FERDINAND [2017] [Blu-ray + Digital HD] [UK Release]
A Family Treat That Puts A Smile On Your Face!
From the creators of ‘Ice Age’ and ‘Rio’ comes the most love-a-bull comedy of the year! Ferdinand [John Cena] is a giant bull with a big heart. After being mistaken for a dangerous beast and torn from his home, he rallies a misfit team of friends for an epic adventure in order to return to his family. Based on the classic children’s book “THE STORY OF FERDINAND,” and the animated film is filled with non-stop fun and laughs, and ‘FERDINAND’ proves you can’t judge a bull by its cover!
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 2017 Golden Schmoes Awards: Nomination: Best Animated Movie of the Year. 2018 Academy Awards®: Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film for Carlos Saldanha. 2018 Golden Globes: Nomination: Best Animated Motion Picture. Nomination: Best Original Song for an Animated Motion Picture for Justin Tranter, Nick Jonas and Nick Monson for song "Home." 2018 Annie Awards: Nomination: Outstanding Achievement for Editorial in an Animated Feature Production for Harry Hitner and Tim Nordquist. Nomination: Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production for Andrew Hickson, Arden Chan, Jason Sadler, Mike Lee and Thomas Cardone. 2018 Cinema Audio Society, USA: Nomination: Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for an Animated Motion Pictures for Bill Higley (original dialogue mixer), Lora Hirschberg (re-recording mixer), Leff Lefferts (re-recording mixer), Randy Thom (re-recording mixer), Scott Curtis (foley mixer) and Shawn Murphy (scoring mixer). 2018 Gold Derby Awards: Nomination: Animated Feature for Carlos Saldanha. 2018 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards: Nomination: Best Song/Recording Created for an Animated Motion Picture for Julianne Jordan (music supervisor), Justin Tranter (songwriter), Nick Jonas (recording artist, songwriter) and Nick Monson (songwriter) for song "Home." 2018 International Film Music Critics Award: Nomination: Best Original Score for an Animated Motion Picture for John Powell. 2018 Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA: Nomination: Golden Reel Award: Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing/Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR for Animated Feature Film for Chris Manning (foley editor), Christopher Barnett (sound effects editor), Devon Kelley (sound effects editor), Dmitri Makarov (supervising dialogue editor), E.J. Holowicki (sound effects editor), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle (supervising sound editor), Jamie Branquinho (adr editor), Jeremy Bowker (sound designer), John Roesch (foley artist), Larry Oatfield (foley editor), Leff Lefferts (sound effects editor), Pascal Garneau (sound effects editor), Qianbaihui Yang (foley editor), Randy Thom (supervising sound editor), Scott Curtis (foley artist), Shelley Roden (foley artist), Thomas A. Carlson (music editor) and Will Ralston (adr editor). 2018 Visual Effects Society Awards: Nomination: Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature Picture for Allan Kadkoy, Danny Speck, Mark Adams and Yaron Canetti.
FILM FACT No.2: 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.[14] In May 2013, Fox titled the film simply Ferdinand, which would be produced by Blue Sky Studios. John Powell, a frequent collaborator with Carlos 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, Dos and the Tres brother.
Voice Cast: Jack Gore [Young Ferdinand], Jet Jurgensmeyer [Young Guapo], Nile Diaz [Young Bones], Colin H. Murphy [Young Ferdinand], Carlos Saldanha [Screaming Matador], Jeremy Sisto [Ferdinand's Father], Bobby Cannavale [Valiente's Father], Raúl Esparza [Moreno], Luis Carlos de La Lombana [Ranch Hand #1], Juanes [Juan], Jerrod Carmichael [Paco], Julia Scarpa Saldanha [Young Nina], John Cena [Ferdinand], Lily Day [Nina], Rafael Scarpa Saldanha [Ice Cream Boy], Karla Martínez [Village Mother], Jordi Caballero [Balloon Vendor], Maria Peyramaure [Tall Nun], Nazanin Homa [Short Nun], Andreas A. Esparza [Police Officer #1], James M. Palumbo [Village Tourist], Bernardo de Paula [Animal Control Officer], Belita Moreno [Shopkeeper], Kate McKinnon [Lupe], Anthony Anderson [Bones], Peyton Manning [Guapo], David Tennant [Angus], Tim Nordquist [Maquina], Gina Rodriguez [Una], Daveed Diggs [Dos], Gabriel Iglesias [Cuatro], Flula Borg [Hans], Sally Phillips [Greta], Boris Kodjoe [Klaus], Alvaro Mendoza [Ranch Hand #3], Miguel Ángel Silvestre [El Primero], Carlos Reig-Plaza [Ranch Hand #2], Cindy Slattery [Bunny], Jason Fricchione [Madrid Tourist], Susana Ballesteros [Newscaster], Ana Patricia Gámez [El Primero Fan], Laura Bayonas [Additional Voices], Anna Clols [Additional Voices], Susana G. Esteban [Additional Voices], Johnny Gidcomb [Additional Voices], Adrian Gonzalez [Additional Voices], Richard Gould [Additional Voices], Andrea Lareo [Additional Voices], Andre Robinson [Additional Voices], Carter Sand [Additional Voices] and Julian Zane [Additional Voices]
Director: Carlos Saldanha
Producers: Bruce Anderson, p.g.a., Chris Wedge, John Davis, Joel Gotler and Lori Forte, p.g.a.
