Why was the cartoon „Fernando the Bull” banned in Spain?

Andalusia is one of Spain’s most fascinating regions: with a unique history and full of curiosities that can surprise even the most seasoned travellers. Discover the story of 'Fernando the Bull’, the forbidden tale of the pacifist bull from Ronda.

The story of the fable „Fernando the Bull”

This is the tale of the Spanish bull, on which several generations of Poles were raised. It was created by an author from overseas, but it was most controversial in Europe.

Forty minutes – that’s how long it was supposed to take the American writer Munro Leaf to write his most famous fable. It is said that his devotion to his creative work was aided by the unattractive weather one autumn afternoon in 1935. How much truth there is in this is unknown. The 40 minutes are suspicious. We are talking about at least a dozen (depending on the edition) pages of text. What is a fact, however, is that 'Fernando the Bull’, as it is obviously referred to, first appeared in print just one year later. The edition was illustrated with drawings by Robert Lawson, a friend of the author.

The plot outline is as follows: the eponymous Fernando liked to lie in a meadow and smell the flowers. He shunned fighting. He was the opposite of his brothers, who trained constantly to one day take part in a corrida. During a visit from the bullfighters, he was accidentally recognised as the bravest of the bulls and was taken to the arena in Madrid.

The book was published in 1936, the year the civil war broke out in Spain. General Franco felt that the work criticised his actions and supported pacifist movements. He banned its publication. „Fernando’s Bull” also made it onto the list of books banned in the Third Reich. Hitler ordered the burning of existing copies.

The book was also controversial in America, but just two years after its initial publication, it was given a screen adaptation. The short animation was produced by Disney, directed by Dick Rickard and runs eight minutes.

„The bull Fernando came from Ronda?

There are many indications of this. Leaf’s tale does not mention any names associated with the region, nor does it say explicitly that it is set in Andalusia, but the illustrations in the first edition suggest it. One of them shows a bridge that looks almost identical to the famous Puente Nuevo over the El Tajo ravine in Ronda, suggesting that the story is set in Andalusia. This structure also appears in a Disney animation.

’Fernando the Bull’ arrived in Poland in 1939. The fairy tale was translated into our language by Irena Tuwim, sister of the famous poet Julian Tuwim. The cover of the cult post-war 1956 edition was created by illustrator Maria Orłowska-Gabryś. Despite its controversial subject matter, 'Fernando’s Bull’ was one of the few Western children’s books to gain the approval of the communist authorities.

Leaf’s fairy tale-inspired animated film 'Fernando’, produced by 20th Century Fox, premiered in 2017. In the English-language version, popular wrestler John Cena lent his voice to the title character. In the Polish dubbing, Ferdinand was played by actor Marcin Dorocinski.