As we approach the debut of The One and Only Ivan on Disney+ tomorrow, we have been treated to a featurette about how the film has made the jump from the pages of a book to the scope of the screen.
What’s Happening:
- Literal hours ahead of its debut on Disney+, we are getting a peek behind the curtain at The One and Only Ivan, and its journey from page to screen.
- The featurette features cast members Angelina Jolie and Danny Devito, as well as director Thea Sharrock and the book’s original author, Katherine Applegate.
- Jolie tells us that she was first introduced to the book through her daughter, Shiloh, and fell in love with the book in the first lines, “I am Ivan. I’m a gorilla. It’s not as easy as it looks.”
- An adaptation of the award-winning book about one very special gorilla, Disney’s The One and Only Ivan is an unforgettable tale about the beauty of friendship, the power of visualization and the significance of the place one calls home. Ivan is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant, Bob the dog, and various other animals. He has few memories of the jungle where he was captured, but when a baby elephant named Ruby arrives, it touches something deep within him. Ruby is recently separated from her family in the wild, which causes him to question his life, where he comes from and where he ultimately wants to be. The heartwarming adventure, which comes to the screen in an impressive hybrid of live-action and CGI, is based on Katherine Applegate’s bestselling book, which won numerous awards upon its publication in 2013, including the Newbery Medal.
- The movie stars:
- Sam Rockwell as the voice of Ivan
- Angelina Jolie as the voice of Stella
- Danny DeVito as the voice of Bob the dog
- Helen Mirren as the voice of Snickers the poodle
- Brooklynn Prince as the voice of Ruby
- Ramon Rodriquez as the mall employee George
- Ariana Greenblatt as George’s daughter Julia
- Chaka Khan as the voice of Henrietta the chicken
- Mike White as the voice of Frankie the seal
- Ron Funches as the voice of Murphy the rabbit
- Phillipa Soo as the voice of Thelma the parrot
- Bryan Cranston as Mack, the mall’s owner
- Disney’s The One and Only Ivan debuts tomorrow, August 21st, on Disney+.