Katherine Applegate is in a position for the world to meet “the only Ivan”.
It was through the 1993 New York Times article “A gorilla gets enraged in a mall while discussing its long term” that fiction for young and young adults learned of the lifestyle of Ivan, a silver-backed gorilla living in a cage. at a Tacoma mall for about 30 years. Years.
Applegate, which has written acclaimed books for generations of young readers (including the “Animorphs” series), sought to share an edition of Ivan’s tale with the world.
“Actually, I wasn’t sure anyone could read the book,” she says. “It seemed an exaggeration to believe that young readers would need to read a story from a gorilla’s point of view. You know, the “first-person gorilla” isn’t so unusual in young novels.”
Many others wanted to know more about Ivan: Applegate’s 2012 eBook “The One and Only Ivan” won the Newbery Medal and continued with a sequel, “The One and Only Bob,” released in May.
The original eBook also featured a new live Disney film of the same name. With its planned movie theater release cancelled because the COVID-19 pandemic closed theaters, “The One and Only Ivan”. will arrive via Disney (broadcast on Friday).
“I can’t think of a better movie for those tough times,” Applegate says. “It’s a matter of compassion and, indeed, isolation. It is an animal that is removed from its herbal environment and spends 27 years without any other of its kind. And a lot of us right now are in some kind of remote editing of our old self, so I think it’s going to touch the sensitive fiber at this level. But also because it’s a very encouraging film. This is the worst of humans, but also the most productive of humans.”
“The One and Only Ivan” features Sam Rockwell as Ivan’s voice, with Ivan’s collection of captive animals through Danny DeVito, Angelina Jolie, Chaka Khan and Phillipa so. Bryan Cranston plays Mack, the owner of the mall.
If “The One and Only Ivan” is primarily a film about the circle of relatives featuring animals that speak with celebrity voices, it also carries a message about our connection to the world of herbs.
“We are witnessing a wonderful extinction, caused almost entirely by humans,” he says. They’re in touch with him in a way that I think our generation and other generations are not.
“I feel more and more positive after spending time with young readers, I see their energy, their minds and their compassion.”
“Ivan” continues a theme that has been discovered in Applegate paintings for decades: asking for empathy among species and asking humans to see other global eyes other than their own.
“The magic of being able to write novels is that we can take readers to new places,” Applegate says. “You basically have the ability, when you read a smart story, to someone else.
“For me, it turns out to be similar to the global herbal or other people who fight in an exclusive and deceptive way, other people who infrequently get lost in the cracks. And, unfortunately, there are many stories that want to be told.”