Actress Angelina Jolie is on board for a new Disney movie titled "The One and Only Ivan".

Jolie, 42, has lent her voice to a key character named Stella in the upcoming adaptation of Katherine Applegate's eponymous children's book, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The actress is also co-producing the project, which will be directed by Thea Sharrock and has Mike White as its script writer.

The book is going to be adapted into a live-action hybrid movie.

The plot follows a silverback gorilla named Ivan who lives in a cage in a shopping mall along with an elephant named Stella and a stray dog called Bob. Ivan does not remember life before the mall, but when a baby elephant named Stella enters and Ivan finds himself taking care of her, he begins to rediscover his previous life and makes a plan to take the baby elephant away from their abusive owner.

The novel won the Newberry Medal in 2013. Illustrated by Patricia Castelao and published by HarperCollins in 2011, the book is based on a true story about a gorilla named Ivan, who spent 27 years in a Washington shopping centre before being transferred to a zoo in Atlanta.

Jolie has earlier voiced "Shark Tale" and "Kung Fu Panda" series. She is also expected to return for Disney's "Maleficent 2".