Maquina

**Maquina** is a cloned belted Galloway bull and a character in *Ferdinand*.

He is voiced by Tim Nordquist.

## Development

Maquina's "mechanical movements" added humor to the film,
but made him a challenging character to animate.

## Biography

### Early Life

According to Lupe, Maquina was created in a lab while being referred to as a "Frankenbull" who neither says nor feels nothing, yet somehow he wound up at Casa del Toro in Spain.

### Meeting Ferdinand

At Casa del Toro, Maquina is first seen training with the other bulls at night until he is introduced to the "new bull" named Ferdinand by Lupe, the "calming goat". After Bones manages to recognize Ferdinand, considering he knew both Bones, Guapo, and Valiente when they were calves before he ran away after what happened to his father after he was chosen to fight the matador, and Angus has already met Ferdinand with great displeasure, Maquina, whom Ferdinand is practically scared to death of at first sight, takes an immediate dislike to Ferdinand as well when meeting him for the first time as he grunts in anger. Then, Lupe tells Ferdinand that Maquina was created in a lab while referring to him as a "Frankenbull" who neither says nor feels nothing; a point proven when Maquina doesn't feel the fly perched on his right eye and then decapitates it by closing his eyelids on it; much to Ferdinand's shock and surprise as he simply states how fun he seems.

Then, Maquina is present as all the other bulls including Valiente express their own views and dislikes of Ferdinand.

### El Primero's Arrival

In the morning, after overhearing the ranch hands announcing and preparing everything for the arrival of a famous bullfighter named El Primero, Maquina and the other bulls including Ferdinand are awoken and informed about El Primero's arrival by Lupe.

Maquina and the bulls approach to witness his arrival while Lupe explains to a reluctant Ferdinand that El Primero is the greatest bullfighter in all of Spain. Once El Primero arrives at Casa del Toro and when they learn that he has come to select a bull for his final fight, Maquina and the other bulls are excited but dismayed when they see that Lupe thinks this is her chance to train and make a fighter out of Ferdinand as his coach.

### The Trial for El Primero

Maquina and the others are seen getting ready to show off their fighting skills and training for El Primero in the ring with a reluctant Ferdinand joining along. Before the trial, Maquina grunts at Ferdinand after Angus calls Ferdinand "the teacher's pet", to which Bones points out that "nobody likes the teacher's pet" to Ferdinand since Moreno wanted him to be the first bull to come out.

During the trial, Maquina can be seen trying to charge one of Moreno's men, whom he takes for a moving target, only to hit and get his horns stuck on a large wooden board where the guy was hiding as Maquina naively tries in vain to search for his "target" now hanging on the board stuck to his horns on top of his head. Later, when Ferdinand tries to help Guapo up after passing out; thanks to Valiente messing with his head again, this causes Maquina and the rest of the bulls to foul up, therfore, causing an embarrassment to them and unimpressing El Primero, who decides to leave until Moreno asks him to reconsider, which he does for the next two days before his final fight in Madrid.

Upset for not getting picked by El Primero, Maquina grunts at Ferdinand in anger while the other bulls reprimand him for making them look bad even though that was hardly his intention and all he was doing was just trying to help Guapo. When Ferdinand reveals he isn't a fighter, everybody is confused, including Lupe; though this is barely a surprise and a bit of a shock to Bones and Valiente since they've known about his pacifism since they were calves as pointed out when Valiente still refers to him as the "same, scared, little coward he always was."

Then, everybody hears Guapo boasting about his "success" back at the trial to them as he is seen boarding a truck; assuming he has been picked by El Primero. But as they watch him leave, they realize that the truck he is boarding on is actually a meat truck that transports bulls to the chop house nearby if they fail to impress the matador and are considered "soft"; much to Bones' horror and shock and a fact which Guapo remains oblivious to for now.

