna continue to see it. And I also think it's gonna encourage kids to, like, follow Joe's path and be like, I'm gonna make stuff that I like. And so, I'm excited about that aspect of it too. I think it'll start as fan art, but I think 20, 30 years from now, you're gonna hear people being like, I saw this movie, it made me wanna do this, this, this. - I'm legally obligated to give her a name of the last word. He's literally just-- - I'm sorry. - He's bursting in it. - I'm sorry. - Get in there, go ahead. - It doesn't have a goal. Do you know what, like, Filipinos and Teriyoki, do you understand the legacy of how many Teriyoki songs-- - Teriyoki's central Teriyoki songs. - Yes. - But that songs, those songs are gonna be sung in Teriyoki for the rest of time. I mean, it doesn't have a goal then. How dare you? - How dare you? - I think me being dragged for saying-- - Where are my worlds, how dare you, BRP? How dare you? - But me being dragged for saying this film doesn't have a goal then I think is a wonderful place to leave it. I think that's pretty good. How dare I? Thank you to both of you who are coming here on this show today. This has been a delight, as always. Thank you guys so much again. - Thank you. - Of course, I really appreciate you. "Remember Candido" is a musician and TV showrunner based in Toronto. Chrissy Putsco is a film editor for Mashable in New York City. - In a world where the news feels bigger, louder, and harder to make sense of, Canadians need more than headlines. Hi, I'm Karen C. Olin, news reporter and host of the big story podcast from world shaping events to the everyday stories that spark debate. My team and I will explain what matters and why it matters to you. We're here to help you make sense of the news and give you the context you need for those kitchen table conversations. Trusted, Canadian-focused, curious. Listen to the big story wherever you get your podcasts. (upbeat music) - I said Calypso, sweep into place like if she come on us. - I'm Elimine Abdul-Mahmud and this is commotion and that is a song called "No More Rocking and Rolling" from the King of Calypso, the Mighty Sparrow. That song comes out in 1959. Calypso at that moment is sweeping the world and that happens thanks to Sparrow's contributions to the genre. This best Sunday, the Mighty Sparrow's family announced that he had died peacefully in his sleep. He was 91 years old and all week long, there's been tributes on social media pouring in. Jesse Ryan is a founder of Kaiso Street Society. It's a Toronto-based initiative dedicated to documenting Calypso history. He's with me now to look back on the legacy of the Mighty Sparrow. Jesse, welcome to commotion. Jesse, welcome to the show. - Thanks for having me, man. - Nice to have you here. Listen, I just wanted to maybe spend some time reflecting on the Mighty Sparrow's legacy. But let's start with, how did he first become popular in Trinidad's Clipses? - You know, Sparrow was born in Grenada originally in 1935 and moved to Trinidad just about two years later. He started pretty early performing. I decided to play in Steelpan and enter the Clipses scene. I think it was 1954, around there. In 1956, he became the first person to win a Roadmatch, which is sort of the song that the people on the street select as the song of the year, as well as the Clipses of King, that year with the song Gene and Diana, also known as Yankee's Gone. - I'm gonna get to Gene and Diana in just a moment. But I hear you're a late grandfather that Clipses already had known as the Mighty Bomber. - Yeah. - Worked with the Sparrow, with the Mighty Sparrow early on in his career. - Absolutely, my granddad was also from Grenada. And so when he might get it to Trinidad, he was the manager, the 10th manager of Sparrow's young brigade at the time. So he will close with Sparrow, you know, for about 10 to 15 years, he created Curie to the sound of Clipses through that tent. - Yeah, we were talking before the show, but how far there was a period in your life where you were talking to the Mighty Sparrow once a week. You were talking on the phone at once a week. - Well, I also like to talk to him. - I mean, it was great, like, you know, it felt like the opportunity to talk to my grandfather, get my granddad passed away in 2022. And now we were talking about my granddad, we were talking about music and being able to have access to such a legend was amazing. And he was so gracious all the time. - Was it like, do you guys were working, 'cause you were working on a documentary? - Oh, my granddad exactly. And he was supposed to be part of the documentary, didn't work out, but I still kept in contact when I would give him a call at once a week, you know, so. - That's gotta be a hell of an experience. Hey, he was a pick up the phone and you hear that voice on the other end of the line, hey? - Yeah, and it was amazing to see the stage presence that he had with a commentary in every single conversation. He was a force, you know, and he would be in his home, but he would know, he was a big joke as well. And so he had a good time talking on the phone. - I can imagine, listen, we opened this segment with a bit of no more rock and roll and from The Mighty Sparrow. Clipso is incredibly popular in some places, more popular than rock and roll. That's in fact what Sparrow's trying to get out of this song. What role did he play in making Clipso sort of a global force? - Well, Sparrow came a lot of the time when, you know, Harry Buffon, he had already sort of garnered, you know, millions of people, the attention, millions of people in the US around the Clipso. And Lord Kitchener was in London. And so there was this global growing attention for Clipso to Sparrow comes along. And he was one of the key figures that exported Clipso and not just as like a carnival music, but as like a serious performing and recording art. Like he was a really prolific writer, singer and recording artist as well. - Yeah. The Clipso, first and foremost, is fundamentally folk music. So like some of The Mighty Sparrow's most memorable Clipso's were sort of rooted in that tradition. We talked about Jean and Diner earlier. Let's just play a little bit more of Jean and Diner. ♪ Well the girls are done feeling bad ♪ ♪ No more Yankees and Trinidad ♪ ♪ They wanna close on