A few weeks back it was our pleasure to attend the press conference for Disney’s brand new movie The One and Only Ivan – the movie based on the hugely popular book by Katherine Applegate.

Attending the press conference were a raft of movie acting legends including Bryan Cranston (“Mack”), Sam Rockwell (“Ivan”), Angelina Jolie (“Stella”), Danny DeVito (“Bob the dog”), Helen Mirren (“Snickers the poodle”), Brooklynn Prince (“Ruby”), Chaka Khan (“Henrietta the chicken”), Mike White (“Frankie the seal” / screenwriter), Phillipa Soo (“Thelma the parrot”) and Ron Funchess (“Murphy the rabbit”) and Thea Sharrock (director).

During the super fun press conference, the cast talked about how they channelled their artsy side, Angelina Jolie and Brooklynn Prince talk about dressing up as elephants and bringing their characters to life while the rest talk about creating something so fresh and new and the wonder of working on such a great project. Director Thea Sharrock talked about navigating colour to make the movie more impactful.

The One and Only Ivan hits Disney+ TODAY so you can enjoy it as much as we did.

Check out the press conference below:

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. 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.