The One and Only Ivan is a 2020 American fantasy drama film directed by Thea Sharrock from a screenplay written by Mike White based on the 2012 children's novel of the same name by Katherine Applegate. Inspired by the true story of Ivan the gorilla, the film stars the voices of Sam Rockwell as Ivan alongside Angelina Jolie (who helped Allison Shearmur and Brigham Taylor to produce the film), Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Brooklynn Prince, Chaka Khan, Ron Funches, Phillipa Soo, and Mike White, with the human characters portrayed by Ramón Rodríguez, Ariana Greenblatt, and Bryan Cranston.

Plot

For 20 years, Ivan the gorilla has been the star attraction at the Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, a circus inside a Central Florida shopping mall run by ringmaster Mack. Living in captivity with his fellow animal performers — wise elephant Stella, spoiled poodle Snickers, spunky baseball-playing chicken Henrietta, toy fire truck-riding rabbit Murphy, anxious sea lion Frankie, and loquacious parrot Thelma — Ivan befriends a stray mutt who lives in his enclosure. The animals' caretaker George often brings his daughter Julia who bonds with Ivan. Giving Ivan her old crayons, she is able to decipher his drawings and names the stray dog Bob.