This image released by Disney Plus shows Bryan Cranston, right, with a gorilla named Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, in a scene from “The One and Only Ivan.”

This image released by Disney Plus shows Bryan Cranston, left, with baby elephant Ruby, voiced by Brooklynn Prince, and Stella, voiced by Angelina Jolie, in a scene from “The One and Only Ivan.”

This image released by Disney Plus shows Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, in a scene from “The One and Only Ivan.”

This image released by Disney Plus shows Ivan, voiced by Sam Rockwell, in a scene from “The One and Only Ivan.”

This image released by Disney Plus shows Ariana Greenblatt and Bryan Cranston, right, and in a scene from “The One and Only Ivan.”

This image released by Disney Plus shows Bryan Cranston in a scene from “The One and Only Ivan.”

A sweet if sleepy adaptation of Katherine Applegate’s 2012 children’s book, Disney’s “The One and Only Ivan” is a talking-animal film that takes the lives of its characters a lot more seriously than, say, “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.”

Directed by Thea Sharrock (“Me Before You”) and scripted with characteristic sensitivity by Mike White (“School of Rock,” “Enlightened”), the film initially seems like the expected stuff of snarky CGI animals. Ivan (Sam Rockwell) is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who lives in the corner of the Big Top Mall, a shopping center with a struggling circus act on the side. (Given that multiplexes have long similarly abutted malls, “The One and Only Ivan” — which premieres Friday on Disney+ — could serve as an unwitting metaphor for a fading brick-and-mortar reality for movie theaters.)

Their owner is Mack (Bryan Cranston), an increasing desperate small-business owner — more carnival barker than zoologist — whose show isn’t drawing like it used to. Ivan is his star act; he finishes off each performance with a loud roar and some chest thumping. Mack decides he needs a new headliner and procures a cute baby elephant named Ruby (Brooklynn Prince), who’s parented by the circus’ veteran pachyderm, Stella (Angelina Jolie, also a producer).

“The One and Only Ivan” seems at first fully invested in whether Mack can turn his show around. But it pivots to sink deeper into the interior lives of the animals in his care. Their caged homes don’t seem oppressive; a mangy stray dog named Bob (Danny DeVito) keeps Ivan company. But Sharrock bathes their restricting confines in claustrophobic shadow. The outside world feels far away. Taking up painting, Ivan colors a dreamed-up forest.