Mack is a character from the 2020 Disney+ original film The One and Only Ivan.
Background[]
Prior to being the owner of the Big Top Mall, Mack lived with his ex-wife Helen during the time when Ivan was a baby gorilla. The couple had a happy life throughout their relationship spending time with Ivan where they would take him to restaurants, baseball games, movie theaters, and even playgrounds. However, when Ivan got older, he started causing a mess in her family's house just as Ivan continues making a mess around the house such as spreading cake on the wall, ruining the flowers, or even ripping the furniture, which made Helen upset of Ivan's behavior and then left Mack just as she never came back. Mack then found a new place for Ivan to live where he continued to be part of a circus throughout his life.
With Ivan being one of the circus stars, Mack became the owner of the Big Top Mall, often serving as the ringmaster of the circus. Whenever the circus is open, Mack would wear a ringmaster outfit to advertise guests to watch the circus and see the animals during the show often collecting tickets from visitors who purchased tickets for the circus and then give the tickets to Thelma for Mack to collect. Throughout the show, he would present the circus' performing animals in front of the audience during showtime, especially when it comes to the mighty gorilla, Ivan. He would often present Ivan being the last star presented during every performance. Mack often uses an American accent in occasions when he works outside the Big Top Mall, but occasionally uses a British accent when working at the circus talking the audience.
After the shows finish, Mack would frequently enter the area with animal enclosures often talking to George, his fellow janitor and animal caregiver, Julia, George's daughter, or even Castello, a security guard who follows his orders in trying to keep the Big Top Mall away from stray dogs such as the case of Bob the Dog who would often arrive to talk to Ivan. Additionally, Mack's office is located in the aforementioned area where he lives with his pet dog Snickers which is the place he works at. Additionally, Mack also dislikes when the other animals escape from the circus, such as the case of Ivan and the other animals breaking loose into a "forest" which is actually an intersection. Later, when Julia showed Mack the drawings Ivan made, he decided to present Ivan as an artistic ape rather than being an angry gorilla, advertising Ivan for his creative work, especially when it comes to drawing, and when Ivan painted a landscape for a forest to represent freedom for him, Mack even became impressed of Ivan's hard work. The following day when the Big Top Mall was under pressure from protesters outside the mall demanding the animals to be free from the circus, Mack became emotional that he will miss Ivan, planning to send him to a new home which is at Zoo Atlanta. After Ivan adapts to his new home, Mack even became happy of Ivan enjoying his new home.
Role in the film[]
Mack is first seen advertising the audience in the interior of the Big Top Mall, telling them to join his show and see the animals during the show. He then presents the audience to various animals who perform in front of the audience, consisting of Henrietta (a chicken), Frankie (a sea lion), Murphy (a rabbit), Stella (an elephant), and the circus' main attraction, Ivan the Gorilla. After the show, Mack approaches Julia who draws a picture of Ivan next to Ivan himself in his enclosure which Mack likes her drawing. He then approaches George, telling him of how his wife Sara is which he replies to Mack that his wife had good days and bad days. He then offers Julia to buy new crayons which Julia accepts the money to buy new crayons just before George leaves. Mack then approaches Ivan telling him to give the crowd excitement back for him to earn revenue for the circus before the Big Top Mall goes bankrupt.
The next day, Mack gets the other animals ready to perform at the Big Top Mall, including Ivan who participates his role as the angry gorilla, impressing the crowd. Later, Bob sees Mack giving kibble to his pet dog Snickers which Bob feels curious of eating kibble, only for Mack to call in Castello to get the stray dog out of the Big Top Mall property. The next day on his way to the circus, Mack approaches Mike, who tells him that things will be picked up around here in no time (referring the money he accumulated at the circus) just before Mack goes to work. After Ivan's performance, Mack tells the audience to tell their friends about their experience at the circus.
Later, Mack returns to his office talking with someone that he made his days while George continues getting food for the animals. The next day when Mack leaves with his pet poodle Snickers, Bob sneaks into Mack's office to get a bag of kibble unnoticed just before Snickers enters. Mack then cancels the show after hearing of a new arrival to the Big Top Mall, just as he approaches a truck affiliated with the Handley Brothers Circus to reveal a baby elephant named "Ruby" inside the truck just as Mack gets George for help. Mack, with the help of George, brings Stella to the truck where the baby elephant is at which she manages to get the elephant calf out of the truck. Mack then tells George that he obtained Ruby from a bankrupt circus in New Jersey, curious that the circus would gain popularity show had baby animals. Later after Ivan's performance, Mack presents Ruby in front of the audience, which everyone happily reacts to seeing a baby elephant on stage. The next day, Mack gets his pet poodle ready for the big day just before returning to his duty to visitors to give him tickets they bought for the circus just before the presenting the animals to the audience. However, one night, Mack notices Stella's swollen foot as he tells George about this, telling him that he will bring in the vet to take care of her and make sure she is in good health.
