Ferdinand (film)

## Second official theatrical poster

### Rating

***Ferdinand*** is an American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox, based on the children's book, *The Story of Ferdinand* by Munro Leaf. The film is directed by Carlos Saldanha and it was released on December 15, 2017 in the United States.

## Official Synopsis

From Blue Sky Studios and Carlos Saldanha, the director of *Rio* and inspired by the beloved book *The Story of Ferdinand* by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, *Ferdinand* is a heartwarming animated comedy adventure with an all-star cast that includes John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Gina Rodriguez, Anthony Anderson and many more.

## Production

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, announced that he would be composing the film's score.

## Plot

 ***SPOILER ALERT!***
Plot ending or details from the film are included in this section. Click **here** to skip to the next section.
In Spain, a ranch owned by Moreno (Raúl Esparza) that trains bulls for bullfighting called Casa del Toro harbours a bull calf named Ferdinand (Colin H. Murphy), who is Moreno's favorite pet. He is ridiculed by his fellow calves and Moreno's pets, Bones (Nile Diaz), Guapo (Jet Jurgensmeyer), and Valiente (Jack Gore), for being non-confrontational and his tendency to smell and protect flowers. A saddened Ferdinand runs away from Casa del Toro after his father Raf (Jeremy Sisto) does not return from the bull fight he was picked for and a flower he was fond of was flattened by Valiente after his own father was defeated by Raf. He eventually winds up at a florist's farm in Seville, making Valiente the new favorite pet of Moreno. Ferdinand is adopted by the owner Juan (Juanes), his dog Paco (Jerrod Carmichael), and his daughter Nina (Julia Saldanha) with whom he shares a bond, much to Paco's jealousy.

When Ferdinand (John Cena) eventually grows up into an enormous bull, he still retains his non-violent, flower-loving nature. Due to his size, he is left alone when Juan, Nina (Lily Day), and Paco go to Ronda for an annual flower festival. Ferdinand decides to go anyway, resulting in him getting stung by a bee and unintentionally causing chaos around town and is taken away back to Casa del Toro, much to his and the family’s sadness.

Once back there, he finds that Bones (Anthony Anderson), Guapo (Peyton Manning), and Valiente (Bobby Cannavale) have also grown up and have been joined by a Scottish bull named Angus (David Tennant) and a silent but intimidating bull named Maquina (Tim Nordquist). Ferdinand is still disrespected by the bulls, but manages to befriend a crazy goat named Lupe (Kate McKinnon) who wants to be his coach in bullfighting despite his lack of interest and three hedgehogs named Una (Gina Rodriguez), Dos (Daveed Diggs), and Cuatro (Gabriel Iglesias) who frequently invade Casa del Toro to steal food and used to have another brother named Tres, but they claim he is dead. Ferdinand also meets three Austrian Lipzzans (Sally Phillips, Flula Borg and Boris Kodjoe), who always tease bulls and love dancing.

One day, a legendary but egotistical bullfighter named El Primero (Miguel Ángel Silvestre) arrives at Casa del Toro to choose the biggest, strongest, and most aggressive bull to fight against before he retires. When the bulls fail to impress him on their first try, Guapo is taken to a nearby slaughterhouse and the other bulls tell Ferdinand that it will eventually be their fate if they are not chosen for a bullfight. Although Ferdinand manages to earn the respect of the other bulls, except Valiente, after a dance-off with the Lipzzans, they still hold on to the belief that fighting is the only way for them to live. Ferdinand manages to convince Lupe to come back with him to Nina's farm and the hedgehogs help them escape, but when Ferdinand is close to freedom, he sees his father's picture on a wall with his horns mounted, along with dozens of other horns, making him realize that every bull who is chosen to fight gets slain by the matador.

Ferdinand explains to the other bulls that they will all eventually be killed even if they are chosen to fight. Valiente is the only one unconvinced and charges Ferdinand outside where Ferdinand inadvertently beats him in a fight and knocks off his right horn, much to the other animals' shock. Primero witnesses the scuffle, and chooses Ferdinand to fight him after seeing him defeat Valiente. When Valiente is taken to the slaughterhouse, Ferdinand rallies up the remaining bulls to escape but first goes to the slaughterhouse to break out Valiente. He at first refuses as he believes that the slaughterhouse is his fate now, but they discover that Guapo is still alive, and Ferdinand questions Valiente's courage after Valiente refuses to help him rescue Guapo. When Ferdinand tries to save Guapo, he accidentally activates a series of deadly contraptions, but with the help of a now-friendlier Valiente, they escape the slaughterhouse. The bulls, Lupe, the hedgehogs and a red bunny rabbit steal the training area's company truck to escape, with Moreno and his employees giving chase.

