“The One And Only Ivan” Synopsis
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.
Ivan and Ruby
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.
Cast
Voice Actors
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
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
Live Cast
Bryan Cranston as Mack, the mall’s owner.
Ramon Rodriquez as the mall employee George
Ariana Greenblatt as George’s daughter Julia
Diversity
One of the things that I loved about this movie was how diverse the cast was form the voice actors to the live actors, it is great to see how much Disney is taking into consideration when it comes to diversity in their films.
As a Latina I have to say I was super excited to see that some of the main characters in the film were latino, Ramon Rodriguez has been in quite a few films including “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen”.
As well as Ariana Greenblatt who has been in a quite a few of our favorite Disney shows like “Stuck In The Middle”, both actors but on fantastic performances in the film.
“The One And Only Ivan” Kid Review
If you have read our movie reviews before you know that we like to interview our kids on films that are family friendly since we watch the movies together. So here are a couple of questions I asked then both, and their replies remember they are five and eight so cut them some slack LOL!
Q: Who was your favorite character in the film?
G: I really liked Julia, me and her are about the same age and I liked that she understood Ivan and wanted the best for him. I like helping people and animals as well!
S: I liked Ivan! He is strong like me, and he likes to paint. I like to paint too!
Q:Who do you thinks was the funniest in the film?
G: They were all pretty funny but I really liked Henrietta she cracked me up with her feathers and her playing baseball.
S: I thought that the rabbit Murphy was funny, I really liked his firetruck.
Q: There were some parts of the movie where I saw you guys got sad. What parts did you feel sad part?
G: When Stella passed away I got a like a little teary, because she was such a good elephant. Reminded me of grandpa, and how he taught me stuff before he passed. Stella taught Ruby stuff as well.
S: The part where they escape but then get put back in the cages again.
What was your favorite part of the movie?
G: Favorite was when Julia gives Ivan crayons for him to draw, because that helps him eventually to be free! And that it is a true story!
S: When Ivan and all the animals have a lots of room to run around!
Final Thoughts
This film is super touching for the whole family, as you can tell the boys were super into it, and understood some major events that happen during the film. You need to make sure and put this on your watchlist, and if you haven’t gotten Disney plus by now what are you waiting for? Hello Mulan comes out on it next month!
While most of us are dealing with virtual school I have a great educational packet that you can tie into your science studies or activities to do before or after you watch the film. The packet is in a PDF form so that you can print it out, we hope you enjoy!
“The One And Only Ivan” Educational Packet Click here to access.
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN is directed by Thea Sharrock from a screenplay by Mike White based on Applegate’s book and is produced by the late Allison Shearmur, Angelina Jolie and Brigham Taylor. Sue Baden-Powell and Thea Sharrock serve as executive producers.
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