Ferdinand is a bull that likes to sit under a tree in the forest and smell the flowers. He doesn't hang with the other bulls and chooses to be by himself, perfectly content with his independence. When he was taken into a bull arena to fight a matador, he does not engage in the battle and, instead, smell the flowers that were tossed from the crowd.A great story - reminds you that you can be perfectly content with the simplest things in life and you don't need to be part of the in-crowd or have materialist things to be happy. You can also be carefree and release yourself of any distractions in life.Grade A

"Ferdinand the Bull" is a Walt Disney cartoon from shortly before World War II. It won the Oscar in a year where no less than 4 out of 5 nominated cartoons were by Walt Disney. This one here takes another journey into the wonderful world of animals. It has to be one of Disney's most harmonic works. However, I felt that it lacks somehow the emotion of films about the likes of the Ugly Duckling, Lambert or Elmer. Nonetheless, it's a good watch and has some funny moments such as the bumble-bee who was at the wrong place wrong time. And so was Ferdinand as he gets taken to the bull-fighting arena. All the other bulls would have been so happy, but not him. Another scene I liked was when the bullfighter shows us his naked breast and we see the tattoo and the music implies that maybe the red color will get Ferdinand finally angry and let him attack, but nope. He is just too peace-loving, so in the end it's back to the green grass for him. nice to see he wasn't killed as bulls frequently are after fights in the arena. Entertaining short film, but not among Disney's best.

There is some historical significance associated with the story of Ferdinand the Bull as the Spanish Civil War is said to have begun a few months after the story of Ferdinand was written. The domestic harmless nature of the bull is said to represent pacifistic views towards the situation in Spain. Munro Leaf may have partly been influenced by the political climate around him while writing about Ferdinand, but this remains uncertain. The 1938 short by Disney does not consider all this, and is more concerned with showing Ferdinand's love for flowers. Ferdinand does not care about bull fights unlike his fellow bulls, and prefers reclining under his favorite tree, inhaling the sweet fragrance of the flowers. His mother, despite being a 'cow' is very considerate and allows him to do as he likes. But after a bee accident, Ferdinand is thought to be the most ferocious of bulls and is brought to the bull fight. His name too changes to 'Ferdinand the Fierce' for the event; everyone including the bullfighter is scared of him and they anticipate his grand entry. What happens after this surprises everyone in the story but now us because we already know how Ferdinand actually is.This story would have been stratospherically more poignant and rich had auteur Frederic Back made it; remember how he beautifully used the chair as a motif while showing the rapid transformation of Quebec society in his brilliant short 'Crac'. Ferdinand the Bull would have got that flavor of Spain had Back made this film; however, Disney does enough justice to make this film watchable and enjoyable. Ferdinand the Bull hence does not wow us but it does bring a smile upon our faces, which is Disney's primary aim. Verdict: Would have been stratospherically more poignant and richer had Frederic Back made 'Ferdinand the Bull', but Disney does manage to make the short entertaining enough

This is one of my favorite stories from childhood and this Disney cartoon did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the classic Muro Leaf story. The 1939 Oscars were a particularly good year, with Disney receiving 4 of 5 nominations in the category of Best Cartoon and receiving the award for FERDINAND--beating out such Disney classics as THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR and GOOD SCOUTS.The film is about a gentle bull in Spain who has no interest in fighting. Instead, he'd rather just sit and smell the flowers all day. However, when men come looking for fierce bulls for the bullfighting ring, they think Ferdinand is the meanest bull because he was just stung by a bee. What happens next you'll need to see for yourself.There is a lot to like about this cartoon. The artwork, though not exactly in the style of the children's book, is pretty close and is among the better animated shorts Disney did in the era. If you compare the artwork, music and quality to fare from Fleischer, Warner Brothers and MGM at the same time, it is light-years ahead. The best cartoons at that time were clearly Disney--with MGM and Warner Brothers still making saccharine-sweet cartoons with second-rate animation until the 1940s (when these two studios became the best maker of cartoon shorts). This film just screams "quality" throughout and deserved the Oscar.By the way, get a load of the Cork Tree! Ha!