A forgotten John Cena movie is dominating Disney Plus this weekend. Earlier this month, overlooked Fox animation Ferdinand debuted on the Mouse House’s streaming service, and recently, it’s been catching on with subscribers. Over the past two days – January 29th and 30th – it’s been the third most popular movie on D+ in the US and the ninth around the world, according to FlixPatrol.
Ferdinand, from Ice Age makers Blue Sky Studios, stars Cena as the voice of the eponymous pacifist Spanish bull who tries to escape having to take part in a bullfight. As well as the Bumblebee star in the lead, the cast is stacked full of familiar names including Kate McKinnon, Bobby Cannavale, Peyton Manning, David Tennant and Anthony Anderson. Rio‘s Carlos Saldanha directed.
Though based on a beloved children’s book, Ferdinand didn’t make an enormous impact when it came out in 2017, but it did earn almost $300 million globally on the back of a $111 million budget. It was also pretty warmly received by critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a very respectable 72% rating, with the consensus reading: “Ferdinand‘s colorful update on a classic tale doesn’t go anywhere unexpected, but its timeless themes — and John Cena’s engaging voice work in the title role — make for family-friendly fun.”
Ferdinand might’ve slipped through the net for a lot of folks, though, due to the big event that was overshadowing many 20th Century Fox productions back then – the impending takeover by Disney. In fact, it stands as the final animated movie the studio released prior to being hoovered up by its new owner.
Now that we’re at the other end of the process, though, and Ferdinand has found a home on D+, it seems it’s finally finding the audience that missed it at the time. And if you haven’t yet caught it, be sure to check it out on Disney Plus when you can, as it’s well worth a watch.
