FERDINAND THE BULL (1938)
Today’s post was selected/written by film historian and author Lee Gambin (@leegambin79 on Instagram) and features an excerpt from his Diabolique Magazine article, “Such Interesting Lives: Celebrating the Cartoon Queer – Part One.”
“In FERDINAND THE BULL, young calf Ferdinand is not at all interested in roughhousing with his peers.
In terms of developing the character of Ferdinand- in this adaptation, named Lolo/Lola- I was inspired by Muñoz’s idea of identity as work-in-progress, “a process that takes place at the point of collision of perspectives” (6). Although several longshot illustrations of Ferdinand at his tree could illustrate the isolation of queer subjects, when he is in the wild we are offered several adorable closeups of him smelling flowers or calmly watching the world in front him.
Instead, this gentle beast with his long feminine eyelashes and swishy demeanour prefers to smell the flowers and disassociates himself from the masculine antics of his counterparts. This behavior is something he never outgrows, as the cartoon skips a few years and we find him exactly the same – a nice acute commentary on the ideology that this is something children will not “grow out of”.
“Un Ritual de Sacrificio: la Corrida de Toros Española.” Alteridades, vol.7, 1997, pp.109-115.
In developing this scene, I was troubled by the problematic of domestication of queer animals I had encountered in the text. The final round of the bullfight sees a reversal of the roles in which Rosario charges headfirst at Lola, whose exuberant and wild dancing eventually exhausts Rosario into acceptance: the matador offers her the final touch to her outfit, a big red rose to place behind her ear, as a token of peace.
Mother cow became Luna, the moon- an addition inspired by popular Spanish song by Carlos Castellano Gómez, The Moon and the Bull, that narrates the story of a bull that is othered for his infatuation with the moon, as well as by cultural connotations of the moon as a guiding light and of night as a safe space for queer dreaming.
I asked Anna to play them as a drag queen would. Driven to the city in a cart, Ferdinand looks awkward and small as he is dragged by donkeys along a towering bridge; citizens high up in their balconies watch as his procession drives past, and in the bullring, through the archways of a huge staircase, “all the lovely ladies had flowers in their hair,” but here, rather than peace, flowers could signify something more sinister as most of the women’s faces are hid behind red veils or fans.
There is a perpetual narrative device where the odd horse is not able to fit in or live up to expectations – straight expectations.”
Be sure to check out Gambin’s full Diabolique Magazine article for more on Ferdinand, the sissy character, and queer depictions in cartoons:
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While analysing the movement of the role, I understood that both characters were resisting gender conscriptions.
This range of behaviours challenges categorization of what bulls and cows do, and neither the other bulls nor the matador can explain what Ferdinand is. The Story of Ferdinand. Ferdinand is not necessarily gay, but he’s definitely queer.”
So perhaps it should be no surprise to the LGBT+ community that Ferdinand, in the upcoming movie, is even more likely to become a gay icon.
A Theory of Adaptation.
The Story of Ferdinand has a contested history of criticism that made it an exciting text to work with. “Children’s Literature Goes to War: Dr. Seuss, P.D Eastman, Munro Leaf and the Private SNAFU Films (1943-46).” The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 40, No. 3, 2007, pp.467-487.
As a bull, Ferdinand belongs to the wild. 51-72.
Butler, Judith.