ferdinand is a 2017 american computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by blue sky studios and distributed by 20th century fox. the film, loosely based on munro leaf and robert lawson's 1936 children's book the story of ferdinand, was written by robert l. baird, tim federle, and brad copeland, and directed by carlos saldanha. the film features an ensemble voice cast that includes john cena, kate mckinnon, bobby cannavale, peyton manning, anthony anderson, david tennant, tim nordquist, lily day, juanes, jerrod carmichael, miguel ángel silvestre, raúl esparza, gina rodriguez, daveed diggs, gabriel iglesias, flula borg, boris kodjoe, and sally phillips. 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. the story, written by ron burch, david kidd, and don rhymer, follows a gentle pacifist bull named ferdinand who refuses to participate in bullhard challengeing but is forced back into the arena where his beliefs are challenged when he faces off against the world's greatest bullhard challengeer.