The short film starts with many bulls, romping together and butting their heads, but Ferdinand is different; all he wants to do all day is go under a shady cork tree 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, Spain; but not Ferdinand. One day, five strange-looking men show up to see the bulls. When the bulls notice them, they fight as roughly as possible, hoping to get picked. Ferdinand does not engage and continues to smell the flowers. When he goes to sit, he is unaware there is a bumblebee directly beneath him. The pain of the bee's sting makes him go on a crazed rampage, knock the other bulls out and eventually tear down a tree. The five men, impressed, cheer as they take Ferdinand to Madrid.
There is great 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 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 he is doing there. The banderilleros and picadors are afraid by the sight of Ferdinand and hide, but the matador is scared stiff due to the fact that Ferdinand is so large and strong. Ferdinand looks and sees the bouquet of flowers, walking over and scaring the matador away, but simply starts smelling them. The matador becomes furious at Ferdinand for not charging at him, but Ferdinand is not interested in fighting, only in smelling the 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.
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.[2]
