FERDINAND
A funny, heartwarming fable for older pre-teens and adults.
Should You Watch It?
Yes. Ferdinand is a very well-made animated comedy with a captivating, heartwarming story. Its voices and characters are often hilarious, and its central message opposes bullying while celebrating love, care, sacrifice, and peace.
The film also encourages following your heart and going against the grain. Those Romantic ideas give the movie a light mixed worldview, so parents may want to discuss them with younger children. Still, the film’s moral and redemptive elements give families much to appreciate.
Older pre-teens and adults can take the trip; parents should use discernment for younger children.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESFerdinand is a large, loving bull who would rather tend flowers than fight. After tragedy separates him from his father, Ferdinand finds a new home with a little girl named Nina, who becomes his best friend.
Years later, Ferdinand returns to the city for a flower festival. When he is mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is taken back to the bullfighting facility he once escaped. Now he must find a way out of fighting for a living.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is one of the best-made animated movies of 2017. Ferdinand is funny, entertaining, and built around a compelling, heartwarming story.
The voices and characters are often hilarious, giving the movie much of its energy and charm. The animation supports an engaging fable with emotional weight, while the story’s focus on love, caring for others, sacrifice, and opposing bullying gives the entertainment a strong moral center.
The Worldview
The film presents a light mixed worldview. It strongly values love, care, sacrifice, helping others, anti-bullying, and pacifism. Ferdinand makes sacrifices for others while loving and caring for them.
At the same time, the movie stresses doing what you want, following your heart, and going against the grain. Those ideas can encourage courage and individuality, but they can also point viewers toward personal desire as the source of purpose. The film’s positive representations of nuns calling upon God and making the sign of the Cross add a Christian element, while its Romantic and light pagan ideas create a less clearly biblical picture.
Scripture teaches that God gives each person purpose and fulfillment in Him, rather than asking us to follow our own desires: “So God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
<span style="font-weight: 400;">
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview about love triumphing over hate with redemptive elements of sacrifice and helping others in a caring and loving nature and positive, although funny representations of nuns calling upon God and making the sign of the Cross as well as light mixed pagan content with strong Romantic elements stressing following your heart and doing what you want along with a light politically correct content. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Foul Language
No foul language, vomiting. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Violence
Goat gets kicked around and sat on, things get smashed, and bull gets scraped by a sword. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Sex
No sexual content. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Nudity
No nudity. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs. <span style="font-weight: 400;">
Miscellaneous Immorality
nothing else objectionable.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Ferdinand refuses to become violent simply because others expect it of him. When should Christians pursue peace, and when must they stand against evil?
Matthew 5:9 · Romans 12:18The movie encourages following your heart. How can we test our desires against God’s wisdom?
Proverbs 3:5–6 · Jeremiah 17:9Ferdinand sacrifices for and cares for others. What does Jesus teach about the greatest kind of love?
John 15:13 · Philippians 2:3–4Ferdinand is teased for being different. How can your family resist bullying and honor every person as made in God’s image?
Genesis 1:27 · Ephesians 4:32The Final Word
Ferdinand is a funny, beautifully made fable with a warm moral heart. Its light mixed worldview gives parents something to discuss, especially with younger children. For older pre-teens and adults, the answer is clear: WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER PRE-TEENS AND UP.
