''Ferdinand the Bull'' is a 1938 American stand-alone animated short produced by

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

and released on November 25, 1938 by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

. It was directed by Dick Rickard and based on the 1936 book '' The Story of Ferdinand'' by

Munro Leaf Wilbur Monroe Leaf ( Munro Leaf) (December 4, 1905 – December 21, 1976) was an American writer of children's literature who wrote and illustrated nearly 40 books during his 40-year career. He is best known for ''The Story of Ferdinand'' (1936), ...

. The music was by

Albert Hay Malotte Albert Hay Malotte (May 19, 1895 – November 16, 1964) was an American pianist, organist, composer and educator, best known for his musical setting of "The Lord's Prayer". Biography and career Malotte was the son of Charles and Katherine (Donav ...

, most known for his setting of

The Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

, commonly sung at weddings. It was remade in 2017 by

Blue Sky Studios Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American computer animation studio based in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was founded on February 22, 1987 by Chris Wedge, Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown, and Eugene Troubetzkoy after their e ...

with

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...

as the titular bull.

Plot

The scene starts with many

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

s, romping together and butting their heads, however, Ferdinand is different; all he wants to do all day is go under a shady

cork tree Cork tree or corktree may refer to: * Cork oak, ''Quercus suber'', the tree from which most cork is harvested * Chinese cork oak, '' Quercus variabilis'', a tree from which cork is occasionally harvested * Cork-tree, a species of ''Phellodendron'' * ...

and smell the flowers. One day, his mother notices that he is not playing with the other bulls and asks him why. He responds, ‘All I want to do is to sit and smell the flowers!’ His mother is very understanding. Ferdinand grows over the years, eventually getting to be the largest and strongest of the group. The other bulls grow up wanting to accomplish one goal in life; to be in the bullfights in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, but not Ferdinand. One day, five strange-looking men show up to see the bulls. When the bulls notice them, they fight as rough as possible, hoping to get picked. Ferdinand doesn’t engage and continues to smell the flowers. When he goes to sit, he doesn’t realize there is a bumblebee right underneath him. The pain of the bee's sting makes him go on a crazy rampage, knock the other bulls out, and eventually tear down a tree. The five men cheer as they take Ferdinand to Madrid. There is a lot of excitement when the day of the bullfight comes. On posters, they call him Ferdinand the Fierce. The event starts and out into the ring comes banderilleros, picadors and the

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

who is being cheered on. As the matador bows, a woman in the audience throws him a bouquet of flowers which land in his hand. Finally, the moment comes where Ferdinand comes out and he wonders what is he doing there. The banderilleros and picadors are afraid and hide, but the matador gets scared stiff because Ferdinand is so big and strong. Ferdinand looks and sees the bouquet of flowers, walking over and scaring the matador away, but just starts smelling them. The matador becomes very angry at Ferdinand for not charging at him. But Ferdinand is not interested in fighting; he is only interested in smelling the beautiful flowers. Eventually, he is led out of the arena and taken back home where he continues to sit under the cork tree and smell the flowers.

Cast

* Don Wilson as Narrator *

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

as Ferdinand's Mother * Milt Kahl as Ferdinand

Animators

* Milt Kahl *

Hamilton Luske Hamilton Somers Luske (October 16, 1903 – February 19, 1968) was an American animator and film director. Career He joined the Walt Disney Productions animation studio in 1931 and he was soon trusted enough by Walt Disney to be made supervising ...

* Bill Stokes * John Bradbury * Bernard Garbutt *

Ward Kimball Ward Walrath Kimball (March 4, 1914 – July 8, 2002) was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honore ...

* Jack Campbell * Stan Quackenbush *

Don Lusk Donald R. "Don" Lusk (October 28, 1913 – December 30, 2018) was an American animator and director. Early life Lusk was born on October 28, 1913, in Burbank, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. He served in the United States Marines durin ...

Reception

The short film is broadcast in several countries every year on Christmas Eve as a part of the annual Disney Christmas show '' From All of Us to All of You''. The Christmas show is especially popular in Sweden where it has aired since 1959 and has become a Christmas tradition. The replacement of ''Ferdinand the Bull'' with ''The Ugly Duckling'' in 1982 resulted in public outcry. The next year, in 1983, the change was reverted and ''Ferdinand the Bull'' returned to Swedish television. ''Ferdinand the Bull'' won the 1938

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Short Subject (Cartoons). It won against shorts such as the ''

Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

'' short, '' Mother Goose Goes Hollywood''.

Home media

The short was released on December 6, 2005 on '' Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s''. Additional releases include: # ''Walt Disney Cartoon Classics Limited Gold Edition II: How the Best Was Won (1933–1960)'' (VHS/Betamax/Laserdisc) 1985 # ''Walt Disney Mini-Classics: Willie the Operatic Whale'' (VHS) 1991 # '' Walt Disney's Timeless Tales Volume 2: The Ugly Duckling/Wind in the Willows/The Country Cousin'' (DVD) 2005 # ''Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films Volume 6: The Reluctant Dragon'' (DVD) 2009

References

External links

* * {{Bullfighting 1938 short films 1938 films 1938 animated films 1930s color films Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Bullfighting films 1930s Disney animated short films Animated films based on children's books Films directed by Dick Rickard Films produced by Walt Disney Films set in Madrid Films set in Spain The Story of Ferdinand American animated short films 1930s American films