Blue Sky Studio’s feature-length adaptation has, naturally, taken a great deal longer. The project was first announced in 2011 and originally scheduled for a spring, then summer release this year. (It’s finally opening this month against Star Wars: The Last Jedi, just as its previous non-Ice Age film, The Peanuts Movie, opened against The Force Awakens.) We meet our hero as a bull-calf living at the Casa del Toro compound, where matadors come to select adult bulls for the ring. Determined from the off that he’s no fighter, the young Ferdinand breaks out and finds his way into a utopian life on a flower farm. There, he becomes the companion of little girl Nina. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll know what transpires. There’s lots of slapstick comedy, another escape attempt, a rescue mission, a mighty chase, a reunion, and lessons aplenty learned along the way. Set in the contrasting environments of rural Andalusia and urban Madrid, the art design provides some beautiful moments. One wistful shot in particular sees the traditional windmills of Southern Spain give way to modern wind turbines. The city scenes are riotous with colour, and Ferdinand’s preferred spot underneath his cork tree overlooks a magnificent vista. And even if the original author shied away from the label, Ferdinand is also a pacifist symbol (so much so that, on first publication, the book was banned in Franco’s Spain and burned in Nazi Germany). Granted, we’re in a different political context to the 1930s, but a character choosing beauty over the violence they’re expected to commit remains a heart-soothing message in any age. It’s hard though, to get away from the fact that Ferdinand’s large cast of characters—both human and beast—feels scattershot. There’s a sense of everything being thrown at the film to fill in the gaps of a story premise that’s allegorically powerful but actually pretty sparse. There are lengthy dance sequences, multiple chase sequences, training montages, a zany comedy goat voiced by Kate McKinnon, a comedy trio of hedgehogs, another comedy trio of Lipizzaner ponies… It’s colourful, funny, entertaining and has a positive message, ticking the boxes for most parents taking young children to the cinema. With a strong start and a strong end, Ferdinand wobbles in the middle. That’s where there seems to be a bit of bet-hedging going on in terms of whose story this really is. One supporting character—tough, troubled bull Valiente—has a strong arc with the potential for real payoff, but his story is accelerated in an effort to get through the many action set pieces. Nina’s character and story are among those that aren’t quite developed, perhaps harking back to earlier and different drafts of the story. Overall, Ferdinand is very likeable, has a big heart, looks a treat and offers plenty of gags. Ultimately though, instead of character or story, it feels led by message. Even if you absolutely love that message, it’s not the same as absolutely loving the film.
title: “Ferdinand Review” ShowToc: true date: “2025-08-17” author: “Velma Dobbs”
Ferdinand, the new adaptation of the story from Fox’s Blue Sky Studios animation shop, retains a gentle, sweet charm even as it expands Munro Leaf’s 32-page story to feature length and delves into some surprisingly dark material. When we meet Ferdinand as a calf, he lives on an estate with his father and other Spanish fighting bulls, although he himself has no interest in getting into the ring. When tragedy strikes, however, Ferdinand flees the compound and eventually finds himself a bucolic new home with a young girl named Nina (voiced by Lily Day), her father Juan (Juanes) and a gruff old dog named Paco (Jerrod Carmichael). One thing Ferdinand the movie doesn’t do is pander: death is an ever-present part of the life the bulls lead and the movie doesn’t shy away from that cold hard fact. The film opens with grief and loss and continues to explore both, albeit in a way that is not too intense for younger kids. The fate of the bulls who can’t fight — through injury or other reasons — is possibly even more horrific, if also a simple but harsh reality, and it’s given its due in a terrifying scene that plays out like a high-tech amusement park haunted house run amok.
The dance-off and several other sequences — including a quite funny and literal “bull in a china shop” scene — are more than enough to keep the little ones amused while appealing to adults as well. The movie starts to feel a little long toward the end as it takes a few extra twists and turns until Ferdinand makes his inevitable way to confront his greatest fear, but ends on a poignant and heartfelt note. Directed by Carlos Saldanha (who’s primarily known for working on the Ice Age and Rio franchises), Ferdinand is top-notch on a technical level and lovely to look at. Meanwhile, its underlying message of believing in oneself and one’s own nature — and getting the respect of others in the process — is eloquently stated. It’s too bad that a lot of people probably won’t see it; after all, the movie is opening this weekend against a little picture called Star Wars: The Last Jedi. That’s a fight even a big old bull like Ferdinand is bound to lose.
