Ferdinand (film)


Ferdinand is a 2017 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was based on Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson's 1936 children's book The Story of Ferdinand, written by Robert L. Baird, Tim Federle and Brad Copeland and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The film features features an ensemble voice cast that includes John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale, Peyton Manning, Anthony Anderson, David Tennant, Tim Nordquist, Lily Day, Juanes, Jerrod Carmichael, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Raúl Esparza, Gina Rodriguez, Daveed Diggs, Gabriel Iglesias, Flula Borg, Boris Kodjoe, and Sally Phillips. The story, written by Ron Burch, David Kidd and Don Rhymer, follows a gentle pacifist bull named Ferdinand who refuses to participate in bullfighting but is forced back into the arena where his beliefs are challenged by being faced off against the world's greatest bullfighter.
Ferdinand premiered on December 10, 2017 in Los Angeles, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 15, 2017 in 3D and 2D formats. It grossed $296 million worldwide against a production budget of $111 million. Ferdinand received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 90th Academy Awards while also receiving nominations for Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song at the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
It was the last 20th Century Fox animated film to be released before the Disney acquisition, as well as the last Blue Sky Studios film to be released before the Disney acquisition.

Plot

In Spain, a friendly, non-violent, flower-loving calf named Ferdinand lives on Casa del Toro, a ranch that raises and trains bulls for bullfighting. Not willing to be raised as a violent bull that will one day be forced to fight against matadors in the bull ring, Ferdinand runs away from Casa del Toro after his father Raf fails to return from a bullfight. He arrives at a peaceful farm run by a florist named Juan and bonds with his daughter Nina, much to his dog Paco's jealousy. Ferdinand lives happily on Juan's farm, where he spends every day smelling flowers and relaxing in the shade of trees until he grows up into an enormous bull. One day when Ferdinand is all grown up, Ferdinand is left alone when Juan, Nina and Paco go to Ronda for an annual flower festival. Ferdinand follows anyway, but is stung by a bee on the butt and unintentionally causes chaos around town. Believed to be an aggressive, violent, short-tempered bull, Ferdinand taken to back Casa del Toro, saddening Nina.
Ferdinand reunites with his childhood bullies, Bones, Guapo and Valiente and discovers that they’re all grown up and are joined by two new bulls named Angus and Maquina. Still ridiculed by Bones, Guapo, and Valiente, Ferdinand befriends Lupe, a goat who wants to coach him in bullfighting, and a trio of hedgehogs named Una, Dos, and Cuatro. Legendary bullfighter El Primero arrives to choose the biggest, strongest, most aggressive bull to fight before he retires. Failing to impress the matador, the bulls turn on Ferdinand for making them look bad and blocking the entrance to the ring. Guapo is taken to a slaughterhouse, which Valiente and Bones tell Ferdinand will be their fate if they are not chosen for a bullfight. Ferdinand earns the bulls’ respect except Valiente after a dance-off with German horses, but they still believe fighting is their only way to survive. Ferdinand convinces Lupe to escape with him to Nina's farm, aided by the hedgehogs. Close to freedom, Ferdinand sees his father’s horns mounted on a wall with dozens of others, and realizes that every bull chosen to fight is slain by the matador.
Ferdinand warns the other bulls, but Valiente is unconvinced and charges him outside. Primero witnesses Valiente making Ferdinand inadvertently defeat Valiente by breaking off his horn, and chooses Ferdinand to fight. When Valiente is taken to the slaughterhouse, Ferdinand rallies the remaining bulls to escape, and goes to the slaughterhouse to rescue him. They discover Guapo is still alive, and Ferdinand questions Valiente's courage after he refuses to help rescue him. Ferdinand's tail accidentally activates a series of deadly contraptions, but escapes with Valiente's help. The bulls, hedgehogs and Lupe steal Casa del Toro's truck, and escape the ranch’s owner, Moreno, and his employees. The animals arrive at Atocha train station in Madrid. When the bulls push a small railroad cart to catch the train back to Nina's home, Ferdinand sacrifices himself so the others can escape. Lupe stays behind as Ferdinand is captured. News of the runaway bulls causing chaos around town, Ferdinand's upcoming fight with Primero reaches Nina, and she and Juan set out to rescue the bull.
At Las Ventas arena, Lupe urges Ferdinand to fight in order to survive, but Ferdinand is silently unsure. Released into the ring, he gives a weak performance and accidentally sends El Primero flying into the bull pen. Primero attacks Ferdinand with banderillas, scratching him in the shoulder. Ferdinand almost retaliates, but sees a carnation crushed under his hoof; unwilling to resort to violence, he lets Primero live. Ferdinand resigns himself to being slain by the matador, but the crowd cries out for him to live. Primero spares Ferdinand and leaves with dignity, and Ferdinand is reunited with Nina, as the crowd throws carnations into the ring to praise the bull. The other animals arrive and witness him making history as the first bull ever to leave a bullfight alive by being himself.
Ferdinand returns home with Nina, Juan and Paco, joined by Lupe, the three hedgehogs, and the rest of the bulls. During the credits, the hedgehogs are shocked that their brother Tres is still alive.

