{"id":613852,"date":"2026-09-28T01:24:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T01:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/613852\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T01:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T01:24:22","slug":"forgotten-islands-stars-explain-tayo-na-the-movies-biggest-shifting-in-joke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/613852\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Forgotten Island’s Stars Explain “Tayo Na!”, the Movie’s Biggest Shifting In-Joke"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the new DreamWorks animated movie Forgotten Island, the two teenage leads, Jo and Raissa, say the same phrase to each other over and over: \u201cTayo na!\u201d As with a lot of the other Filipino cultural elements in the movie, writer-directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado don\u2019t explain these Tagalog words: They just let viewers pick up the meaning from context.<\/p>\n

But that can be a little difficult when the context changes from scene to scene \u2014 and when the phrase itself has a variety of meanings. As Filipinos and Tagalog speakers<\/a> have been explaining online<\/a>, \u201cTayo na!\u201d can colloquially mean \u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d or \u201cYou and me!\u201d or \u201cGet up!\u201d depending on pronunciation, who\u2019s speaking, and whether there\u2019s a romantic, parental, or other context.<\/p>\n

Forgotten Island uses the phrase in a lot of different ways as Jo and Raissa, two childhood friends confronting hidden tensions and big changes in their relationship<\/a>, either urge each other into adventure or rev each other up in the face of danger. The first time Jo says it, when she first meets Raissa, she actually says, “Let’s go! Tayo na!” It seems very casual at first, but throughout the movie, it takes on new weight and bigger meanings.<\/p>\n

\"Raissa,
\n Image: DreamWorks<\/p>\n

The characters\u2019 voice actors, Liza Soberano (Raissa) and singer-songwriter H.E.R.<\/a> (Jo), tell Polygon that their own Filipino roots played into how they interpreted the phrase from scene to scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe grew up saying that,\u201d H.E.R. explains. \u201cI think about my mom [saying it while] rushing me in the morning to get to school. But for us, it became like, our phrase. To say like, \u2018Hey, come on, you. You’ve gotta join me. Let’s go.”<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up hearing my grandma say it a lot,\u201d Soberano chimes in. \u201cIt’s actually a very formal way of saying \u2018Let’s go.\u2019 \u2018Tayo na,\u2019 more than anything, means \u2018I’m not doing this without you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
\n Image: DreamWorks<\/p>\n

In the film, Jo and Raissa are about to be parted as Raissa leaves the country to go to college. Her impending departure leaves Jo feeling hurt, rejected, and frightened about a future without her best friend. When a portal opens to the magical island of Nakali \u2014 a place the two girls have been seeking for their entire childhoods, spurred on by stories from Jo\u2019s grandmother \u2014 Raissa balks at stepping into the unknown. But Jo has their catchphrase ready. Throughout the film, both girls use it to compel each other to take steps they might otherwise balk at. It becomes a code, like \u201cOklahoma\u201d in Ted Lasso or \u201cGrapefruit\u201d in the horror movie Bring Her Back<\/a>. In both those stories, characters use those agreed-upon words to demand the truth instead of a comforting lie. \u201cTayo na\u201d is like an equivalent that demands action and commitment.<\/p>\n

\"Jo
\n Image: DreamWorks<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I say \u2018tayo na,\u2019 she knows I’m serious,\u201d H.E.R. says. \u201cYou can’t back down from a \u2018tayo na.\u2019 It’s almost like an initiation. Like \u2018If I say tayo na, you can’t say no.\u2019 It’s our promise with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both kind of treat it that way,\u201d Soberano adds. \u201cIt’s our safe word that we have for each other. You know it’s serious, you know it’s game time when we say this. You don\u2019t have a choice. It’s like the best-friend card.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both actors say their Filipino heritage helped them with the nuances of the lines and their characters\u2019 relationship. It also gave them a chance to contribute to the script in small ways. H.E.R. is particularly proud of contributing a jokey little diss where Jo mocks a longstanding bully by calling his beloved car a \u201ccheapney,\u201d in \u201ca nod to the Filipino jeepney that’s all over Manila<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two
\n Image: DreamWorks<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so much fun,\u201d she says. \u201cI just loved how much we were able to be so ourselves. Even though we might have been nervous at times, or shy, or whatever, it just was so organic, especially because we’re both Filipino. We’ve been talking so much about how when you meet another Filipino, immediately you’re like family. [\u2026] You relate to each other, and it’s like a safe space. We experienced that recording together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forgotten Island is in theaters now.<\/p>\n