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Credit: Inside the MagicBryan Cranston has mourned the loss of his Disney+ movie The One And Only Ivan as it falls victim to the streaming platform’s culls.
Related: Disney Permanently Removing Shows for Hulu-Disney+ Merger
The Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle star was the lead talent for the movie, which released in 2020 during the early days of the COVID pandemic. Despite a lukewarm critical response, The One And Only Ivan was one of Disney+’s first exclusive original movies.
The film, based on a true story, told the story of a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lives in a strip mall and arcade, looked after by his caretaker George (Cranston). Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, is friends with a veritable menagerie of animal friends, voiced by Hollywood mega-talent such as Angelina Jolie, Helen Mirren, Danny DeVito, and The White Lotus creator Mike White.
But despite the star power, it couldn’t save it from being one of the swathes of titles set to be pulled from the streaming platform as part of plans to save costs. Ivan is one of more than 50 titles set to vanish in an effort to curb rising costs for the service, which lost 4 million subscribers in the first three months of this year.
Posting on his Instagram, Cranston shared an emotional message about his time creating and sharing the film with the world.
In his caption, he writes:
“I heard the news that my film, The One And Only Ivan is being pulled from @disneyplus as early as next week. I was very proud of this sweet, family movie that was released after the COVID Lockdown began. And I urge you to gather your kids, or nieces & nephews, make some popcorn, and watch this engaging and delightful story that was based on real events!
“The real life guy that I play actually adopted a baby gorilla (Ivan) and raised him in a Washington state suburb. A crazy true story!! Thanks to Disney for giving us the opportunity to make this movie in the first place. I just know that it will make for really great family time – but you have to do it this weekend before it disappears forever. I promise, you’ll be glad you saw it. Have a great weekend… Bryan.”
Cranston is clearly very proud of the movie, but his message remains upbeat in discussing his thoughts on the move from Disney. It’s possible The One And Only Ivan might, as Cranston writes, ‘disappear forever’.
Creatives involved in some of the other titles set to be taken down off the platform have been less generous in response.
Willow, the 2022 series continuation of the classic Ron Howard movie, is one of the most recent titles set to get the vanishing act. One of the show’s writers, John Bickerstaff, tweeted:
They gave us six months. Not even. This business has become absolutely cruel.
They gave us six months. Not even. This business has become absolutely cruel. https://t.co/8Kczi6HCvW
— John Bickerstaff 🏳️🌈 (@Bitterstaff) May 18, 2023
Other movies and shows set to be cut are Kenneth Brannagh’s Artemis Fowl, Timmy Failure and Stargirl, all fellow 2020 titles.
One which received the turnaround was documentary Howard, about Howard Ashman, the songwriter who helped craft The Little Mermaid’s (1989) iconic tunes. Speaking to Deadline, a Disney spokesperson said: “The list of titles coming off of Hulu and Disney+ next week is still being finalized”.
Related: Disney Loses 4 Million Subscribers on Its Streaming Platform
What do you think to the titles being removed from Disney+? Tell us in the comments below.