Noah's Ark (2007 film)


Noah's Ark is a 2007 Argentine-Italian animated comedy adventure film directed by Juan Pablo Buscarini. It is based on the biblical story of Noah's Ark with its focus in the animals' point of view. The story tends to follow the traditional story; however, both the humans and the animals involved are seen as anthropomorphic beings.

Plot

In the opening scene, animals and humans are seen acting out the seven deadly sins: pride, envy, sloth, lust, gluttony, wrath, and greed. This results in their mutual doom, as they are killed or captured and taken to market where the remains of the killed animals are sold and the survivors are enslaved. God surveys the market, witnessing the assorted evils, and declares to his sidekick Angel that he will impose Judgment Day upon the sinful world. A chance encounter with the gentle and devoted Noah, who purchases the freedom of the enslaved man despite his own poverty, convinces him to give humanity one last chance.
God appears as a heavenly light to Noah and tells him to build an ark, upon which he will board his family and two of every animal, to survive the world-enveloping flood He will send. Noah then informs his family. Already unhappy with Noah's leadership, they assume he has lost his mind, particularly when he fashions a model of the ark out of mashed potatoes and begins cutting down his father's forest for lumber to build it.
Noah sells his home to the greedy merchants Farfan and Esther for a flock of pigeons to deliver messages to all the animals of the world. However, the birds immediately abandon their task and head for a jungle strip club to celebrate their freedom. Only one pigeon, Pepe, remains on mission, but is attacked by the animals he encounters. Pepe is rescued by a kind lioness named Kairel, secretary to the aging King Sabu and Queen Oriana. Kairel delivers Noah's message to Sabu, who calls an emergency meeting of the animal world. Sabu's spoiled libertine son Xiro has gotten a mangled portion of one of Noah's messages and mistakes the announcement of apocalyptic doom as an invitation to a party cruise. Xiro throws a tantrum after Kairel II disqualifies all of Xiro's potential cruise-mates for lack of intelligence, and the tiger Dagnino sees an opportunity to seize the crown of the post-flood world's animal kingdom.
As Noah single-handedly completes the ark, the animals arrive en masse. Kairel has been sent along to organize and supervise the trip, but the procession grinds to a halt when the herbivores demand assurance that the carnivores won't devour them once they're aboard. Xiro fails to make a decision, allowing Dagnino to gain the animals' respect by declaring that he will personally punish any act of violence on the voyage. As the rain begins to fall, the animals stampede onto the ark. Xiro's selected companion Bruma I pauses to taunt the doomed Kairel II, only to be smashed through the gangplanks by a toppling hippopotamus. Xiro impulsively grabs Kairel II and brings her aboard the ark in Bruma/Kairel I's place.
Inspecting Noah's cottage, Farfan and Esther notice the ark in the distance. Their ridicule turns to panic as the water rises around them, and they barely manage to scramble onto the ark unnoticed. Inside, Kairel II attempts to maintain some semblance of order and convince Xiro to take his duties seriously, but Xiro flees to a hastily assembled club. There he becomes infatuated with the seductive panther Panthy, as she dances while performing I Want to Live, a carnivore-themed parody of I Will Survive. However, Panthy is part of Dagnino's small cabal of carnivores who intend to discredit and overthrow Xiro, then establish a new order in which all prey species are bred and fattened in captivity until they are consumed.
Kairel finally gets Xiro to face the truth of their situation, and Xiro makes a sincere effort at governance. He grows closer to Kairel, but finds bureaucracy stifling and is still infatuated with Panthy to Kairel II's jealous dismay. Trapped below decks with the animals, Farfan and Esther disguise themselves as a fictional animal species to avoid being discovered as humans. The disguises backfire when the pair's misadventures leave them under a pile of animal dung which is hauled to the top deck for disposal. Believing a pair of dangerous wild animals have escaped the hold, Noah's sons and daughters attempt to catch or kill them. In the chaos, Farfan, Esther and Noah plunge back into the depths of the ark. Noah's eldest son Japeth volunteers to rescue him, but quickly retreats upon hearing frightening noises below. Noah's faithful pigeon Pepe volunteers to fly down to Noah, but instead plummets helplessly because of his injuries. Noah's sons fight over the helm and break it. Ashamed and desperate, Noah's family prays for God's help.
Farfan and Esther knock Noah unconscious and abandon him. Feeling cocky with Noah out of the way, Farfan begins bullying the smaller animals before inadvertently striking Dagnino. The two humans escape uninjured, but Dagnino tears off the lower half of Farfan's 'hide,' which he needs for his scheme. Panthy lures Xiro to her cabin, where Dagnino's minions use the torn disguise and tomato juice to frame Xiro for the 'murder' of the grasswhoppers. Dagnino assumes control and has Xiro locked up in a storeroom, but Xiro's herbivore friends quickly unravel the deceit and convince Kairel of the truth.
Noah regains consciousness and tends to Pepe before sending him out a porthole to find land. Xiro has been imprisoned directly below and overhears Noah's words of encouragement, mistaking them for a personal message from 'the voice of his lineage.' When his friends free him, Xiro races to confront Dagnino, who has captured the other herbivores. The battle between Dagnino and Xiro ends when the ark, having drifted into the Arctic, runs into an ice floe. The sudden stop pitches Dagnino and his minions through a wall, in which their heads are stuck fast.
The animals begin to panic again, threatening to flee onto the ice until Xiro finally asserts his authority with a mighty roar. Xiro delivers a speech that rallies the animals behind him. On the upper deck, Noah has made his way back up to his family, who are likewise now rallied behind him. Noah and his sons begin repairing the helm. God relents and allows Angel to shut off the rain. Xiro realizes the pitch for the ship's torches will melt the ice, and puts the animals to work spreading barrels of it across the floe. Xiro lights the pitch, breaking up the floe and freeing the ark. Farfan and Esther, believing the ark has run aground, break out and fall onto the floe just as the ark departs. They are last seen fleeing the hungry polar bears who have elected to remain behind in their natural habitat.
Pepe returns to the ark with an olive leaf, but is once again clobbered before he can reach his goal. Xiro and Kairel reconcile their different ways as the animals celebrate with a party on the open deck. God enjoys the festivities from above, but admonishes Angel for leaving the rainbow switched on.
During the end credits, God and Angel bicker over the contents of God's work-in-progress book.

Home media

El Arca was released on DVD in the United States by Shout! Factory under the title Noah's Ark on March 11, 2014. This edition has both an English and a Spanish audio track, with English subtitles. It also omits a few scenes from the original 2007 release.

English-language cast