The positioning of the film "Ferdinand" is simple and easy to understand. Similar to other classic children's films and stories, the protagonist at the beginning of the story is born in a family that has been engaged in a certain job for generations, but he and his family have completely opposite ideas and wishes, and they do not listen to their family's arrangements. What happens if a rat doesn't steal instead of stealing and goes to work as a cook? Or, like this film, Ferdinand, as a bull, doesn't like to duel with bullfighters in a gladiatorial arena, preferring to smell the flowers all day and roll around in the mountains, what happens after that?
That's the core idea of the film. The film is a new addition to Blue Sky Studios, which is known for a series of outstanding animated films produced in recent years, including Rio, Epic, and Horton hears a who!, while the studio has also produced disappointing film sequels such as Ice Age: Continental drift)", Rio 2, etc. Therefore, "The Adventures of the Bull" may be a completely acceptable work, or it may bring a painful viewing experience to the audience. Especially when the director is Carlos Saldanha, who has mixed reviews, the quality of the film is even more difficult to guarantee.
In the end, the quality of "The Adventures of the Bull" can only be said to be good or bad. It's neither as badly dated as Ice Age 4 or Rio 2, nor is it up to the level of pixar and dreamworks animation. The plot of "The Adventures of the Bull" is actually as you think, and the story direction is similar to what the previous trailer and promotional clips revealed, with only a few excellent and interesting comedy clips scattered in the film.
Most of the film's charm comes from the voice actors. Ferdinand, voiced by John Cena at the beginning of the film, escapes from the bullfighting ranch as a child and goes to a farm in the countryside to live a leisurely life with her human companion Nina (voiced by Lily Day). But one day, Ferdinand caused a riot in a neighboring town and was finally sent back to the bull ranch, and it happened that a well-known bullfighter came to the ranch to pick the bull for the last bullfight, and Ferdinand was unfortunately selected. So it only has a few days to escape from the ranch and return to its original home, otherwise it will be sent to the bullring and forced to fight people.
In order to return to the farm, Ferdinand must gather a group of friends to help him escape. These include other bulls on the ranch and a goat, Lupe, who is sometimes crazy and sometimes calm (with the honor of having kate McKinnon voice it). It is one of the best characters in the film. Lupe and the three thieves on the ranch provide the most jokes for the film, and also easily replace Ferdinand as the most memorable character in the film.
In addition, Ferdinand does not have many original elements or other shining points. The pace of the film is as comical and fast as many other modern animated films, so the introduction of nina and her family's characters in the first half of the film is too fast to be dazzling. Of course, all this has no impact on the children, after all, they are the main audience of this film, and these deficiencies will only disappoint the adults who watch the movie with them.
"The Adventures of the Bull" has many funny supporting characters and cute protagonists with good hearts. It guides children to be nice to others in clever ways, rather than becoming bullies in school. It is true that this film does not break through the shackles of the original story and brings more surprises and creativity to the audience. But for the effect it wants to achieve, it is undoubtedly a successful work. But other than that, there's nothing remarkable about it.