The next day, Mack gets Ivan ready for the show which George alerts Mack about Stella, due to Stella having a swollen foot, planning to let Ruby perform in Stella's place instead while Mack plans to call the vet to heal her just as Mack presents Ruby to the audience, but after Ivan convinces Ruby to have confidence in herself, which Ruby suddenly walks in front of the stage, conquering her fear of walking on stage by herself independently. He then appears in a flashback with his ex-wife Helen where he spends his life raising Ivan when he was a baby gorilla, but when Ivan grew older, his became upset and left him in anger. Later, after his wife left, Mack gave Ivan a new home at the Big Top Mall where he became a star of the Big Top Mall.
In the present after Stella died, Mack reads an article about Stella's death where he pins the article on the board just before leaving his office. He then approaches Ruby telling her that she is on her own, telling her how to work on handling walking on stage by herself. The next day, Mack trains Ruby to walk by herself into the stage just like she did with her aunt to which after a hard training, Julia tells her father that Ruby is tired which George tells Mack to stop training Ruby for now which Mack denies, telling him that he is almost done with Ruby and not canceling shows either which Ruby sneezes on him. Mack then returns to his office to get himself cleaned. The next day, Julia shows Ivan's drawings to Mack showing him the drawings that Ivan did just as Mack is impressed of Ivan's drawings, thinking that he is a gorilla who draws just as Julia shows her father the drawings that Ivan did just as Mack tells Thelma about Ivan's ability to draw. Hearing of Ivan's popularity, Mack tells Ivan that he is a headliner again but rather than being an angry gorilla, he became an artistic gorilla, causing him to gain fame just as Mack gets him ready for the show.
During showtime, Mack presents the audience of Ivan being a painting gorilla rather than being an angry gorilla which Ivan is too shy to draw a picture for the audience. Mack then tells the audience that one of Ivan's paintings can be purchased at the kiosk outside the circus. Just as Mack tells Ivan that this is his chance to be a famous gorilla, he then notices Bob, the stray dog, inside Ivan's enclosure, calling Castello to get him out of the enclosure, telling him that if he does not get the dog out of the Big Top Mall property, he will fire him which Castello follows his orders. That night when the animals escape, Mack receives a call from Castello who is locked inside Ivan's enclosure while planning to capture Bob, telling him that the animals have escaped, leading Mack to find Ivan and the other animals and bring them back to the circus. Mack enters the "forest" to search for Ivan and the other animals to bring them back to their enclosures and as he approaches the other animals in the woods, he plans to bring the other animals back to their enclosure to safety. Mack suddenly approaches Ivan and the other escaped animals, bringing them back to their enclosures to safety.
Back at the animals' enclosures, Mack secretly tells George that he fired Castello, planning to keep it a secret so no one will find out what happened to him just as George thanks him for bringing all the animals back to their enclosures. The next day, Mack continues training Ruby to walk into the stage on her own by standing on the platform on all fours which she manages to do so successfully. Later when Mack returns to Big Top, he approaches a news reporter, Candace Taylor interviewing Mack about the animal escape last night which Mack tells Candace that the animals are fine, telling her that he will start another show, telling her to film inside the circus. He then approaches George, telling him that Candace is out there, asking a lot of questions about the animals escaping and if she finds out about Mack, he will be fired just as Mack thanks Julia helping out with the spotlight she is using. During the show, Mack presents Frankie performing his act, followed by Ruby, and later Ivan. Suddenly during Ivan's act, Mack and the other people see the painting Ivan drew, impressed of Ivan's hard work just as the crowd cheers for Ivan's masterpiece, reminding Ivan of wanting to live in the wild.
The next day, Mack listens to the news about the Big Top Mall under pressure from protesters demanding the animals to be free from the circus. Following this, Mack returns to his office reading an article about the Big Top Mall being shut down planning to pack up and remove all the animals from the circus. Mack, witnessing the animals being freed from the circus, tells Snickers that she will still be his pet, even after the circus is shut down. He then approaches Ivan spending his moments with him showing a picture of him when he was a baby to remember the day that he brought Ivan home throughout Mack's life. Mack then bids a farewell to Ivan as he leaves the Big Top Mall just as Ivan is relocated to Zoo Atlanta, alongside Ruby. Later when Ivan adapts to his new home at Zoo Atlanta, Mack happily observes Ivan adjusting to his new home, alongside George, Julia, and Bob who is now adopted by Julia.
Trivia[]
- Bryan Cranston, who played Mack, previously voiced Vitaly, a character from Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, which also has a circus theme.
v - e - d  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|