Ferdinand had the misfortune of having a premiere date sandwiched right between two House of Mouse Behemoths, Coco, and The Last Jedi. It is, however, the former film that Ferdinand will probably be compared to, given that Coco was a brilliant re-imagination of Mexican culture with nuisance, humor, sadness, and depth. Comparing Ferdinand to Coco is almost unfair, as Ferdinand is almost everything that Coco is not. Ferdinand doesn’t even attempt to explore Spanish culture or bullfighting, other than some face value for humor or to service the plot. Ferdinand is a simplistic, but well-crafted animated film about a bull who doesn't want to fight.

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Since Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, Pixar films have played it safe by focusing on sequels rather than creating original stories. Remember, the films Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up were in development before Pixar’s acquisition. This is not to say that there haven’t been excellent, original Pixar stories like Inside Out, but otherwise, Pixar’s filmography has been filled with sequels and average original stories like The Good Dinosaur. Famed animator and one of Pixar’s decorated leaders, John Lasseter, took a recent six-month leave of absence due to sexual assault accusations. Some Mexican people were upset that Disney had tried to trademark their revered cultural holiday Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), in order to sell merchandise and others still were upset that the film seemed to rip off The Book of Life. The stage was set for Coco to fail spectacularly, but the film succeeds with its vibrant visuals, strong emotional core, and fantastical adventure to the Land of the Dead.

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