The One and Only Ivan (2020)

In 1973, Ivan the gorilla lives with an African elephant named Stella, Mack’s spoiled pet poodle named Snickers, a spunky baseball-playing chicken named Henrietta, a toy fire truck-riding rabbit named Murphy, a paranoid sea lion named Frankie and a loquacious parrot named Thelma. Ivan’s main friend is a stray mutt named Bob who secretly lives in his enclosure unless Mack has the security guard Castello drive him out. Mack’s janitorial employee George brings his daughter Julia who frequently interacts with Ivan. One day, Julia leaves her old crayons with Ivan who suddenly begins taking an interest in drawing with them. Julia is apparently the only one who can decipher his drawings and what they mean.

The Big Top Mall begins losing business much to Mack’s concern, but becomes excited when he purchases a baby elephant named Ruby from a bankrupt circus who begins to draw in a crowd and is placed in Stella’s enclosure. Ivan is initially hesitant over accepting Ruby, especially when she begins to pry into his personal life. When Stella suddenly becomes weaker and unable to perform, Ivan gives Ruby encouragement to embrace the crowd on her own. Afterwards, Ruby asks Ivan to tell her a story and Ivan reveals how Mack and his wife Helen adopted him when he was just a baby. As Ivan got bigger, Mack became forgiving of his animalistic behavior, but Helen left them out of frustration. Mack eventually purchased the mall and turned it into a circus. Stella asks Ivan to look after Ruby and make sure she is free before passing away.