Screenplay: Brad Copeland (screenplay), David Kidd (screen story), Don Rhymer (screen story), Robert L. Baird (screenplay), Ron Burch (screen story), Tim Federle (screenplay), Munro Leaf (based upon the book "The Story of Ferdinand") and Robert Lawson (based upon the book "The Story of Ferdinand")
Composer: John Powell (music only)
Cinematography: Renato Falcão (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 5.1 Audio Descriptive Service
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 106 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Blue Sky Studios
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘FERDINAND’ [2017] has been adapted from the 1936 children’s book “The Adventures of Ferdinand,” by authors Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson, and was previously been turned into the 7 minute 1938 Oscar-winning short cartoon entitled ‘Ferdinand the Bull’ by the Walt Disney Studio. ‘FERDINAND’ is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox Animation and directed by Carlos Saldanha and it is voiced by stars John Cena and Kate McKinnon. But most of all, it has been a passionate project for its director, Carlos Saldanha, who has taken over 10 years to bring this big hearted animated film ‘FERDINAND’ to give you a wonderful joyous experience.
Ferdinand [John Cena] is the largest bull around, his hefty built giving him the appearance of a dangerous fighting bull and sporting shiny, smooth black fur, Ferdinand also has a beige snout and a pair of white horns and also has blue eyes, surrounded by tan rings, and a small tuft of dark brown fur on the top of his head. Ferdinand is built, composing of a large and muscular chest and smaller rump, makes him seem like the perfect bull fighter.
When he was a calf, Ferdinand [Colin H. Murphy] was much scrawnier and smaller and had shorter stubby horns, slightly protruding teeth with large ears and often wore an excitable expression. Two short locks of fur stand on top of his head.
Ferdinand, contrary to the beliefs of others in the film, is a pacifist by nature and enjoys nothing but calm and peaceful activities, such as sniffing flowers and walking along the streets of Spain. Most of all, Ferdinand hates violence, which explains his aversion to bullfighting and has been seen desperately trying to resuscitate a bunny that he thought he had killed, only to fail miserably, bit most of all, he is also known as a very friendly, even-tempered, respectful, dependable, independent, nice, adventurous, nurturing, determined, caring, humble, athletic, responsible, astute, courteous, thoughtful, emotional and romantic bull.
Ferdinand is a truly lovable bull, and he exhibits his big heart and the love for people, which is often displayed as adorable awkwardness, curiosity and clumsiness, which can be seen as he peeks from behind some balloons and gazes lovingly at Nina [Lily Day] his constant companion where ever he travels around Spain. This clumsy bull goes to the flower festival in town but after getting stung by a bee, accidentally destroys part of the town, including a local china shop.
Ferdinand and his fighting bull father, Raf [Jeremy Sisto] were from the Casa del Toro, and on a particular day, while Valiente [Bobby Cannavale], Guapo [Peyton Manning] and Bones [Anthony Anderson] were practicing bullfighting in a pen, Ferdinand emerges from behind a door with a bucket of water and makes his way, without getting seen or entangled in their fight, to a little red flower in the bull pen and affectionately speaks to the flower and waters the plant gently before taking a long sniff.
A truck, which Valiente names as the "Winner's truck," backs into the pen and Ferdinand asks what it is and Valiente replies with a snort, claiming that he knows nothing and proceeds to explain that the truck indicated that the matador would pick a bull to fight at the Plaza de Toros. Valiente spots Ferdinand’s flower and starts mocking him and so Ferdinand is challenged to a fight but he refuses, remarking that Valiente can hit him but not the flower, who is confused, taken aback, and leaves.
