6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Ferdinand, a little bull, prefers sitting quietly under a cork tree just smelling the flowers versus jumping around, snorting, and butting heads with other bulls. As Ferdinand grows big and strong, his temperament remains mellow, but one day five men come to choose the "biggest, fastest, roughest bull" for the bullfights in Madrid and Ferdinand is mistakenly chosen.
Starring: John Cena, Kate McKinnon, Gabriel Iglesias, Carlos Saldanha, David TennantFamily | 100% |
Animation | 82% |
Comedy | 66% |
Adventure | 60% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 5.1
Danish: DTS 5.1
Dutch: DTS 5.1
Finnish: DTS 5.1
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS 5.1
Norwegian: DTS 5.1
Swedish: DTS 5.1
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Czech: Dolby Digital 5.1
Flemish: DTS 5.1
Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1
Polish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Munro Leaf’s 1936 opus The Story of Ferdinand was a brief children’s book focusing on self expression. It had a similarly short animated adaptation in 1938 by none other than Walt Disney, but now the Blue Sky crew has taken on the tale and given it the studio’s typically raucous take.
Note: Screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray.
Ferdinand is presented on 4K UHD courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with a 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Despite being finished
at "only" a 2K DI, this 4K presentation shows rather significant upgrades in textures especially. In fact, while I noted in our Ferdinand Blu-ray review that the 1080p Blu-ray version tends to make Ferdinand's "fur" a
bit rubbery looking, in the 4K version there's more clear definition, especially in close-ups. But it's in a number of other textures that the precision of
this version really shows. "Little" things like the Spanish tile roofs or stucco walls, or Lupe's fur, receive notable upticks in detail levels in this version.
HDR adds a bit of new nuance to the palette, but perhaps a trifle less than I might have expected. There are some luscious new tones in some of the
sunset scenes with gorgeous pink skies, but overall the biggest difference to my eyes was simply saturation levels — this is an incredibly vivid
presentation, even more so than the already excellent 1080p version, and when things like multicolored flowers fill the frame, the result is quite
magical looking. A number of nighttime scenes also have at least a bit better shadow definition now, something that's noticeable on (again,
supposedly "minor") elements like blades of grass. I experienced no issues with image instability and noticed no compression problems.
I gave top marks to the 1080p Blu-ray version's nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track, and the Dolby Atmos track on this 4K UHD disc simply
takes that excellence and (literally in some cases) elevates it to "the next level". There are some clear new overhead elements here, including
expected things like the wash of the crowd sounds in the bullring, but also with regard to some of the solo acoustic guitar work that dots the
soundtrack. The already excellent directionality of effects and dialogue is duplicated and arguably amplified in this version, and once again the score
provides regular engagement of the side and rear channels. The big set pieces like the bulls marauding through Madrid offer a glut of surround activity
and at times bursts of LFE. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly on this enjoyable track.
Note: As often tends to be the case with Fox releases, the audio and subtitle specs are different on the 1080p Blu-ray and 4K UHD discs. The
specs listed above are for the 4K UHD disc. Please see our Ferdinand
Blu-ray
review for specs on the 1080p Blu-ray disc.
Fox has not ported any of the supplements from the 1080p Blu-ray disc over to the 4K UHD disc. All of the supplements detailed in our Ferdinand Blu-ray review are of course available on the 1080p Blu- ray disc also included in this package.
Part of any perceived "problem" with Ferdinand may be due to the simple fact that American audiences are regularly offered superb animated features, and that ubiquity of excellence has simply raised the bar generally for this genre, which is certainly not a bad thing. But that said, that higher bar presents a hurdle that Ferdinand only partially is able to master. This is a fun, brightly colored, and relentlessly energetic film, and it features a lot of great voice work, but it's inarguably padded and filled with all sorts of extraneous material that has little to do with the central message. Kids will probably find this pretty delightful, but adults may simply want to revisit the memorable Munro Leaf book. Technical merits are first rate, with the 4K UHD disc offering clear upgrades in already excellent video and audio. With caveats noted, Ferdinand comes Recommended.
2017
Exclusive Bonus Disc
2017
Includes Ferdinand Squishy Ball
2017
Includes Ferdinand Squishy Ball
2017
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