| “ | Dinner means death! Death means carnage! CHRISTMAS MEANS CARNAGE! CHRISTMAS MEANS CARNAGE!! | „ |
| ~ Ferdinand panicking about Christmas dinner. |
| “ | Ferdinand the duck, witness to insanity. | „ |
| ~ Ferdinand reluctantly helping Babe save the hotel animals. |
Ferdinand is a major character of the 1995 acclaimed film Babe and one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Esme Hoggett) of its 1998 sequel Babe: Pig in the City.
He is voiced by Danny Mann.
History
Babe
The neurotic Ferdinand fears for his life, and tries to make himself indispensable by crowing and thus replacing the rooster. The duck enlists Babe's assistance in doing away with the new alarm clock that Esme Hogget bought.
However, the plan backfires when Ferdinand was about to sneeze (since he's allergic to cats) and when Babe drops the alarm clock loudly, awakening the cat and causing a huge mess in the living room before Ferdinand sneezed. Later, Ferdinand is devastated when his girlfriend Rosanna is cooked for Christmas dinner. Not willing to be a goner, Ferdinand flees the farm.
At the finale of the movie after a group of wild dogs attacked the Hoggett farm which resulted the death of Maa and Babe almost being wrongfully shot by Arthur Hoggett and Esme Hoggett narrowly prevented him, Ferdinand returns to the farm (was also devestated over the death of Maa) and watched Babe at the sheep-herding competition on the Hoggetts' TV with the other farm animals and celebrated Babe's victory.
Pig in the City
Unlike the first film Ferdie plays a large role for the sequel. Ferdie reveals he's now retired from crowing since Bade is a celebrity he see's him as his protection, so he won't get eaten. After Learning Babe is forced to go to the state fair with Esme in order to earn the fees to save the farm, Ferdie doesn't want babe to leave because he wants his protection while viewing him as his best friend. Later Ferdie began following them to the airport while he tries to fly faster with his wings, but he was too slow so instead he was guided by a flock of pelicans. Later Ferdinand got a ride with a fellow pelican after getting exhausted until he found a spot where he continues on his own by ground. But soon Ferdie accidently found himself in a gun club where he was nearly shot to death by participate shooters. Ferdie managed to escape and survived but is now lost and depressed in a building that he failed to find babe. Ferdie took a moment to rest his sorrows until he hears singing when he recognized the song back from the farm knowing babe is not far behind, he follows the sound all the way to the hotel where he is reunited with Babe, even Babe himself is happy to see his own friend but their reunion was cut short when animal control has arrived to impound all the animals Ferdie tries to hide under the bed with Flealick but his cat allergies caused him to sneeze and give away their position. Ferdie managed to save Babe from being impounded later they escape. after this Ferdie, Babe, Tug and Flealick where the only ones left, Babe wanted to rescue the animals but at first Ferdie tries to object this idea because they are on their own while warning him its too dangerous to go on a foolish rescue mission, but babe doesn't care after that Ferdie is now forced to join them. When they arrived at the facility and managed to free them Ferdie tries to divide them into two groups whoever is strong or weak to escape. Later Ferdie, babe and the animals find themselves at the charity ball where chaos has sprung, Ferdie tries to save babe from the chef after they recognized Esme hoping she will take them home. after this they return back to the farm where Ferdie and babe watched Arthur give out water.
Trivia
- Harry Shearer was considered for the role of Ferdinand before Danny Mann was selected.
- In the first Babe movie, Ferdinand only appears in a few brief scenes, but his main scene in the film is the "Crime and Punishment" scene. He vanishes from the film at the end of the first act, which is the Christmas scene, by fleeing the farm. He doesn't return until the film's final scene. He has a bigger role in the sequel.
| Babe Heroes | ||
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Babe | Ferdinand | Arthur Hoggett | Esme Hoggett | Fly | Rex | Bull Terrier | Flealick | Tug | Miss Floom | ||