Horst in Translation ([email protected]) The title "Noah's Ark" from this animated short film we have here tells you of course already what it is about, namely the biblical tale of Noah and his family being safe from an apocalyptic flood on a ship and they are joined by all kinds of animals, 2 of each species. This short film here is from 1959, which means it is almost 60 years old, and runs for 21 minutes. So it is the final days/years of the Golden Age of Animation and everybody was clearly looking for new approaches. Several of the other reviewers said that this does not look like Disney at all and they could not be more correct. But it is Disney and to me it looked very European, like some of the Soviet animation from that period. But the fact that it looks different doesn't mean at all it is bad. The writer, director and the voice cast, including the singers, all did a pretty good job here and honestly it really won't take you even five minutes to get used to the looks of this little film. Besides, it's decent story-wise too. With random fun focus on some occasions like the plot about the womanizer hippo (by the way, where were the other animals' men), they also never forgot what the key story is about and so you get the basics like the bird near the end. And there is as much love to detail as in many other more known Disney productions. One example would be the cleaning birds or whatever their ornithological name may be sitting on these crocodiles when the enter the ark. So yes, overall this is a good watch. Open yourself to new things and you won't be bothered by the looks of this Oscar-nominated film at all. I personally think I'd even have preferred it to win over the Hubley short that triumphed back then. I recommend this version of Noah's Ark. Thumbs up!

TheLittleSongbird And that's more to do with how truly unique it is rather than being one of their best, at the top of my head there is no other Disney short like Noah's Ark. And that is mainly down to the animation style and the creativity gone into the characters, in many ways Noah's Ark is very different for Disney but that's not a bad thing here. Noah's Ark doesn't have the most compelling of stories, the story itself is rather thin on the ground and the pacing lags at times. But the reason why Noah's Ark rates high personally is because, despite the story being unexceptional, everything else works brilliantly. The stop-motion animation immediately reminds one of Rankin'/Bass rather than the traditional hand-drawn animation usually seen with Disney at this time, but it does look very charming and beautiful with some clever stylised designs and some of the visuals are a huge amount of fun to watch, still holding up by today's standards. What helps Noah's Ark immensely is George Bruns' jazzy score, which is so energetic and wonderfully upbeat, Mrs. Hippo's song has some very witty lyrics too. The songs are all very sprightly and drive the short really well. Noah's Ark has a touch of weirdness, meant in a good way, and even more immense charm. Jerome Courtland's narration is effective in how simple it is and Jeanne Cayle does some great vocals too, but even better is Paul Frees, known as one of the best voice actors of the time and judging from his brilliant voice work here that's justified. It's the work done with the household items and the animals though where Noah's Ark really excels, it's a hard job making household items creative(using them to build the animals) and interesting but Noah's Ark does it and does so ingeniously. The cork hippos are especially delightful. Overall, a unique Disney short and a good one. 8/10 Bethany Cox

didi-5 I really can't find any fault with this atypical Disney cartoon, which is directed by Bill Justice and presented in the stop-motion format. Noah and his sons, his wife, their wives, and the various animals, are made out of various objects including clothes pegs, pipe cleaners, and so on, and although unusual, this works well.Primitive shots of a model ark rattling around on the high seas can be forgiven in the hippo's torch song, the elephants, the ostriches, the crocodiles, the porcupines, the cats, the dogs, the mice, and the horses brought above the ark. All have their own personalities and are memorable.Good to watch alongside the Silly Symphony which presented the same story ('Father Noah's Ark') some twenty years earlier, just to see how inspiration can strike animators in many different ways.Unusual, charming and unique in the Disney portfolio, 'Noah's Ark' is definitely worth a look.

Ron Oliver A Walt Disney Cartoon.After a musical voyage, the rather peculiar passengers on NOAH'S ARK find a safe refuge.This highly imaginative cartoon is told almost entirely using stop-motion animation. What makes it especially unusual & fun is that the characters, human and animal, are constructed out of odds 'n' ends: corks, pipe cleaners, pencils, forks, hair pins, etc. giving the well known Biblical tale a sense of whimsy. Then, there's the female hippo that sings the blues...Jerome Courtland is the narrator; among the other voices can be heard those of Paul Frees (as Noah) and Thurl Ravenscroft.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.