Yet another animated film about Noah’s Ark, told from the point of view of the animals, is in the works. In fact, according to Variety, it is already pretty much finished, and will premiere in Germany this summer before going elsewhere.
The film is called Ooops! Noah Is Gone… and it concerns two creatures called Nestrians — a father and a son — who are not allowed on the Ark but sneak aboard anyway with the involuntary help of a mother and daughter called Grymps. The kids end up falling overboard, and it’s up to their parents to turn the Ark around and save them from all the predators out there.
Here is the film’s trailer, via Jerry Beck at Animation Scoop:
As I’ve noted before, quite a few animated films about Noah’s Ark have been put into development over the past decade. The two most current examples are:
- Noah’s Ark — Gullane — Walter Salles announced earlier this year that he would produce this film about two “bohemian mice”, directed by Sergio Machado and based on the work of Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes.
- Noah’s Ark — Unified Pictures — This film, about a groundhog or aardvark named Gilbert who leads “a ragtag group of misfit animals” to the Ark, has been in development since 2007. It is currently based on a screenplay by Philip LaZebnik and Glen Dolman and being directed by John Stevenson for release in 2016.
Films that used to be in development but might not be any more include:
- Noah’s Ark: The New Beginning — Promenade Pictures — The IMDb says this film, a follow-up to The Ten Commandments (2007), was released in Belgium in 2012, though I have seen no evidence to support this claim. The production company’s website was still active in June 2012, but has since gone dead.
- Rock the Boat — Gaumont — This film, about “a porcupine and cheetah who, since their species are already represented on Noah’s Ark, disguise themselves as a fictitious hybrid — porceetahs — to gain passage,” ran into financial trouble back in 2008. I have heard nothing about it since.
- Not the End of the World — Illuminated Films — Geraldine McCaughrean’s novel, which tells the story from the point of view of Noah’s daughter, was optioned back in 2008, but it no longer appears on the production company’s website.
- Aardvark Art’s Ark — Warner Brothers — Executive producer Casey Affleck (yes, that Casey Affleck) hired Adam Sachs to rewrite the script for this film, which concerns “a group of animals who are stranded when they are not chosen to go on Noah’s ark,” back in 2008. I have heard nothing about it since.
At least two quasi-Noah-themed cartoons have been released overseas as well, in the last few years, and are now at least partially available online:
- El Arca — Patagonik Film Group — The trailer and some clips are on YouTube.
- The Missing Lynx — Kandor Graphics — Now streaming on Netflix.
And then there are the seemingly defunct projects that were once being developed by Bill Cosby and Walden Media — to say nothing of such live-action efforts as Sold Out! (in development), Evan Almighty (2007) and Darren Aronofsky’s Noah (2014).
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