The music for the film was composed by John Powell, making it his eighth and final collaboration with Blue Sky before it shut down on April 10, 2021.

[8] In Spain, a calf named Ferdinand lives with other bulls at Señor Moreno's "Casa del Toro", where they are trained for bullfighting.

The officers decide to give Ferdinand to Casa del Toro, where he meets his old bullies Valiente, Bones, and Guapo, plus new additions such as Lupe, a female goat, and two new bulls, Angus and Maquina.

Moreno puts all the bulls in a ring to fight it out, but Ferdinand refuses to take part, causing a chain of mishaps when he tries to help Guapo recover from a stage fright-induced faint.

Valiente mocks them for bonding and wasting valuable practice time, causing the other bulls to reluctantly abandon Ferdinand and return to training.

Valiente refuses to accept the truth and starts fighting Ferdinand, accidentally breaking off his own horn.

In Las Ventas Arena, Ferdinand refuses to fight and starts running around in blind panic, accidentally knocking over and humiliating El Primero.

El Primero wounds him with a banderilla, and Ferdinand nearly retaliates until he sees a carnation crushed beneath his hoof, reminding him of his home with Nina.

In 2011, it was reported that 20th Century Fox Animation had acquired the rights to the children's book The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf to adapt it into a computer-animated feature film with Carlos Saldanha attached to direct it.

[13] On September 19, 2017, it was announced that singer Nick Jonas wrote and recorded a song called "Home" for the film, released as the promotional single of the soundtrack on October 20, 2017.

[4] In the United States and Canada, Ferdinand was released alongside Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,621 theaters in its opening weekend.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Ferdinand's colorful update on a classic tale doesn't go anywhere unexpected, but its timeless themes – and John Cena's engaging voice work in the title role – make for family-friendly fun.

"[34] Simran Hans of The Guardian gave the film a four out of five stars and said, "A flower-sniffing bull goes on a journey of self-discovery in this fun adaptation of a 30s children's book.

"[35] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter also gave a positive review for the film, saying, "It's no Coco, but Ferdinand, a CG-animated adaptation of the classic 1936 Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson book about a flower-loving bull who'd rather sniff than fight, manages to squeak by with enough charming set-pieces and amusing sight gags to compensate for a stalling storyline.

"[36] Katie Welsh of Chicago Tribune gave the film a negative review of two stars, saying, "With a lovely voice performance from Cena, the spirit of Ferdinand does shine through.

"[37] Tara Brady of The Irish Times also gave the film a three out of five stars, saying, "Ferdinand may lack the all-out charm offensive of the studio's 2015 Snoopy and Charlie Brown vehicle, but it's not too far off in terms of quality and sweetness.