"Ferdinand" tees up the standard anthropomorphized cartoon character as you've seen in a dozen other entertainments with the obligatory dance contests, butt jokes, pathos and chases (and hey, if "Finding Dory's" octopus can drive a truck, why can't a bull?) It does these thing as passably well as necessary to appeal to the minimal age of its target demographic. So no surprises there. What is interesting are the basic production issues. Most notably is the infamous scaling problem which normally plagues creature features. The titular character weighs in at 2,000 pounds and a length markedly exceeding the average bull according to the script yet he fits through doorways, in car seats, in narrow passageways and in a china shop (the writers kinda had to do that joke) with greater or less ease. Kate McKinnon plays the Dory / Mater / Olaf / Mike Wasowski wacky friend part with in the person of a truly unattractive goat. During some scenes the character rolls around balanced on a tire presumably because the animator figured out late in the process the bull / goal scaling difference was problematic. Beyond the production shortcomings, there's also the central issue of explaining to your non-Spaniard kids about the concept that people gather in large arenas to watch a heavily armed man on foot an several others on horseback kill a bull shoved into the ring for that purpose. Next up from the studio goldfish in a fraternity house waiting for pledge week. In short, putting aside these issues, good enough for what it is.
Review of Ferdinand
