Just watched this on Disney+
It was one of my favorite read-aloud at bedtime chapter books with my kids. I was so afraid they would screw it up.
They didn’t. It was lovely. 
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We were looking forward to watching the movie because we read the book awhile ago. The book is fantastic, the movie is well done to the book, we all enjoyed it!!
Good movie to watch. 
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The real Ivan lived in this horrible little mall called the B&I Shopping Center in Tacoma. When I moved here in 1989, he was still there. I never saw him or visited that shopping center (it was very seedy even back then) before he finally left in 1994. I did go to that shopping center once after that and saw the area where he lived. It made me cry. It was so horrible. Imagine a concrete box with no windows to the outside. It kind of makes me cry even now. So glad he was liberated from that place and lived out the rest of his life in more humane conditions.
In elementary school, my daughter had to read a Newberry Award book. Her teacher suggested Island of the Blue Dolphins which she was really not into. I went searching and found the One and Only Ivan. She ended up reading and loving that instead. I am looking forward to the movie!
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We just watched The One and Only Ivan tonight too and loved it! I’ve not read the story yet and didn’t know it was based on a true story until the end. It was a sweet story and we enjoyed it as well.
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I’m so glad to hear it! DS read it during 3rd grade, so he’s looking forward to the movie.
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I read it with my son several years ago when he was in the 3rd grade. We haven’t watched it yet. Glad to hear you like it after reading the book.
What ages do you think it would be good for? Do you think a 5 year old would enjoy it?
Yes it was a kids book to start with.
We watched it yesterday, and it was very enjoyable. I did not know there was a book, need to look that one up.
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I would say so as ours enjoyed it very much. We watched it for family movie night with our 5, 5, 5, and 3 year old. They were all very eager to draw/color what they saw after the movie. The movie allows you to dive deeper into some discussions on how to treat animals as well as how Ivan’s life turned out after the ending.
However, I may not be the best judge as our girls have seen all 9 Star Wars movies, Iron Man, Thor, and GOTG too. 
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Completely unrelated, but three 5 year olds and a 3 year old. You must be busy! I can barely keep up with my two kids.
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Oh I had loved the book and was worried about the movie version also. So glad to hear they didn’t screw it up!
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Haha, yea it’s definitely busy, but it’s gotten easier. It was much harder when it was three just turned 2 year olds and a newborn.
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I watched it last nigh with my 2 daughters and my wife. We loved it. Great movie. I immediately called my sister and told her about it and said she would like it as well as my niece. She said they had started to watch some of it already but would finish it up soon.
Great move and highly recommended. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, to be honest.
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If I had any criticism it would be that it felt a little rushed, as compared to how it was paced in the book. But I suppose drawing out the part about Stella could be unnecessarily traumatizing.
I sure wish I could get to Rwanda to see the gorillas when I go to Africa. Money tree will barely support my safari though so I guess I’ll take what I can get.
Thanks so much for the flag on this movie – we just watched it, and as the end titles rolled we realized that we had seen/met Ivan at the Atlanta Zoo in 2008 during a family visit in Atlanta. It made the beautiful story even more beautiful…
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I always wished I could have seen him (in Atlanta) but never made it out there. I noticed that our zoo has a memorial statue of him near the entrance. He is much loved here in Tacoma.
This is a little video and article about the real Ivan’s life.
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We just watched it too! It was so sweet! Didn’t know the story and made me cry more than once!
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Thank you – that made me feel better about the humans who were responsible for his life, and better that he was loved, not merely exploited.
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