‘Ferdinand’ makes his way to the big screen with grace

This holiday season, there’s all manner of conflict at your local movie theater — Jedis battling in the stars and Winston Churchill warring in Europe. And then there’s that 2,000 pound bull that refuses to fight.

“Ferdinand” is a first-rate animated tale adapted from the beloved 1936 children’s book about a pacifist Spanish bull who just loves to sit around and sniff flowers. It’s often dark, sometimes wacky, but true to the heart of the book and beautifully brought to life in modern Spain.

Carlos Saldanha, the director of “Rio” and “Ice Age” movies, and screenwriters Robert L. Baird, Tim Federle and Brad Copeland faced a daunting task turning a spare 66-page book by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson into more than 100 minutes of film.

But they’ve largely succeeded, while adding more serious issues along the way, including animal rights, rigged economic systems, nature versus nurture, cowardice and the importance of looking out for each other.

At its core, “Ferdinand” is an anti-bullying statement that stars a bull. In a neat twist, that bull who refuses to fight is voiced by professional wrestler John Cena, a man who makes his living with violence.

Ferdinand is bred to fight but won’t. His dad and peers at a bullfighting ranch all want to go into the ring. “Is it OK if it’s not my dream?” the young Ferdinand asks. No, he’s told. “You’re either a fighter or you’re meat.”

After his father disappears, our bullish conscientious objector escapes and ends up in a peaceful flower farm, lovingly taken care of by a young girl. Good for Ferdinand, but bad for the filmmakers, who have more than another hour more to fill.

Enter a cavalcade of strange and bewildering creatures: three crafty hedgehogs, three condescending Lipizzaner horses and an unhinged goat called Lupe. Kate McKinnon voices the goat, and her performance is Robin Williams-in-“Aladdin” level work. A film that was overly dark suddenly gets an infusion of silliness and comic genius.

Ferdinand is the only bull to realize that the entire bullfighting game is fixed and tries to convince his peers to flee (the voice actors include a very good Peyton Manning — yes, that Peyton Manning — as a bull prone to vomiting, and a hysterical David Tennant as a very hairy Scottish bull.)

Ferdinand rescues some of his pals from the “chop shop,” then sacrifices himself for the good of the group and ends up facing the meanest matador in all of Spain in the ring in Madrid. Will he finally fight? Will he die for his convictions?

There are a few weird notes. It’s a little strange to hear the Ferdinand we grew up with under a Spanish cork tree now have a SoCal surfer accent, saying he’s “stoked,” “hold that thought” and “this is some next level stuff.” He also does that weird thing where he talks to fellow animals but is mute when it comes to communicating with humans.

Despite those problems, this is a film with world-class animation, revealing everything from astonishingly rich crowd scenes to rusty details on an old pail. The animators have managed to make wet fur feel tactile and show the headlights of cars bouncing off other cars.

So for the overall message of the film — “Live your own life” — plus the rich animation and the completely looney McKinnon, we have one word: Ole!

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 11:58 AM with the headline "‘Ferdinand’ makes his way to the big screen with grace."