Angelina Jolie’s New Movie Hits Disney Plus This Week

Angelina Jolie’s newest movie The One and Only Ivan is premiering on Disney Plus later this week, as the film will finally make its bow on August 21st. You may have noticed that some of the trailers advertised an August 14th release, but Disney have since pushed it back by a week.

What can we expect? Well, Jolie will be a part of an all-star cast that also includes Bryan Cranston, Sam Rockwell, Danny DeVito and Hellen Mirren. Of the five, though, only Cranston will have a live-action role, with the rest voicing an eclectic array of computer-animated zoo animals.

For context, this is Disney’s official synopsis of the pic:

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.

It’s truly a testament to just how upside down the world has been turned that the first trailer for The One and Only Ivan was released barely 6 weeks before the film. And based on the tone of that preview’s music, Disney are going for a feel good hit with a broad strain of sentimentality and whimsy.

It’s been a particularly harsh year, so this sort of release may be just what many viewers ordered. As with all other films of its size, coronavirus has denied the possibility of a theatrical run, so streaming is once again making itself the home of cinema in 2020 (with the pic joining Greyhound, Bill & Ted 3, Mulan and many, many others).

Thinking of catching The One and Only Ivan on Disney Plus this week? Drop a comment with your expectations for Angelina Jolie’s newest feature below. If the miasma of feel-goodness is as pungent as Disney are letting on, I’m afraid their 2 minute teaser is as close as I’ll be getting to it. Will happily take second opinions, though.