The One And Only Ivan’s Ron Funches Had Plenty In Common With His Character

Fans of comedian Ron Funches best know him for his jovial demeanor and infectious laugh, two qualities that translate into his voice acting work on Harley Quinn as King Shark and his latest role as the bunny Murphy in The One and Only Ivan. Speaking with ComicBook.com about his part in the Disney+ original feature film, Funches said that the bowtie-wearing, toy fire truck-driving lagomorph is pretty close to how he is in real life “I mean, he’s just a guy who’s happy wherever he is,” Funches said. “He’s not yearning for a lot of freedom like a lot of (the animals). He loves his job and why shouldn’t he? He sits in a fire truck, he pleases millions of children as far as he knows, in his brain. He’s just kind of a fun-loving guy who likes eating snacks and having fun. So it was not a stretch to play him.”

Funches went on to talk about how this particular voice acting gig was slightly different from his other jobs, noting that it had to be at least partially realistic as opposed to his role in the Trolls franchise.

“It was a little different, had to be a little more like live acting,” the comedian added. “A little more just realistic and real. A lot of times when I’m doing like, you know, Cooper in ‘Trolls’ or things like that, I can get very wild and crazy with my voice. And this was the thing where they were like, ‘Oh, just stay very much within yourself and keep it realistic. But just be yourself and bring a lot of fun and heart to it.’ And it was wonderful and I got to record a lot of my lines with Danny Devito which was like, crazy for me, it was a dream come true and also I did not know he was that intimidating of a man. But he scared the crap out of me.”

In elaborating on how Danny DeVito was intimidating, Funches said: “He just was like, ‘Hey, try it like this.’ And then just the way he said it, I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes sir.’”

Coincidentally, DeVito also compared his character Bob the dog in The One and Only Ivan to himself, telling us in a seperate interview: “Bob is a very free spirit, ‘I feel like I can do anything. Myself, I always feel like I can come and go. I don’t have to worry about anything, I’m not inhibited in any way

The One and Only Ivan is available now exclusively on Disney+.