With the big holiday school break fast approaching, parents may be looking for a way to keep the kiddies entertained. Maybe they can be dropped off at the mall’s multiplex while the folks do some last-minute shopping (or exchanging/returning a few weeks from now). Perhaps the pre-teen action of the JUMANJI reboot may be a bit overwhelming, along with the new adventure in that “galaxy far, far away”. Well, hopefully they’ve been dazzled by the wonders of the new Disney/Pixar masterwork COCO (you parents and teens should see it, too). Like that recent flick, this one has a distinct Latin flavor, but it’s fairly mild rather than spicy. And it’s based (inspired really) by a 1938 Oscar-winning cartoon short from the “house of mouse”. However, those doing the “re-imagining” (stretching it from eight minutes to over one hundred) are the upstarts from Blue Sky, the animated feature branch of Fox (former hits include some Seuss flicks, RIO, and the looong-running ICE AGE franchise). Charging off the screen (if you pony up for 3D) comes that bovine pacifist, the bull named FERDINAND.
We meet the title bull as a calf on a ranch in Spain. There the powerful papas try to train their sons to be chosen for the honor of facing a matador at the local arena. But young Ferdinand has no interest in such violent pursuits, he’d rather smell the flowers. He does adore his daddy and is happy when his pop is chosen. Ferdinand waits for his return…and waits…until the truth dawns on him that he’ll never return to the ranch. Somehow the young bull escapes and ends up at a farm run by a little girl, Nina, and her father. Oh, and it’s a flower farm. The place is heaven for Ferdinand, who Nina raises as a pet. Soon the little calf reaches adulthood. He’s so big that now he can’t accompany Nina and her pop to the town flower festival. But big ole’ Ferdinand (voice of John Cena) won’t be stopped…that is until an agitated bee causes him to wreck the village until the police capture him. And then he’s sent back to his old ranch, reuniting with old boyhood chums, the queasy Guapo (Peyton Manning), timid wise guy Bones (Anthony Anderson), and the surly Valiente (Bobby Carnavale). Plus there’s a few new faces like the near-sighted Angus (David Tennant) and the genetically modified “Franken-bull” Maquina. Ferdinand is given a “calming goat” the hyper Lupe (Kate McKinnon) who becomes his mentor/coach since one of the bulls will be picked by retiring superstar matador El Primero (Miguel Angel Silvestre) to be his final challenge. Luckily a trio of sneaky hedgehogs helps them escape in a vehicle, leading to a big chase through the city that eventually lands Ferdinand in the arena. Is there any way the gentle giant can survive the big showdown with El Primero?
After lending his pipes to several straight-to-home-video cartoons, Cena proves to be a terrific vocal performer in his first feature lead role. His husky, deep-toned line readings still have Ferdinand’s optimism and youthful exuberance. He’s powerful and equally playful. Anderson is an endearing “motor-mouth” who brings some much-needed energy to every scene. Manning’s a likable doofus particularly when Guapo struggles to suppress his nervous nausea. And Carnivale is “muy macho” to the max as the tough Valiente. Tennant seems to be doing a riff on his TV Uncle Scrooge McDuck gig as Angus (a Scottish bull in Spain,,, maybe a tribute to Shrek?). The only casting misfire may be the usually hilarious Ms. McKinnon (so great in the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot) as the annoying, abrasive Lupe. The character is so aggressively “in your face” that it makes certain scenes almost an audience “endurance test”. Take a breather, and a few lessons from great toon’ sidekicks like Jiminy Cricket.
Remember when I mentioned the first adaptation of this tale was an eight minute short. There’s a big part of this flick’s problems. That kids’ book from Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson is a great bedtime story, its reading (or performing as some parents prefer) is about as long as that Disney Oscar winner. Hence six (!) writers are brought in to pad and streeeetch it out to feature-length. This plagued Blue Sky’s previous Seuss flicks (and doesn’t bode well for the new take on the Grinch next year). So now Ferdinand needs to have four best pals and that “comfort goat”. And hedge hogs (guess helpful mice are too played out after CINDERELLA). And if that’s not enough future toys to eat up time, there’s a corral near the bulls with three truly obnoxious show horses (thinking the accents are German or Austrian) who prance and pose in some trite comic “bits”. They help the story stop dead for several minutes while the horses and the bulls engage in a “dance battle”. There’s a touch of adult humor dropped in when the bulls who don’t make the arena “cut” are put in a trailer bound for the ominous meat-packing plant overlooking the ranch (the trailer door has a silhouette diagram indicating the different meat cuts..”flank”, “prime rib”, etc.). At one point I was reminded of the superior SAUSAGE PARTY when the bulls believe the trip to the “big show” leads to the soft life rather than their demise. Director Carlos Saldanha tries to keep things rolling with lots of manic slapstick, but several set pieces (the car chase, the market mayhem) drag on too long, although he does a nice riff on the old “bull in a china shop” cliché. The character design work on the animals is engaging, but why do almost all of the humans have such wide noses (I may be nitpicking, but it was distracting). Perhaps this film has been released too close to COCO (with its similar setting) making it even more mediocre. FERDINAND may fascinate the youngest. least discriminating viewers, but animation fans may prefer a fragrant stroll through a garden to this frenzied matinée filler.
2.5 Out of 5
