''Magikland'' is a 2020 Filipino

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

film, directed by Christian Acuña, produced by

Brightlight Productions Brightlight Productions is a Philippine television production company founded and owned by Albee Benitez who previously served as Negros Occidental's 3rd district representative from 2010 to 2019 and the current Mayor of Bacolod. Airing more ...

and Gallaga Reyes Films. It is an official entry to the

2020 Metro Manila Film Festival The 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is the 46th edition of the annual Metro Manila Film Festival. It is organized by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). It is the first edition of the festival to be held online due to the ...

. It revolves around four children who get transported to Magikland, a fantasy world which is a setting of a mobile game.

Plot

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

, Boy (

Miggs Cuaderno Miggs Cuaderno (; born August 8, 2004) is a Filipino actor and model. He is a recipient of several accolades including his best actor in Chéries Chéris Film Festival Paris, Famas Awards Movie Child Performer of the Year And the First Child A ...

) spends the night with his hospitalized and dying mother (Jaclyn Jose), sisters Mara (Elijah Alejo) and Kit (Princess Rabara) have dinner with their estranged parents (Audie Gemora and Maricel Laxa), while Pat, a street child obtains a stolen mobile phone. The four then plays ''Magikland'', a popular mobile game but find themselves transported to the fantasy world of the same name after they were forced to jump into a portal. In Magikland, the four children were told by Mama Mandalagan (Bibeth Orteza), a wise woman, that they are destined to save Magikland and gave each their own quest to obtain four weapons that they would need to defeat Mogrodo-Or (Jaime Zabarte) who seeks to take over the kingdom ruled by Princess Diya (Hailey Mendez).

Cast

The following are part of the ''Magikland's'' cast: *

as Boy / Boy Bakunawa *

Elijah Alejo Elijah Christian Ong Alejo (; born November 13, 2004) is a Filipino actress. She is known for her villain roles in '' Prima Donnas'' as Brianna and ''Underage'' as Chynna. In April 2020, she wrote her first Wattpad Wattpad is an online lite ...

as Mara / Mara Marapara * Princess Rabara as Kit / Kit Kanlaon * Josh Eugenio as Pat / Pat Patag * Jamir Zabarte as Mogrodo-Or * Hailey Mendez as Princess Diya * Bibeth Orteza as Mama Mandalagan Jun Urbano also had a significant role in the film. Also part of the cast are

Jackielou Blanco Jacqueline Lourdes Blanco-Davao (born February 11, 1964) is a Filipina actress and aerobic instructor. During the 1980s and the 1990s, she appeared in different film genres including ''Hihintayin Kita sa Langit'', (1991), ''Si Aida, Si Lorna, o ...

, Wilma Doesnt,

Mylene Dizon Mylene Dizon (; born September 6, 1974) is a Filipino actress and model. Dizon has established herself as one of the most renowned actresses in Philippine cinema with an astounding 30 films and nearly 50 television roles to her credit, as well ...

Cherie Gil Evangeline Rose Gil Eigenmann (; June 21, 1963 – August 5, 2022), known professionally as Cherie Gil, was a Filipino actress. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, she was dubbed the "''La Primera Contravida''" ("The Prime Villain") for he ...

, Maricel Laxa

Agot Isidro Maria Margarita Amada Fteha Isidro (born July 20, 1966), known professionally as Agot Isidro, is a Filipino actress. She is the fourth of the six children of Jose Isidro, an architect, and Palestinian mother Edwarta Fteha. She graduated from t ...

Katrina Halili Maria Katrina Iren Pe Halili (born January 4, 1986) is a Filipino actress and commercial model of Chinese descent. She made her screen debut through the reality talent search '' StarStruck'' in 2003, and became more popular playing several role ...

Jaclyn Jose Mary Jane Santa Ana Guck (born October 21, 1964), better known by her stage name Jaclyn Jose, is a Filipino cinema and television actress who has earned international critical acclaim. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Private Sho ...

, Kurt Soberano,

Luis Alandy Adrian Louis Castro Alandy (born February 7, 1980), formerly known as Luis Alandy, is a Filipino actor and model. His first acting role was as David in the TV series ''Pangako Sa 'Yo''. Biography Alandy completed an intensive course in comput ...

Paolo Contis Paolo Enrico Tusi Contis (born March 14, 1984) is a Filipino actor host singer and comedian of Italian descent. Contis debuted as a child actor in the ABS-CBN show ''Ang TV'' during the 1990s. A GMA Network artist for 17 years, he has won sever ...

Gabby Eigenmann Gabriel John Celebre Eigenmann (; born March 2, 1978) is a Filipino actor, singer, host and model. He is currently working as an exclusive talent of GMA Network. Background He was born on March 2, 1978 in Makati, Philippines. Gabby hails from ...

Ryan Eigenmann Ryan Richard Alatiit Eigenmann (; born July 22, 1977) is a Filipino actor. Early life Ryan Richard Alatiit Eigenmann was born on July 22, 1977. He is one of the third generation of the Mesa-Gil clan of actors. His grandparents are musician Eddi ...

and Rowell Santiago.

Production

''Magikland'' is directed by Christian Acuña with Albee Benitez, Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes as producers. It was produced under

and Gallaga Reyes Films. ''Magikland'' reportedly consists of 70 to 95 percent animation and

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

started around 2017 and took five months to complete and post-production work took two years to complete. Scenes were shot using live human actors in numerous locations including venues in Tanay and

Antipolo Antipolo, officially known as the City of Antipolo ( fil, Lungsod ng Antipolo), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 887,399 people. It is the mo ...

Rizal Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The p ...

. Budget for the film was originally intended to not exceed , ''Magiklands production ended costing more than . According to Gallaga, the theme park in

Silay Silay, officially the City of Silay ( hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Silay; ceb, Dakbayan sa Silay; fil, Lungsod ng Silay), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popu ...

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...

of the same name, was the inspiration for the film. Gallaga speaking on how the Magikland, the theme park was relevant to the conception of the film said "The theme park inspired the movie and the movie, in turn, inspired the park". Negros mythology was incorporated into the film in line with the amusement park having a Filipino-fantasy theme. The four main characters Boy Bakunawa, Mara Marapara, Pat Patag and Kit Kanlaon representing four elements were inspired from Negros folklore. The iOS mobile game which featured in the film was inspired from the

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

video game franchise. Gallaga died prior to the film's release on May 7, 2020, but production of ''Magikland'' continued with the film being 80 percent complete by July 2020.

Release

''Magikland'' was made available through Upstream on December 25, 2020, as one of the ten official entries of the

, which was modified into a digital event due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The film was released in selected cinemas in modified general community quarantine areas as well as KTX and

iWantTFC iWantTFC is a Filipino over-the-top content platform and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Digital Media, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation, formed in 2020 through the merger of two streaming services iWant and TFC Online. In ad ...

on February 12, 2021. There film was also made available for streaming on August 1, 2021, on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Reception

''Magikland'' garnered six honors at the awards night of the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival. The film was critically acclaimed for its production having bagged the Best Musical Score, Best Visual Effects, and Best Production Design awards. Magikland also was awarded for Best Virtual Float (for its virtual float at the Parade of the Stars), as well as the FPJ Memorial Award. Producer Peque Gallaga was also posthumously given the Special Jury Prize.

References