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Ferdinand | 2017 | PG | - 1.3.2

A young bull living on a ranch with his father is trained to become a fighting bull, despite the fact that he doesn't like to fight. When his father is killed by a matador in the ring, the young bull runs away and is taken in by a flower farmer and his young daughter as a pet. When he grows up to be huge and muscular (voiced by John Cena) he's taken away and forced to face his fears. Also with the voices of Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale, Raúl Esparza, Jerrod Carmichael, Julia Scarpa Saldanha, Lily Day, Anthony Anderson, Peyton Manning, David Tennant, Tim Nordquist, Gina Rodriguez, Daveed Diggs, Gabriel Iglesias, Flula Borg, Sally Phillips and Boris Kodjoe. Directed by Carlos Saldanha. [1:46]

SEX/NUDITY 1 - While mocking a bull, a horse says, "I bet his parents weren't even related."
 A goat wiggles her hips in a few scenes. A man wiggles his hips and the camera focuses on his clothed buttocks briefly.

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A calf's father is taken away to fight and does not return; the calf understands that his father has died and he later sees his father's horns mounted on a wall.
 A bull in a harness is raised off the ground and pulled toward a crusher machine in a meat processing plant; two other bulls try to free the bull and their horns get snagged in the machinery and all three end up nearly being cut by a spinning saw blade before being frozen into a chunk of ice and dumped out of the building. Two bulls are put in a truck and we understand that they are going to the "chop house" to be processed for meat. We see many sets of bull horns mounted on a wall.
 A bull enters a ring and faces a matador; the bull is prodded to fight and jabbed with a pointed poker causing him to roar and run toward the matador, he gets wrapped up in the matador's cape and it covers his eyes, the matador is flipped onto the bull's back and then thrown out of the ring, the matador lunges repeatedly at the bull with his spears and the bull dodges every blow; the matador slashes the bull's leg at one point and the bull roars, the matador points his sword at the bull and the bull sits down as the crowd cheers for the bull to be spared.
 Two bulls fight angrily and one bull's horn snaps off. A bull is tied and taken in a truck away from a town square where his human companion cries and runs after him. A calf runs away from a ranch as men chase him and try to catch him with a rope; the calf jumps on a passing train and gets away. A calf slips down a muddy hill and slams against some rocks; he wakes up in a barn and is OK.
 A few bull fighting sequences show a bull chasing a matador; one scene shows the matador being wrapped in his cape and another shows a matador being pinned to a wall by his spears.
 A bull chases a man behind a protective barricade, and then slams into the barricade and lifts it with its horns (the man clings to the board but is unharmed).
 Adult bulls shove each other and trot around a ring; two of them butt heads and argue. Young calves butt heads and shove each other in a few scenes. Bulls train in a ring and we see them charging barrels and structures that resemble matadors.
 Several animals run from men to escape a ranch; the animals drive a truck and the men chase in another truck before the second truck flips off the road, the animals run through streets causing chaos, and they ride a bus to a train station where they get on a moving platform and attach themselves to a moving train (one bull is left behind and is captured by the men).
 A calf stomps on a blooming flower as another calf watches and becomes sad. A calf protects a blooming flower from another calf that threatens to stomp on it. A calf is frightened when a young girl approaches him in a barn and he bumps into a hay bale and knocks over a pitchfork. Three hedgehogs steal items from a barn and throw tines at a bull and a goat who confront them. A bull collapses out of fear. A bull is shoved through a narrow window and lands on a car in a garage; the car radio blares and the bull struggles to get free of the car. A hedgehog bites a man's finger and the man yells.
 A bull charges toward a small rabbit and flips over it; the rabbit collapses out of fear and the bull performs CPR to revive it (it's OK); the rabbit throws a carrot at the bull afterward. A bull kicks a goat in the face and the goat is plastered into a wall with a hoof print in its face (she is OK later). A bull touches a wire fence and is zapped with electricity (he falls on the ground and smolders briefly). Three horses fall against an electrified fence and they fall in a pile on the ground (they are OK later). A bull shoves another bull into a tractor (both are OK).
 An adult bull is dismissive to his young son after not being selected to fight. A bull says, "You're either a fighter or you're meat." Bulls talk about fighting for glory. A goat talks about someone being beaten "to a pulp." A goat talks about something "crushing your soul." A goat talks about bedbugs and that they are vicious. A hedgehog says, "I fear death by chew." Three hedgehogs bow their heads and genuflect as if one of their friends has died in a few scenes. Three horses tease and mock bulls in several scenes. Horses and bulls compete in a dance contest. A bull panics about being the next to go to the chop house to be turned into meat. A goat talks about the blood, guts, gore, maiming and senseless violence of bull fighting. A character says, "We're toast."
 A "calming" goat is thrown into a truck with a bull that is enraged and gets his horns stuck in the slats of the transport; they argue and the bull breaks through the gate and lands on top of the goat (both are OK).
 A bull sits on a bee and roars and thrashes through a town square causing destruction as people run in fear; a woman screams and says that the bull has stolen her child and we see the child in a stroller hanging from the bull's horn, then being thrown through the air and sliding on cables until the bull retrieves the child and delivers her safely to her mother. A bull gets trapped inside a china shop and walks through carefully nearly knocking over fragile dishes until he sneezes and blows a hole through the display window.
 A bull walks through streets of a town and people are frightened; a woman distractedly pours water on her cat and it screeches and slams into a metal grate, while others stand in fear or hide in their homes.
 A full grown bull rolls down a hill in play and a dog runs away trying not to get rolled over (he is not harmed). A bull inhales a bee into his nostril and blows out a butterfly. A bee is blown off a flower petal when a truck drives by (it's OK). A bull yells and frightens a rooster into crowing the dawn. A bull launches a chicken high into the sky and a dog says that she was launched into the sun; the chicken flutters safely back to the coup roof. A bull blinks and crushes a fly that landed in its eye. A goat sleeps with her head in a bucket and she thrashes and talks in her sleep. Three horses swat bulls in the faces with their tails. A bull slips on a tile floor and he puts dish gloves on his hooves for traction; the gloves make flatulent noises as he walks.
 A bull vomits in a bucket (we hear retching and splatter). A calf says, "I feel sick" and he ducks behind another calf (we hear a splat). A calf watches a bull selection process and says, "I feel sick," as he gags (we do not hear or see vomit). A goat regurgitates items in a few scenes (a sardine can, a dancing flower pot, a key). A bull stretches and we hear cracking of bones. A goat stretches and we hear bones cracking. A character makes a raspberry sound.

LANGUAGE 2 - 3 mild anatomical terms, 2 mild obscenities, a characters says "F-bomb " and "F-stop," name-calling (losers, jerk, puny bag of bones, weirdo, dumb, flower bull, weird, buster, monster, brutes, coward, devil, ugliest dog, scared, killing machine, meat, killer, stupid, stinking bull, pasty face, glue stick, thieves, freakish hugeness, sorry sack of meat, franken bull, sizeist, big tough guy, sucker, show pony, gerbils, cheap piece of junk), exclamations (my gosh, holy cow, thank holy goodness, holy moly, jeez Louise).

SUBSTANCE USE - A character says, "Put that in your kilt and smoke it."

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Bull fighting, bullying, dreams, not fitting in, shame, regret, friends.

MESSAGE - It's OK to be different.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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