Big Bulls

Big Bulls
Background information
Feature films	Fun and Fancy Free (cameo appearance with recycled animation)
Short films	Ferdinand the Bull
Group information
Members	Four/five unnamed bulls
Home	Spain
Status	Active

The Big Bulls (also known as Fighting Bulls) are characters from the 1938 Disney animated short Ferdinand the Bull. They are a group of bulls who live in Spain.

Background

Physical appearances

Most of the bulls have a distinct shade of brown all over their body, unlike Ferdinand who has a black coloration all over his body. As Little Bulls (referred to in production materials as Tough Calves), they have distinct shades of brown all over their body - either in light or dark shades of brown to give them a distinct appearance. As adults, they retain a similar brown coloration they had when they were young, albeit each with a pair of horns on their head. In addition to the brown shades they have all over their body, they also have a pale underside as well as a distinct tuft of mane located on their foreheads.

Appearances

Ferdinand the Bull

A group of little bulls are introduced in the beginning of the short, where they are seen running, jumping, and headbutting each other, except for Ferdinand who did not want to participate with them, because all he wanted to do is sit peacefully under a tree all day and smell the flowers. However, Ferdinand's mother offers her son to participate with the other bulls so he would make friends with them, but Ferdinand decides not to; Ferdinand's mother also understood, so she let him sit in the tree peacefully.

As the years passed, all the other bulls wanted to participate in a bullfight, except for Ferdinand who still didn't want to participate. Five men arrived at the spot where the bulls are present so that they would pick the best bull who would fight against the Matador in the bullring. The bulls began to practice of what they did in the past when they were calves, so the men would think they were strong and fierce, except for Ferdinand who refused to fight like them when he was a child; however, neither of the bulls impressed the men. Later when Ferdinand did not notice that he was sitting on a bumblebee, it caused him to run around frantically, much to the other bulls' surprise. This impressed the five men, as they thought Ferdinand was the perfect bull who would fight against the matador; however, Ferdinand refused to fight against the matador, causing him to be humiliated as well as resulting Ferdinand to be taken out of the bullring. Although the other bulls are not seen again at the end, Ferdinand happily lives at his favorite corner tree, sitting quietly once again.

Trivia

• Animation for the little bulls was later recycled in the 1947 animated short Mickey and the Beanstalk, which was included as a segment of the package film Fun and Fancy Free, where the recycled animation was used in the "My, What a Happy Day" musical number featured at the beginning of the segment.
• Several other bulls also appear as supporting or minor characters in the Blue Sky Studios film adaptation of Ferdinand, which are named Valiente, Guapo, Bones, Angus, and Maquina respectively with them voiced by Bobby Cannavale, Peyton Manning, Anthony Anderson, David Tennant, and Tim Nordquist. While the film is currently owned by The Walt Disney Company, following its acquisition 21st Century Fox, it was released before the purchase was made official and thus, is a Disney film by extension rather than direct association.
  • Additionally, these aforementioned characters who appear in the Blue Sky Studios adaptation of Ferdinand are completely unrelated to the ones who appear in the original book by Munro Leaf as well as the ones that appear in the 1938 Disney short.

Gallery

The little bulls