### Training and dancing

The next day, Maquina is seen training with all the other bulls except Ferdinand. Then, Maquina and the others observe Ferdinand trying in vain to rescue a Bunny from getting hit by Angus. Later, after a somewhat successful but embarrassing rescue and after a bonding moment between Angus and Ferdinand, Maquina and Bones watch Ferdinand and Angus show off their dancing skills to the snobbish horses: Hans, Klaus, and Greta, who continue mocking the bulls while stating that horses are far better dancers than bulls; much to Lupe and the hedgehogs: Una, Dos, and Cuatro's joy and surprise when they are seen cheering for Ferdinand. When the horses insist on proving their theory correct with their own dancing skills, Bones decides to join in when he sees them laughing at their friends as he states that he hates them and a dance-off is on with Lupe and the hedgehogs partially dancing to the music; thanks to the hedgehogs and a radio they stole the other night from the horses. Then, Maquina joins in and the bulls finally win.

As Maquina and the others celebrate and laugh over their victory on the horses while Maquina actually smiles for the very first time; much to everyone's surprise, their happiness is cut short when Valiente intervenes to remind them that as they continue doing other things besides training and fighting, they will be sent to the chop house sooner than they think as he still continues boasting about being the one to be selected to fight in the ring tomorrow against El Primero. Despite Ferdinand's objections and his offer to take them with him back to his home on the farm, Valiente's statement unfortunately proves efficient enough to convince the others to reluctantly and regrettably resume training.

### Escape from Casa del Toro

At night, Maquina and the others are awakened by Ferdinand and Lupe. When Ferdinand states that they have to escape immediately, Maquina and the others, still thinking they can win a fight, refuse to listen but Ferdinand asks them to reconsider as he refers to the bullfights as a "death sentence" and to further intensify his proof of what he saw in Moreno's house when trying to escape with Lupe and the hedgehogs, the hedgehogs bring back a trophy of horns belonging to one of the fighting bulls who got selected to fight the matador in the arena while foolishly thinking they could win in the past just like Ferdinand's father did; much to Maquina and everyone else's shock and horror except Valiente, who still remains unconvinced by this fact.

Then, Maquina and the others become even more shocked and horrified when they witness a selfish and stubborn Valiente challenging a reluctant Ferdinand to a fight, which eventually leads to Valiente losing his right horn, Ferdinand getting selected by El Primero (who saw the whole thing as well), and Valiente getting sent to the chop house.

Realizing what getting selected by El Primero means for Ferdinand, what's in store for them whether they get selected to fight or not once El Primero is done with Ferdinand, and learning that Ferdinand is offering everyone a chance to come back home with him if he is intending to leave, Maquina and the others gladly agree to come with him including Lupe and the hedgehogs as well.

Later, after the hedgehogs trick and trap the horses inside their pen, Maquina chews off and swallows the electric wires of the fence, enters the place with the others, and together, try to hold the horses off inside their pen so as not to alert the humans while Ferdinand goes out and up to the chop house to rescue Valiente despite their differences.

After Ferdinand rescues both Valiente and surprisingly Guapo from the chop house and the horses are dealt with for good for now, Maquina seals the exit for the horses while Bones and Angus happily welcome Guapo back in open arms, which is no surprise to Valiente when he admits he deserves such treatment as payback for his former behaviour in the past despite showing kindness to them.

The hedgehogs take command of the truck transporting the bulls and Lupe and drive further away from Casa del Toro after the humans have been alerted. On the way, they stop the truck to avoid hitting the same Bunny again, which Ferdinand brings on board as well, and then, continue to drive on with Moreno and his men in pursuit in his car. After Angus fails to revive the fainted Bunny despite Bones' encouragement, Maquina manages to revive him with electroshock therapy using his charged up hooves, which later earns him the Bunny's trust and respect as he is later seen perching on top of his head the rest of the way.

During the chase, the hedgehogs accidentally turn left after misunderstanding Lupe's sense of direction until they including Ferdinand and Lupe notice a low bridge on their way and duck to avoid collision while screaming, which somehow destroys the top of the cart carrying the bulls and the Bunny now perching on Maquina's head; making it a close shave for them.

When Moreno and his men get closer and after Una manages to subdue them momentarily, which ends with Una being rescued by Valiente, the humans crash into a haystack pile in a field as Maquina and the company drive further away towards Madrid.

