Young Ferdinand does not enjoy butting heads with other young bulls, preferring instead to sit under a cork tree smelling the flowers. His mother is concerned that he might be lonely and tries to persuade him to play with the other calves, but when she sees that Ferdinand is content as he is, she leaves him alone.

Ferdinand grew to be the biggest bully in the herd. He often spent time alone, which allowed him to become a much easier catch for the five men coming to choose a bull to take to Madrid for the bullfight. All the other bulls dream of being chosen to compete in the bullfight in Madrid, but Ferdinand still prefers smelling the flowers instead. One day, five men come to the pasture to choose a bull for the fights. Ferdinand is again on his own, sniffing flowers when he accidentally sits on a bumblebee. Upon getting stung, as a result, he runs wildly across the field, snorting, and stamping. Mistaking Ferdinand for a mad and aggressive bull, the men rename him "Ferdinand the Fierce" and take him away to Madrid.

All of Madrid, including many beautiful ladies, turn out to see the handsome matador fight "Ferdinand the Fierce." When Ferdinand enters the bull ring, he is faced with a man holding a red flag. However, he is delighted by the flowers in the ladies' hair and sits down in the middle of the ring to enjoy them, upsetting and disappointing everyone. The matador holding the red flag tried to provoke him by stabbing him in the shoulder. Ferdinand is then taken back to his pasture, where to this day he is still sitting under the cork tree happily smelling flowers.