Parental guidance recommended under 7 due to violence and scary scenes.
This topic contains:
Children under 7 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes |
Children 7 and over | OK for this age group |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Ferdinand |
Classification: | G |
Consumer advice lines: | Very mild themes and coarse language |
Length: | 106 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Ferdinand (voiced by Colin H. Murphy and John Cena) is different from all the other bulls at Casa del Toros, a premier ranch where matadors come from all over Spain to select the bulls they will fight in the ring. Valiente (Jack Gore and Bobby Cannavale), Guapo (Jet Jurgensmeyer and Peyton Manning) and Bones (Nile Diaz and Anthony Anderson) all push, shove and fight each other constantly, trying to toughen up as they prepare to impress the boss and their fathers. Ferdinand, however, refuses to fight. He is friendly, compassionate and caring. He loves flowers and cares for and protects the one flower that grows in the bull pen.
When Ferdinand’s father is chosen to fight, he tells his son that he will be back and that then he will show him the secrets to being a fabulous fighter. But Ferdinand doesn’t want to fight and his father never comes back. In horror and sadness, Ferdinand runs away and finds himself on a train that takes him to another part of Spain. There he is found by a friendly farmer who takes him home to his young daughter Nina (Julia Saldanha and Lily Day).
Nina showers the terrified Ferdinand with love and slowly he becomes part of her family. He grows up on their farm surrounded by flowers and friends and is happier than he has ever been. However, after being stung by a bee at a flower festival, Ferdinand inadvertently trashes the town and is captured and returned to the Casa del Toros.
His size is beyond anything the men there have ever seen, but Ferdinand still refuses to fight. When he decides to escape with the help of his new friend Lupe (Kate McKinnon), he learns the truth: that no bull ever wins and he sacrifices himself to save the others.
In the ring Ferdinand is finally able to answer the question that he asked his father so long ago: “Is it possible to be a champion without having to fight?”
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Cruelty to animals, particularly during bullfights; sending bulls to the slaughterhouse when they do not perform as expected
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is frequent violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Nothing of concern
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing of concern
Nothing of concern
Lupe looks Ferdinand up and down when they first meet and comments on his “flanks” in a suggestive manner.
Nothing of concern
Nothing of concern
Insults and name-calling are heard throughout, including:
Ferdinand is an animated adventure about staying true to yourself no matter what comes your way and using your own light to inspire and lead others. While aimed at young audiences, there is a simple truth in this movie’s message that will touch the hearts of all who see it. Although the film has a G rating, children under seven may scared by some scenes, so parental guidance is recommended for this age group.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
Parents may also wish to discuss
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Content is age appropriate for children this age
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