their baseball boots ♪ ♪ Then girls have to make our own their good ♪ ♪ Brothers know their mama been gone ♪ ♪ Ain't for a penny and ain't for a con ♪ ♪ Believe me it's competition for so ♪ ♪ Trouble in it all when it price not low ♪ ♪ So when your mama's up ♪ ♪ Jean and Diner ♪ ♪ Rose and Diner ♪ - That's a bit more of Jean and Diner from The Mighty Sparrow. But you kind of hear him talking about no more Yankees and Trinidad. - Yeah, so long that's long is inspired by real life tensions. Like we're talking about the idea of US military station and Trinidad during World War II. Wanna talk a little bit more about those tensions that Sparrow's talking about there? - Yeah, I mean Sparrow had the uncanny ability to really talk about. about politics, social issues, social tensions. And he's doing that with this song. - May he dance about it? - Absolutely. And that's one of the things about black music. We can talk about really serious topics and make it feel easy. As far as doing a he's not just a funny song about women and about US soldiers. He's talking about the colonialism. He's talking about the military presence. He's also talking about the social tensions between men and women at the time. Because during that time with US soldiers, sex workers had access to the US soldiers. And some of them were making more money than the men at the time. And so there was this tension between men and women. So he's talking about what he says. Sparrow, the Yankees gone and Sparrow take over now. So he's talking about those tensions. And so that's Caleb's ability to talk about these historical events, but also sort of mirror how everyday people are experiencing it. - Yeah, I think that idea of black music fundamentally being like, hey, we can move. We can dance, and also we can address various issues. - Absolutely. That's something that I returned to a lot. Just because there are many reasons why the mighty Sparrow is called the King of Calypso. One reason that you want it to highlight is the voice. And then you listen. You have the personal relationship with the voice, the idea of getting to call him often. But what makes this thing in voice so integral to his legacy, you think? - Yeah, I think, you know, Sparrow's ability to singleric, to sellleric. He was probably one of the most emotive clipsonians, you know. If he's singing about, I know his classic song called Slave, you know, you can't help, but feel the emotion of the African slaves at the time. When he's singing a genan dino, you can feel the sensuality in the song and then so on. When he's singing about carnival culture, you can feel the excitement of being on the street. So that was a unique ability. And his pitch, as I'm a musician myself. So his ability to sing in pitch, I think, set him apart from some clipsonians and gave him the ability to be on the international stage as well. Speaking of that voice, let's just hear a little bit more. ♪ Appear as sneakers, $200, $80, $90,000 from Hoto Kaz ♪ ♪ At last, here in Trinidad ♪ ♪ We sing ♪ ♪ Capitalism, one man ♪ ♪ It's sad and get me moved by ♪ ♪ Because due to Capitalism, one man ♪ - To the point earlier about dancing to various, serious things, that is Capitalism gone mad from the 1980s to you by the Mighty Sparrow, aka the Cave of Calypso. This past Sunday, we're speaking today because Sparrow's family announced that he had died. And I'm speaking with him about the legacy of the musician with Calypso Archivist, Jesse Ryan. Jesse were almost out of time here, but he's worth noting that it's October 1st, right? - Yes. - And October is Calypso History Month. You're the founder of the Kansas Street Society and he should have dedicated to preserving Calypso history. You're launching a digital archive of Calypso History in just a few weeks, October 20th. - February 20th, and then the Ascente. - As we sort of like start Calypso History Month. Harry Hoping that the Mighty Sparrow's legacy is gonna be remembered for newer generations. - I think part of Sparrow's legacy is his ability to sing popular music, but it also be entertaining, but it's also deeply rooted in the history. And I think a lot of younger artists now can do that a little bit more. I think also his ability, Sparrow's music is not just all songs. It's literally a record of the history, of the lived history of Caribbean people. And I think that's why he became popular. And yeah, that's his voice as well. His ability to sing lyric, my connections to Sparrow's legacy through my grandfather's work is something that I want to remember. And I am always studying his music. So I want to encourage artists to continue to study the great Sparrow. - I think maybe the place to leave is for me to ask you about his on stage performance because of his idea of like, you know, like it's one thing to hear his voice is another thing to watch on the stage. What was he like to sort of watch? What was he like to watch him on stage? - Well, his name, he got his name because of his stage presence. So he was first called Little Sparrow because he was really animated and the Ola Columption said, you know, you're moving around the stage like a little Sparrow. - Yeah. - So very animated, the Ola Columption would kind of perform flat footed, I do would say, like kind of stand and deliver the lyric. But he understood that the stage was part of the composition to be able to like, almost like theater. - Yeah, I think that idea of understanding how you move about your space and then taking that with you even to phone calls with young musicians many, many years later, that sort of speaks a little bit to the way that he could able, you know, kind of command an audience. - Yeah, man. - I want to say thank you so much for coming on the show today. - Pleasure and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much. - Yeah, of course, absolutely. Jesse Ryan is a junior nominated saxophoneist and a founder of the Kaiso Street Society and initiative to preserve calypso history. - I was speaking with him with the death of the Mighty Sparrow, aka the King of Calypso, the Mighty Sparrow, was 91. (upbeat music) - My name is Eleminabra Mahmoud. This show is called "Comotion". It would be have a great day. Talk to you tomorrow. (upbeat music) - For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca/podcasts.