Serious issues meet comic adventures in first-rate 'Ferdinand'

“Ferdinand” - ★ ★ ★

This holiday season, there's all manner of conflict at the movie theater - Jedis battling in the stars, Winston Churchill warring in Europe and Olympic athletes dueling on ice. And then there's that 2,000-pound bull who refuses to fight.

“Ferdinand” is a first-rate animated tale adapted from the 1936 children's book about a pacifist Spanish bull. It's often dark, sometimes wacky, but true to the heart of the book and beautifully brought to life.

Carlos Saldanha and screenwriters Robert L. Baird, Tim Federle and Brad Copeland faced a daunting task turning a spare 66-page book by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson into more than 100 minutes of film. They've largely succeeded, while adding more serious issues along the way, including animal rights and the importance of looking out for each other.

Ferdinand (voiced, in a twist, by professional wrestler John Cena) is bred to fight but won't. His dad and peers at a bullfighting ranch all want to go into the ring and take on a matador. “Is it OK if it's not my dream?” Ferdinand asks. No, he's told. “You're either a fighter or you're meat.”

After his father disappears, our conscientious objector manages to escape and ends up in a peaceful flower farm, lovingly taken care of by a young girl. Enter a cavalcade of strange and bewildering creatures: three crafty hedgehogs, three condescending Lipizzaner horses and an unhinged goat called Lupe. Kate McKinnon voices the goat and her performance is Robin Williams-in-“Aladdin” level work. A film that was overly dark suddenly gets an infusion of comic genius.

We take a few detours - there's a brilliant dance competition, an unorthodox running of the bulls and a wonderful interpretation of a bull in a china shop.

Ferdinand is the only bull to realize that bullfighting is fixed and tries to convince his peers to flee (the voice actors include a very good Peyton Manning as a bull prone to vomiting and a hysterical David Tennant).

Ferdinand rescues some of his pals from the “chop shop” - note: seeing this with your kids may become uncomfortable if you promised hamburgers afterward - then sacrifices himself for the good of the group and ends up facing the meanest matador in all of Spain. Will he finally fight? Will he die for his convictions?

There are a few weird notes. It's strange to hear the Ferdinand we grew up with under a Spanish cork tree now have a SoCal surfer accent. And the musical choices are a little odd. Still, this is a film with world-class animation, revealing everything from astonishingly rich crowd scenes to rusty details on an old pail.

So for the overall message of the film - “Live your own life” - plus the rich animation and the completely looney McKinnon, we have one word: Ole!

<b>Starring:</b> John Cena, Kate McKinnon, David Tennant, Peyton Manning

<b>Directed by:</b> Carlos Saldanha

<b>Other:</b> A 20th Century Fox release. Rated PG. 107 minutes