Ferdinand The Bull is a classic children's story written in 1936 by Munro Leaf. The book was made into a short Disney cartoon two years later. More than a critique of bullfighting in Spain, both film and book blithely expose the folly of violence and explain the option of pacifism. As ever when authors advocate Truth and Love and Peacefulness, the book was banned by warmongering governments. But the banning could not prevent the book from being translated into more than 60 languages, and becoming an international success.
What a wonderful story! ... In refusing to fight, Ferdinand -- the happy bull -- proves to be wiser than the frenzied humans who attempt to provoke him to violence.
To protest the annual Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, the animal-rights group PETA has organized their own event, which they call Running of the Nudes. Attractive women and men run through the streets along the same path as the bulls will travel. PETA's event has been running yearly since 2004, but next year they will leave Pamplona, since it attracts more tourists to the bullfighting spectacles. PETA will take the nudes a-running through the world's major cities. PETA's website has more information, photos, and a video news conference, which shows nudity at the very end:
http://www.runningofthenudes.com/
Ferdinand The Bull (the book) is still in print, and easy to obtain at local libraries, at bookstores and at bookstores online.
The Disney video of Ferdinand (with the main matador drawn as a characature of Walt Disney), is viewable on the web, here:
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Ferdinand the Bull and the Running of the Nudes
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