In a world where his kind is viewed as angry and beastly, Ferdinand the bull is the exact opposite. Gentle, well-meaning and clumsy, Ferdinand would rather spend his time tending to flowers than picking fights in the ring with the other bulls. His friends maintain that in order to have honour and be brave you must fight. Ferdinand, however, understands that true bravery lies in the strong silence of peace – the punches you don’t throw. His uniqueness is misunderstood by his companions, isolating him and making Ferdinand one lonely bull.
After the tragic death of his father, Ferdinand runs away from the Casa Del Toro, the bull ranch, and finds himself adopted into a beautiful human family and is raised on a flower farm, with his best friend Nina [Lily Day], her father Juan [Juanes], and his “brother,” Paco [Jarrod Carmichael] the dog. As he grows, the size of his body catches up to his already big heart. His new life is idyllic, filled with all the flowers he could ever need, and he is seen for who he truly is. But when a series of misunderstandings land Ferdinand back at the ranch, he must find a way to stay true to himself, rescue his friends, and find his way home.
Ferdinand shows us that honour and bravery are not achieved in an arena, but rather in the way one treats others, standing up for what is right, and serving the needs of others. This message is so relevant to the time and season we are in; while others are concerned only with getting, Ferdinand is concerned with giving! Ferdinand stands his ground and develops smarter solutions to the problems they face. Children and adults alike will be inspired by Ferdinand’s tenacity and how he stays true to himself.
The visuals, was inspired by Spanish landscape, consisting of earth tones; and the CGI technology keeps improving every year and the animated film ‘FERDINAND’ is not that heavy on special effects, but as usual, animated films take some time to come together with the right art direction and lighting. The farm where Ferdinand lives gives off a very happy vibe, whereas the bull training camp feels more like a prison. It’s an animated film that is a lot of fun for the whole family to enjoy and as a bonus, the children viewing this animated film, get a learning lesson at the same time.
The animated film, in addition is chock-full of important lessons, like a lot of heart, and is unexpectedly hilarious. I laughed out loud throughout and teared up a bit during the more emotional moments. There are daring escapes, drama, love, and quite literally, a bull in a china shop! The animation is a signature in the typical style of the Blue Sky Studios, and is pleasing to the eye and lovely to watch. The storytelling is wonderful and full, given that the animated film is adapted from a very short children’s book. It is a considerable task to add material to an existing story without it feeling misplaced or feels like a story filler, and the writers have managed to blend their story and compared to the original short story and seems so seamlessly that you just assume this has always been Ferdinand the bull’s story.
FERDINAND MUSIC TRACK LIST
HOME (Film Version) (Written by Nick Jonas, Justin Tranter and Nick Monson) [Performed by Nick Jonas]
MACARENA (Written by Rafael Ruiz and Antonio Romero) [Performed by Los del Río]
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING POLKA, OP. 324 (Written by Johann Strauss II)
I KNOW YOU WANT ME (Calle Ocho) (Written by Danny Seraphine, Stefano Bosco, Patrick Gonella, Pitbull (aka Armando Christian Perez), David Wolinski, Nicola Fasano and El Cata (aka Edward Bello) [Performed by Pitbull]
HOME (Reprise) (Written by Nick Jonas, Justin Tranter and Nick Monson) [Performed by Nick Jonas]
BRICK HOUSE (Written by William King, Ronald La Pread, Thomas McClary, Walter Orange, Lionel Richie and Milan Williams)
MESSIAH, HWV 56: Hallelujah Chorus (Written by George Frideric Handel)
WATCH ME (Written by Nick Jonas, Jason Evigan, Sean Douglas, Jonathan Tucker and P.J. Bianco) [Performed by Nick Jonas]
FREEDOM (Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with additional material by Pitbull (aka Armando Christian Perez) and Richard J. Pearl) [Performed by Pitbull]
ESPAÑA CAÑI (Written by Pascual Marquina Narro and Mariano Marquina Tallada)
LAY YOUR HEAD ON ME (Written by Eskeerdo (aka Alexander Izquierdo), Stefan Johnson, Juanes (aka Juan Aristizabal), Marcus Lomax and Jordan Johnson) [Performed by Juanes]
