“Once upon a time in sunny Spain, there was a little bull and his name was Ferdinand. All the other little bulls he lived with would run and jump and butt their heads together, but not Ferdinand. He had his favorite spot out in the pasture under a cork tree, and he would sit just quietly in the shade all day and smell the flowers.” These words are the opening narration from the cartoon short Ferdinand the Bull. The little bull, which did nothing but smell the flowers, did manage to win the hearts of audiences and Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and on this day in 1939, the Academy Award® for the best cartoon short went to Ferdinand the Bull. “And for all I know,” as the film’s narration concluded, “he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly. He is very happy.”
