“The One and Only Ivan” begins streaming on Disney+ tomorrow, Friday, August 21st!
Check out the new “Book to Screen” featurette for Disney’s “The One and Only Ivan,” with Danny DeVito, director Thea Sharrock, Angelina Jolie, and author Katherine Applegate offering insights on bringing the book to life on the screen.
“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. The film, which comes to the screen in an impressive hybrid of live-action and CGI, is based on Katherine Applegate’s book, which won numerous awards upon its publication in 2013, including the Newbery Medal.
The film features the voices of: Sam Rockwell as the gorilla Ivan; Angelina Jolie as Stella the elephant; Danny DeVito as Bob the dog; Helen Mirren as Snickers the poodle; Chaka Khan as Henrietta the chicken; Mike White as Frankie the seal; Brooklynn Prince as Ruby the baby elephant; Ron Funches as Murphy the rabbit; Phillipa Soo as Thelma the parrot; and stars Ramon Rodriguez, Ariana Greenblatt and Bryan Cranston. “The One and Only Ivan” is directed by Thea Sharrock from a screenplay by Mike White based on Applegate’s novel and is produced by the late Allison Shearmur, p.g.a., Angelina Jolie and Brigham Taylor, p.g.a. Sue Baden-Powell and Thea Sharrock serve as executive producers.
Ivan is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant and Bob the dog. 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.