Blu-ray Image Quality – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment presents us with a wonderful 1080p image presentation and is enhanced with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. It’s a decent improvement over the standard Blu-ray disc release, with more details apparent and just an overall crisper image. In terms of an animated film, it is very solid and is definitely above the average Blu-ray release. Since this is computer animated film, it easily lends itself to a three dimensional look with good spacing. Movement is improved over its Blu-ray counterpart with more clarity to them. Blacks are dark and natural and details still looks good the in darker scenes. There is a really nice and wonderful colour palette in this animated film. On top of all this, it appears very vivid and well displayed, and looks very natural.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment brings us a stunning 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience and comes with a rock solid performance. But you will need to turn it up just a notch from its default setting. From there on the sound gets really good and display some good intricacies. The sounds you hear are pretty active throughout the animated film and especially with the action moments to good degrees of fun effectiveness. The music hits good strides, doors crashing, feet stomp and lots of impact rumbles your subwoofer. Also with your surround speakers you will experience some good sounds with this audio track. But even more importantly, is that the voice cast vocals are loud, crisp and very clear. So all in all, the sound experiences you hear will make this animated film a good listening experience.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Ferdinand's Guide to Healthy Living with John Cena [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1/2.39:1] [3:09] Here John Cena, an American WWE superstar professional wrestler, actor, rapper and television host, informs and guides us about a healthy living lifestyle and that you must follow the example of Ferdinand and his diet for a healthy living and shows us via the plethora of clips from the animated film. John Cena also informs us along the way with very informative information with the following titles: “Eat Light;” “Exercise;” “Be Kind;” “Be Yourself” and “Don’t Judge A Bull By His Cicer.” This maybe a bit of silly fun, but I did enjoy it, as John Cena seemed like a nice guy who we all should follow his mantra for a healthy lifestyle.
Special Feature: A Goat's Guide to Life [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:08] Here we get some in-depth information from Lupe the lovable goat, and like John Cena, Lupe tells us also how to also attain a healthy lifestyle, with the following Lupe’s Top Ten Tips, which are as follows: Tip #10: Don’t Skip Break-fast; Tip #09: Smell The Flowers; Tip #08: Compliment People & Friends; Tip #07: Bathe Often; Tip #06: Get A Good Night’s Sleep; Tip #05: Don’t Call people Names; Tip #04: Get Off The Sofa; Tip #03: Drive Your Stress Away; Tip #02: When In Doubt Hug It Out and Tip #01: Be True To Yourself. So if you follow Lupe’s Top Ten mantras, you should be able to have a really happy lifestyle and at the same time we again get a plethora of clips from the animated film to show how we should follow Lupe’s healthy lifestyle tips.
Special Feature: Ferdinand's Team Supreme [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:45] Here we get to meet Ferdinand’s other animal friends, and they are Guapo, Bones, Angus, Maquina and Valiente. Here Ferdinand explains in great detail why each animal makes them so unique and why he is proud to have them as Ferdinand's Team Supreme. But equally special to Ferdinand is his three lucky mascots, Una, Dos and Cuatro, who of course is three hedgehogs, Last but not least, is Ferdinand’s coach, Lupe the goat. Despite this being a very short special feature, it is certainly a lot of fun to watch.
Special Feature: SPAIN Through Ferdinand's Eyes and (nose!!!) [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [1:50] Here Ferdinand gives us his personal reasons why it is fun to live in Spain, as it has happy people, and sunny skies. But it also has a great taste of Spanish Cuisine, Flamenco, lots of Windmills, Ferias de las Flores, Spanish Countryside, Toro D’Amor and most of all, Ferdinand would love to save you a spot under his favourite tree.
Special Feature: Confessions of a Bull Loving Horse [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:22] Here with this slightly silly special feature, we have the over the top German horse named Hans [Fluga Borg] who mostly talks about himself and how wonderful he thinks he is, in other words, is slightly pompous and he feels slightly superior to all the other animals, and especially feels put out that he is not number one, because he is very jealous of Ferdinand when he appeared on the scene, but over time, Hans says that Ferdinand is now his favourite Farm Crush, because Ferdinand has shown Hans, that to be like him, you have to have perseverance and eventually you can turn your life around.