The animals try desperately to lose the humans and wind up at Atocha train station in Madrid that Ferdinand sees as his ticket back to Nina. When the bulls push a small railroad cart to catch the train back to Nina's home, Ferdinand sacrifices himself so the other bulls can escape (except for Lupe, who stays behind in shock after Ferdinand's act) and is captured by Moreno and his employees. When Nina learns of Ferdinand's upcoming fight with El Primero, she and Juan set out to Madrid to find and rescue Ferdinand.

At Las Ventas bullfight arena, Lupe tries to convince Ferdinand that he must fight in order to survive, but Ferdinand is silently unsure. When Ferdinand is released into the bullfight ring, he refuses to fight at first but is urged into fighting by El Primero. While being forced to run into Primero’s cape, Ferdinand is able to grab the cape from Primero with his horn and is temporarily blinded by it. Primero attempts to grab his cape back from Ferdinand, but is accidentally tossed out of the ring by Ferdinand. Primero re-enters the ring angrily and attacks Ferdinand using banderillas, striking him in the shoulder. Ferdinand almost retaliates against him, but sees a carnation underneath his hoof and realizes he is becoming the fighter he was determined not to be. As Primero draws his sword in order to finish Ferdinand, the crowd begins to cheer for Ferdinand, convincing Primero to spare him. Ferdinand is then reunited with Nina, who embraces him as the crowd throws carnations to the ring to praise the bull. The other bulls 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, they sit to praise him for his efforts.

In the film's ending, Ferdinand returns home with Nina, Juan, and Paco. They are joined by the other bulls, the hedgehogs, the bunny, and Lupe, who all move into the farm. The film ends with Ferdinand, his bull friends, and Lupe watching the sunset over Ronda from a field of flowers. During the first part of the credits a photo montage after the film's events is shown, creating an epilogue and revealing that Ferdinand's bull friends and Paco became Ferdinand's new brothers, the hedgehogs become Juan's butlers, the bunny is the farm's security guard, Lupe becomes the second pet of Nina, and the Lipzzans stay behind in Casa del Toro and are excited to be away from the bulls.

In a brief mid-credits scene, the hedgehogs are confronted by Tres who is revealed to have been alive the whole time.

 ***END OF SPOILERS***
You have reached the end of the section with spoilers. Click **here** to return to the start of the spoilers again.
## Cast

The cast of *Ferdinand* are as follows :

* John Cena as Ferdinand
* Colin H. Murphy as young Ferdinand
* David Tennant as Angus
* Anthony Anderson as Bones
* Nile Diaz as Young Bones
* Gabriel Iglesias as Cuatro the blue hedgehog
* Kate McKinnon as Lupe
* Boris Kodjoe as Klaus
* Miguel Ángel Silvestre as El Primero
* Raúl Esparza as Moreno
* Jerrod Carmichael as Paco
* Gina Rodriguez as Una the violet hedgehog
* Daveed Diggs as Dos the indigo hedgehog
* Bobby Cannavale as Valiente, Valiente's Father
* Jack Gore as young Valiente
* Sally Phillips as Greta
* Flula Borg as Hans
* Peyton Manning as Guapo
* Jet Jurgensmeyer as young Guapo
* Lily Day as Nina
* Julia Scarpa Saldanha as young Nina
* Juanes as Juan
* Jeremy Sisto as Raf
* Karla Martínez as Isabella
* Belita Moreno as the Shopkeeper

## Crew

* **Directed by:** Carlos Saldanha
* **Produced by:**
	+ Bruce Anderson
	+ Lori Forte
* **Screenplay by:**
	+ Jordan Roberts
* **Head of Story:** Warren Leonhardt
* **Head of Character Development:** Sang Jun Lee
* **Lead Sculptor:** Vicki Saulls
* **Music by:**
	+ John Powell (Official Sountrack)
	+ Nick Jonas (*Home*)
* **Cinematography by:** Renato Falcão
* **Edited by:** Harry Hitner

## Soundtrack and Score

***Main article:*** *Ferdinand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack* and *Ferdinand: Original Motion Picture Score*

Original soundtrack, *Ferdinand: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack*, and score, *Ferdinand: Original Motion Picture Score*, were played in the film. The latter also showcases the iconic original song *Home*.

