On Aug. 12 of this year, Disney+ released “The One and Only Ivan,” a movie based on a book and true story. The film had me crying from beginning to end, and five minutes after I turned the movie off. This film will tug at your heartstrings, but it is well worth the watch and tears.
Walt Disney Pictures did a combination of computer-generated images (CGI) and real people to showcase the picture. Like many “based on a true story” films, at the end, Disney provided real footage from the real life Ivan. Ivan, an infant gorilla from the wild, was in the care of the people who “rescued” him when they killed his family and took him from the jungle. When he got too big, he was sold to a circus and never saw the outside world, or another gorilla, for the next 27 years of his life. After activists petitioned to free Ivan, along with the other animals in the mall circus, Ivan was put into an animal sanctuary, where he felt the outside for the first time in his life.
The film was very well put together. The CGI animals looked very realistic. I had a hard time depicting whether or not they were real animals with CGI talking ability, or completely CGI. I really liked the aspect of CGI, as no real animals were harmed in the making of this film. The actors, who had to interact with the CGI, acted naturally – they looked as if the animals were real life things, and not an object covered in the green-screen material. The overall graphics and the accuracy of the depiction of the real life events, were very well filmed and so incredible.
What I really enjoyed about this movie was how it called out circuses that still use exotic animals as their acts. The animals do not want to perform, they want to live with others of their kind, in a safe environment, where they can be happy and flourish. The animals in the movie were kept in cages and conditions that no animal should be kept in. They were kept on concrete floors, where the only exposure to the outside was a skylight window on the roof. Other than that, they only knew the confinement of the concrete walls. I liked how this movie didn’t show the animals as happy circus performers when they are actually depressed and lonely.
I definitely recommend this movie to all subscribers of Disney+. For those who don’t have it, borrow the login from a friend or family member, or get the seven day free trial to watch this movie. This movie is worth every minute, and it is a great way to bring attention to the mistreatment of animals in circuses.