Creators of Rio and Ice Age bring the classic tale of Ferdinand to life. The 1936 children’s story arrives on the big screen December 15th, 2017 and will surely be the holiday film of the year.
This movie features John Cena as the voice of Ferdinand the Bull, but the rest of the cast is full of Latino names. Directed by Brazilian Carlos Saldanha, this animated film packs humor, drama, and existentialism all into one.
Ferdinand is a fighting bull that is more interested in smelling roses than Matadors. Desperate to find his purpose in life, Ferdinand goes through a classic Disney adventure that leads to him finding his sense of self.
The Latino voices in this movie include Gabriel Iglesias, Gina Rodriguez, Bobby Cannavale, Raul Esparza, Miguel Angel Silvestre, and Karla Martinez. This Latino-studded cast of voices is sure to bring Ferdinand to life.
Iglesias, the voice of Cuatro the Porcupine, is a comedian known for his Fluffy special. Fluffy is no stranger to acting, playing small roles in shows like Narcos, larger roles in movies like Magic Mike, and countless voice-overs for cartoons and animated films.
Rodriguez is a 2015 Golden Globe winner for her role as Jane Villanueva in CW’s Jane the Virgin and will play Una the Hedgehog. Her most notable role in a film is alongside Mark Wahlberg on Deepwater Horizon, and this is the third consecutive voice over she does.
Cannavale is a veteran in Hollywood, working on some of the greatest projects with some of the biggest names like Will & Grace. His latest hit was HBO’s Vinyl, and he will do the voice of Valiente the Bull in Ferdinand.
Esparza is a lesser known actor who’s most known role comes from Law & Order. He has done voice overs in the past, including in BoJack Horseman, so playing Moreno, a human in the movie, should prove to be a simple task for Esparza.
Silvestre, like Iglesias, also had a part in Season 3 of the Netflix hit show Narcos. He plays a larger role on Sense8, and this will be the first time that Silvestre has nothing but his voice to give life to a character. El Primero is another human in the movie – the villain – which Silvestre probably loved after Narcos.
Martinez will voice the character of Isabela, yet another human in Ferdinand. She currently hosts Univision’s morning talk show Despierta America and has no experience whatsoever in movies, but let’s hope her first time goes amazingly.
With such a strong cast of Latino voices, there’s no excuse to miss Ferdinand this Christmas. This family friendly film will be one for the books, especially since it’s such well represented by the Latino community of Hollywood.