### Escaping to the train station in Madrid

The gang are stuck in a heavy traffic jam in Madrid until they notice Moreno and his men having caught up to them and decide to go on hoof to the train station that will take them to Ferdinand's home where he grew up in Seville with the hedgehogs riding on Ferdinand while the Bunny rides on Maquina. During the chase, Maquina is seen charging at a phony matador (a guy in a matador cutout actually) along with the other bulls except Ferdinand, of course. Later, Maquina can be seen enjoying some churros with his friends while riding a bus to the train station. At the station, after the hedgehogs watch on the board for which track to take, Maquina and the others follow them. Unfortunately, they are spotted by Moreno and his men and their passage is somewhat blocked. The train heading for Seville is leaving so, Maquina and the others hurry to catch up with it. While the bulls push a cart to connect it to the train, the hedgehogs climb aboard to help with the connection and Lupe gets the train switch. When Ferdinand sacrifices himself to save his friends and Lupe stays behind as well, Maquina and the others are saddened as they watch him get captured by Moreno and his men to be taken to the arena in El Primero's final fight while riding further away.

### Living on Juan's farm

Later, after the fight is over, Ferdinand's life has been spared; given his gentle nature, which deeply touched Lupe and the crowd during the fight, and El Primero retires with dignity, as Lupe watches Ferdinand get reunited with Nina, who embraces him as the crowd throws carnations to the ring to praise him, Maquina and the others including the Bunny and the hedgehogs arrive, thinking they are too late to save Ferdinand, but instead witness Ferdinand making history as the first bull to ever make it out of a bullfight alive by being himself. Impressed, Maquina and the others sit to praise him for his efforts. Then, they are taken with Ferdinand back to his home on Nina and her father, Juan's farm, where Ferdinand was raised and grew up all his life, by Moreno. After Lupe becomes the first to be welcomed on the farm and loved by Nina, Ferdinand, Maquina, and the other bulls along with Lupe watch the sunset over Ronda from a field of flowers on top of a hill next to Ferdinand's favorite tree.

## Physical Appearance

Maquina is a stocky bull with a perpetually stoic and unexpressive face, aside from the occasional frown or brow raise. His hair is jet black and trimmed like a bowl cut. The top of his head is evidently quite flat, making him appear like Frankenstein's monster. He has deep set olive eyes and a large lower jaw. In addition, his fur is black but from his torso has a thick strip of white. Much like Valiente, his horns are very wide.

## Personality

A bull with the mind of a super computer: Maquina has a sort of robotic personality. He is often seen wearing a stern, emotionless expression and rarely smiles. He doesn't speak much aside from some grunts and growls. However, Maquina is capable of feeling emotions like joy when he and the other bulls won the dance off against the horses or fear when Ferdinand explained to the other bulls that the matador never loses. Like Ferdinand, Maquina is sometimes shown to be soft on the inside when smiling joyously at the Bunny after reviving him with electroshock therapy and allowing him to perch on top of his head or back the rest of the way.

## Relationships

### Bunny

Maquina and Bunny have, presumably, a very close relationship as the latter often perches on top of the bull's head or back especially after how he revived the latter with electroshock therapy while escaping Casa del Toro and smiled at him the first time.

## Abilities

Maquina physically doesn’t feel pain, as shown when he grabbed the electro cage wire in his mouth and broke them off the fence while he clearly had hundreds (maybe thousands) of volts flowing through him, and then ate them like noodles.

## Trivia

* Maquina means "machine" in Spanish, a jab to his stoic and almost mechanical expressions and movements in the film.
	+ There is also the Greek god of the machine Deus Ex Machina. This also makes sense given the fact that Maquina behaves like a machine.
* Unlike the other bulls, Maquina is the only bull with an ear notched on the left rather than the right.
* Tim Nordquist, who voiced Maquina, also provided additional voices and was also the co-editor of *Ferdinand*.
* Maquina’s ears are the only parts of his body that are not symmetrical to each other.
* Maquina is referred to by Lupe as a "Frankenbull", which is a reference to the iconic horror movie villain, Frankenstein.

## References

1. ↑ *"His limited mechanical movements lent to a lot of really funny moments in the film. He was a fun, challenging character to build." #AskAnArtist*. (November 30, 2017). *Twitter*.