Saturday, September 23, 2017

Literary Toons: Ferdinand the Bull (1938)

In 1938, Walt Disney acquired the rights to adapt Munro Leaf's children's story, Ferdinand the Bull. This tale of a pacifist bull has aired on The Wonderful World of Disney when NBC reran the annual Christmas episode, "From All of Us to All of You". Radio icon Don Wilson, better known for The Jack Benny Program, narrates.



Nearly 80 years later, Ferdinand returns later this year in a full-length feature film, with WWE & reality star John Cena attached. I wonder how they can stretch out this nearly 8 minute short into a hour-plus feature?

Rating: A.

8 comments:

Steven Dolce said...

I'm actually looking forward to the upcoming movie.

hobbyfan said...

And that movie tells a completely different story, perhaps updated for modern times.

Steven Dolce said...

Unlike this cartoon, the movie will be produced by Blue Sky Studios instead of Disney.

Silverstar said...

Which alone is not an indication of quality, as both studios have produced good animated films as well as forgettable ones.

Goldstar said...

Also, Disney didn't create the story of Ferdinand; they merely adapted it. So now, we'll get to see a modern day take on Ferdinand the Bull with pop culture references and fart jokes! Um...Yay?

hobbyfan said...

@Goldstar: It depends. I hope not.

@Silverstar & @Steven Dolce: I missed Blue Sky's Peanuts movie last year, but plan on renting. I'm on the fence on this after seeing Disney's adaptation.

I guess Cena was warming up for this gig with those Ernie the Elephant ads for Wonderful Pistachios.

SaturdayMorningFan said...

I thought the Peanuts movie was surprisingly well done and worth the time to watch it.

hobbyfan said...

One more reason to rent Peanuts, SMF, but what did you think of Ferdinand?