Angelina Jolie to voice the lead for Disney’s The One and Only Ivan

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Of the many films that Disney has planned for the next couple of years, a live-action hybrid adaptation of the Newbery Medal-winning book written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by Patricia Castelao entitled THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN is among them. Earlier this afternoon, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Angelina Jolie will lend her vocals to to a lead character in the film, a project which she will also help produce alongside Allison Shearmur (CINDERELLA, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY). Directing the forthcoming medium-mashup will be Thea Sharrock (ME BEFORE YOU), who will work from a script penned by Mike White (SCHOOL OF ROCK, FREAKS AND GEEKS).

Originally published by HarperCollins in 2011, Aplegate and Castelao's book centers on a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lives in a cage in a shopping mall along with an elephant named Stella and a stray dog called Bob. Ivan does not remember life before the mall, but when a baby elephant named Stella enters and Ivan finds himself taking care of her, he begins to rediscover his previous life and concocts a plan to take the baby elephant away from their abusive owner. Jolie is now set to provide her voice for the mistreated baby pachyderm, Stella. Additionally, the hunt is now officially on to find an actress who will go on to play a janitor's daughter, a character who becomes a kew component to Ivan and Stella making their escape.

No release date for the film has been confirmed at this time. In other recent Disney-related news, Jolie has confirmed that she'll return for Maleficent 2, the follow-up to Disney's 2014 smash fairy tale hit.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He's also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You'll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.