Special Feature: Creating the Land of ‘FERDINAND’ [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1/2.39:1] [5:49] This is actually a pretty cool special feature, but is far too short, but despite this, we get to look at the design work for the animated film. They wanted make the setting of the animated film in totally Spanish landscape environment. We get to view some amazing animated colourful hand drawn storyboards, as well as lots of clips from the animated film. The place where Ferdinand walks through the village market of flowers was based on Rhonda, which is a mountaintop city in Spain’s Malaga province that is set dramatically above a deep gorge. Contributors include: Carlos Saldanha [Director], Tom Humber [Art Department], John Cena [Ferdinand] and Jeeyun Sung Chisholm [Lighting Supervisor].
Special Feature: Anatomy of a Scene: The Bull Run [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1/1.78:1] [4:03] This very short special feature is an interesting piece about bringing the Bull Run scene to life. Here they wanted to create a realistic bull run in a totally fun way, especially through the streets of Madrid, and especially seeing Ferdinand and his friends react with the people and the traffic jam. We also get to see at the same time some fun animated storyboards, and we also get to see a behind-the-scene meeting, where everyone gives their views relating to the animated film, especially how the story should progress and we also get to see behind-the-scene of the computer animators at work. Contributors include: Carlos Saldanha [Director], Lori Forte [Producer], Bruce Anderson [Producer] and Warren Leonhardt [Head of Story].
Special Feature: Learn to Dance with Ferdinand [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1/1.78:1] [7:46] Here we get to view in a dance studio some fun behind-the-scene footage, showing street dancers from different countries, influencing the final look for the animated film, by performing the difference between bulls, goats and horses and their different styles of dancing. At the same time we get clips from the animated film of the dance off between Ferdinand and his friends, against the three pompous German stallion horses. Contributors include: Carlos Saldanha [Director], Richmond Talauega [Choreographer] and Anthony Talauega [Choreographer].
Special Feature: Ferdinand's Do It Yourself Flower Garden [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1/1.78:1] [6:49] This special feature is hosted by Lisa Ely who is a "garden educator" and teaches us how to grow your very own Ferdinand flower garden, especially with a dozen eggs and supplies. Here Lisa Ely gives us nine easy steps to achieve your flower garden, with the following: Step One: Gather Your Supplies; Step Two: Crack The Eggs; Step Three: Wash The Egg Container; Step Four: Prepare The Egg Carton; Step Five: Add The Soil; Step Six: Plant The Seeds; Step Seven: Water and Sunlight; Step Eight: Plant The Egg Shells and Step Nine: Stop and Smell the Flowers. Finally, Lisa Ely says, “There you have it, with just a little bit of work, and a lot of love, you can have your own flower garden.”
Special Feature: Nick Jones – "Home" Music Video [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1] [3:14] With this music video, we get to see Nick Jonas performing the song “Home” that was featured in the animated film ‘FERDINAND.’ As an added bonus, you get to view clips from the animated film ‘FERDINAND.’
Special Feature: Creating a Remarka-Bull Song [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1/1.78:1] [3:51] Here Nick Jonas discusses writing the song that earned him an Oscar nomination. Here we also get to see behind-the-scene on how they created the song “Home,” especially in the recording studio, where we see the singing artist Nick Jonas and at the same time we get clips from the animated film that featured the song. Contributors include: Contributors include: Carlos Saldanha [Director] and Nick Jonas [Singer/Songwriter].
Special Feature: Art of ‘FERDINAND’ Gallery [2017] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:47] Here you get to view four individual catagories and they are as follows: Concept Paintings [1:03]; Character Designs [1:23]; Locations [00:48] and Stills [00:33]. To view each category the best way, select Auto Advance to launch a slide show, where the images will change every five seconds.
Theatrical Trailer [2017] [1080p] [2.39:1] [2:26] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the animated film ‘FERDINAND.’
Finally, with the animated film ‘FERDINAND,’ I cannot say enough about this big hearted bull named Fernando, and the feeling you experience with the animated film ‘FERDINAND,’ and gives you the feeling you want and expect from every animated film of this calibre you watch. It is very inspired, uplifting and totally delightful, and this Blue Sky Studios animated film ‘FERDINAND’ is not to be missed and an animated film for all generations and do not let those grumpy critics who were very negative about this animated film, put you off. By the way, please keep in mind that this animated film does contain lots of cartoon fighting between bulls which may frighten and upset very young viewers, but despite this, I am sure ‘FERDINAND’ is sure to become a firm family classic children’s animated film, that I am sure children will pester their parents for multiply viewing. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado Le Cinema Paradiso United Kingdom
Back to homepage