## Awards and Accolades

*Ferdinand* was nominated as "Best Animated Feature Film" for the 75th Golden Globe Awards on December 11, 2017. Original song *Home* was also nominated for the “Best Original Song”.

It was also nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production" award for the 45th Annual Annie Awards. The nominees are Production Designers Tom Cardone, Arden Chan, Andrew Hickson, Mike Lee and Jason Sadler. It was also nominated for "Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production" and the nominees are Editors Harry Hitner and Tom Nordquist.

## Trivia

* There is a minor reference to *Ice Age*, another Blue Sky Studios franchise: an icon of Scrat’s acorn can be seen on the phone’s screen in the scene where Guapo is taking a selfie with a man in a matador cutout.
* Just like Blue Sky Studios's robots, it has a shop

## Videos

### Trailers and Promotions

Ferdinand Teaser Trailer HD 20th Century FOXFerdinand Official Trailer HD 20th Century FOXFerdinand Trailer HD 20th Century FOXFERDINAND OFFICIAL HD TRAILER 3 2017Ferdinand - John Cena Shout out Coming to Event Cinemas December 2017Barrel into Cinemark Connections with Ferdinand!FERDINAND says turn off your cellphone!Ferdinand 'Hold on tight' Official HD Clip 2017Ferdinand Turkey Day Group Chat 20th Century FOX
### Clips

Ferdinand "Bull in a China Shop" Clip 20th Century FOXFerdinand "Weird is the New Normal" Clip 20th Century FOXFerdinand "Filthy Hedgehogs" Clip 20th Century FOX
### TV Spots

Ferdinand "The World's Biggest Pet" TV Commercial 20th Century FOXFerdinand "I'm Not a Fighting Bull" TV Commercial 20th Century FOXFerdinand "You Seem Fun" TV Commercial 20th Century FOXFerdinand "Mama Like That" TV Commercial 20th Century FOXFerdinand "The Beloved Classic Comes to Life" TV Commercial 20th Century FOXFerdinand "Two Friends, One Amazing Adventure" TV Commercial 20th Century FOXFerdinand "Watch Me" TV Commercial 20th Century FOX
### Interviews

Ferdinand Carlos Saldanha Exclusive InterviewFerdinand John Cena Exclusive Interview
## References

1. ↑  *About Ferdinand (Coming Soon!)*. Blue Sky Studios. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
2. ↑ *Ferdinand | Official Movie Site | In Theatres December 15, 2017*. 20th Century Fox. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
3. ↑ Brodesser-Akner, Claude. Fox, *Ice Age* Director Bullish on *The Story of Ferdinand*. (February 18, 2011). Vulture. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
4. ↑  Chitwood, Adam. *DreamWorks Animation Moves B.O.O. Release Up to June 5, 2015 and TROLLS to November 4, 2016; Fox Dates ANUBIS and FERDINAND*. (May 16, 2013). Collider. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
5. ↑ *John Powell to Score Blue Sky Studios' 'Ferdinand'*. (September 14, 2016). Film Music Reporter. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
6. ↑ @FerdinandMovie. *Ferdinand Cast and Characters Revealed!*. (March 31, 2017). Facebook. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Bennett, Macaela J.. *Blue Sky Studios a prize in state’s incentive wars*. (June 11, 2017). Greenwich Time.
Retrieved June 15, 2017.
8. ↑ Bahiana, Ana Maria. *Nominations for the 75th Golden Globe Awards Have Been Announced*. (December 11, 2018). *Golden Globe Awards*.
9. ↑ *45TH ANNUAL ANNIE AWARDS Nominees - Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production*. *Annie Awards*.
10. ↑ *45TH ANNUAL ANNIE AWARDS Nominees - Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production*. *Annie Awards*.

## External Links

* Official Blue Sky Studios Webpage
* Official Fox Movies Webpage
* Ferdinand (film) (@ferdinandmovie) on Instagram
* Ferdinand (film) (@FerdinandMovie) on Facebook
* Ferdinand (film) (@FerdinandMovie) on Twitter