Cast

In 2011, it was reported that 20th Century Fox Animation had acquired the rights to the children's book The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf to adapt it into a computer-animated feature film with Carlos Saldanha attached to direct it. In May 2013, Fox titled the film simply Ferdinand, which would be produced by Blue Sky Studios. John Powell, a frequent collaborator with Saldanha, would be composing the film's score. In November 2016, it was reported that Gabriel Iglesias would voice a character named Cuatro, a hedgehog, Una and Dos' brother.

Soundtrack

On September 19, 2017, it was announced that singer Nick Jonas wrote and recorded a song called "Home" for the film. It was featured in the third trailer released the next day and also appears in the film and end credits. It was released as the first promotional single of the soundtrack on October 20, 2017. A second song by Jonas titled "Watch Me" was released alongside the film's EP on December 1.

Track listing

The soundtrack features three original tracks: "Home" and "Watch Me" by Nick Jonas, and "Lay Your Head On Me" by Juanes.
Most of Albert Hay Malotte's score from Walt Disney's Ferdinand the Bull was included and recomposed by John Powell, who also created additional original theme music for the 2017 film.

Release

In May 2013, Fox scheduled the film for April 7, 2017 release. In February 2016, the release date was pushed back from its original release date of April 7, 2017 to July 21, 2017. In August 2016, the release date was again pushed back, this time from July 21, 2017 to December 22, 2017, taking over the release date of DreamWorks Animation's The Croods 2, before that film was temporarily cancelled. In February 2017, the film was moved up by one week from December 22, 2017 to December 15, 2017. The first trailer premiered on March 28, 2017, followed by the second trailer on June 14, 2017.

Home media

Ferdinand was released on Digital HD on February 27, 2018, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 13, 2018.

Reception

Box office

Ferdinand has grossed $84.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $211.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $296 million, against a production budget of $111 million.
In the United States and Canada, Ferdinand was released alongside , and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,621 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $350,000 from Thursday night previews at 2,385 theaters, which began at 5 P.M. and $3.6 million on its first day. It went on to open to $13.3 million, finishing second behind The Last Jedi.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 119 reviews and an average rating of 6.24/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ferdinands colorful update on a classic tale doesn't go anywhere unexpected, but its timeless themes – and John Cena's engaging voice work in the title role – make for family-friendly fun." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audience polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Spanish bullfighting critic of El País, Antonio Lorca, in a critique of the film said that the film's message is "profoundly unnatural", and that the "renunciation" of the lead character to its "animal nature" is a lie that manipulates children, who will become "tomorrow's anti-bullfighters". El Diario.es commented on this article by Lorca, saying that it had been widely commented on social networks and that the anti-bullfighting narrative of the film "raised hackles" for its message against animal abuse, which can also be interpreted as "fight against school bullying" and "implicit defense of sexual and gender diversity". Ben Kenigsberg of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, saying, "Unlike in the book, Ferdinand earns the arena’s cheers for not fighting, but the crowd’s sense of surprise will elude audiences attending Ferdinand." Susan Wloszczyna of Rogerebert.com gave the film a three out of four stars and said, "Enough of that kind of bull. What the world needs now is Ferdinand, sweet Ferdinand, a rare breed of bovine who takes a stand against aggression, competitive rivalry and conforming to the expectations of others." James Dyer of Empire Magazine gave the film a three out of five stars, saying, "Inoffensive fun, but unlike its paperback forbear, the cinematic Ferdinand is unlikely to stand the test of time."
Simran Hans of The Guardian gave the film a four out of five stars and said, "A flower-sniffing bull goes on a journey of self-discovery in this fun adaptation of a 30s children’s book." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter also gave a positive review for the film, saying, "It’s no Coco, but Ferdinand, a CG-animated adaptation of the classic 1936 Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson book about a flower-loving bull who’d rather sniff than fight, manages to squeak by with enough charming set-pieces and amusing sight gags to compensate for a stalling storyline." Katie Welsh of Chicago Tribune gave the film a negative review of two stars, saying, "With a lovely voice performance from Cena, the spirit of Ferdinand does shine through. But the rest of the story filler is mostly forgettable." Tara Brady of The Irish Times also gave the film a three out of five stars, saying, "Ferdinand may lack the all-out charm offensive of the studio’s 2015 Snoopy and Charlie Brown vehicle, but it’s not too far off in terms of quality and sweetness."

Accolades