Noah’s Ark

Story

Tom (voice of Marcelo Adnet) and Vini (voice of Rodrigo Santoro) are a pair of music-playing mice. They’re struggling to find success, having been kicked out of every bar in town.

One night, they overhear a conversation between Noah (voice of Ian James Corlett) and God (voice of Luis Bermudez). God is planning to flood the Earth and asks Noah to build an Ark that can house 2 of every animal – one male and one female. This means that only Tom or Vini can go, but not both. Nevertheless Tom and Vini try to sneak onto the Ark. When a female mouse, Nina (voice of Alice Braga), arrives to board the Ark, Vini walks away, sacrificing himself so that Tom can live.

After leaving the Ark, Vini befriends Alfonso (voice of Christopher Corey Smith), a cockroach who has created a makeshift boat to survive the floods. During the floods, their boat runs into the Ark and they manage to board, reuniting Vini with Tom.

On board the Ark, they meet a gang of animals led by Baruk the lion (voice of Keith Silverstein). This gang has taken over the boat, controlling the food supply and creating a VIP area, which other animals can’t enter. The other animals push back, and it’s decided that a singing competition will be held to choose the leader of the Ark. Baruk plans to rig the competition and captures Nina, using her to force Tom and Vini to write and sing a song that he will lip-sync.

While the animals are preparing for the singing competition, the Ark is slowly falling apart and food is running out. Noah sends a pair of birds to search for land, so the animals can get off the Ark before it’s too late. During the competition, Baruk’s deceit is revealed, causing the other animals to rise up against him. The birds return just in time and, by working together, the animals all manage to make it to land to start their lives anew.

Themes

Animal distress; natural disasters; death

Violence

Noah’s Ark has some violence. For example:

Tom and Vini are kicked out of a bar by the owner, who hits them with a broom before throwing them out.
God says he is going to wipe them all out, referring to all animals on Earth.
Baruk grabs 2 snakes by the neck, choking them.
Noah’s dog tries to kill Tom and Vini, and Noah’s granddaughter almost squashes them with a broom.
The animal gang threatens the other animals on the Ark. The other animals must crowd around the edge of the boat while the gang members live in a VIP area.
A snake steals a bird egg, presumably to eat.
A gorilla grabs a woodpecker by the neck and uses its beak to pick the lock that protects the pantry.
A bear backhands Vini across the room.
Baruk says that whoever doesn’t like his rules will be slaughtered and thrown into the sea.
A puppy walks into the VIP area and Baruk holds it in the air above his mouth, preparing to eat it. An elephant commands him to stop, almost leading to a brawl among the animals.
Two birds are shot into the air by a whale’s blowhole.
The animal gang kidnaps Nina and threatens to eat her if Tom and Vini don’t write a song for Baruk.
A bug bites a hyena to help Tom and Vini break Nina out of the cage she’s being held in.
Noah’s granddaughter tells 2 animals posing as Tom and Vini to stay where they are or she’ll rip their snouts off.
Tom and Vini are chased by hyenas.
Alfonso is squashed by a hyena and almost dies.

Sexual references

Noah’s Ark has some sexual references. For example:

Alfonso kisses Vini on the mouth while giving him CPR, and hearts float in the air.
Vini intends to kiss Nina on the hand when they first meet, but Alfonso slides in and kisses Vini instead.
Tom and Vini fight over their shared attraction to Nina.
Noah’s wife kisses a dove on the cheek.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Noah’s Ark shows some use of substances. For example, Vini and Tom play music inside a bar, although there doesn’t seem to be alcohol there.

Nudity and sexual activity

Noah’s Ark has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, many animals shake their bottoms while dancing to a song.

Product placement

Tom and Vini discuss learning a TikTok dance in Noah’s Ark.

Coarse language

Noah’s Ark has some mild coarse language, insults and name-calling. This includes ‘What the heck?’, ‘I swear to God!’, ‘maggots’, ‘Shove over!’, ‘useless beings’, ‘nasty’ and ‘good for nothing.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Noah’s Ark is the English version of the Brazil-India production Arca de Noé. The movie is an animated, musical and comic retelling of the classic Bible story.

Because Noah’s Ark has frequent threats of violence, scary scenes and coarse language, it’s best suited to children aged 9 years and older. We recommend parental guidance for children aged 6-8 years.

These are the main messages from Noah’s Ark:

Believe in yourself and keep trying until you succeed.
Stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.

Values in Noah’s Ark that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, compassion, faith, resourcefulness and self-belief.

Noah’s Ark could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the importance of things like the following

Gaining consent – Alfonso repeatedly kisses Vini without his consent. This is presented as a joke, but in real life not getting consent can have damaging consequences.
Acting ethically – Alfonso, Tom and Vini work together to sell songs to the other animals. They convince the other animals to hand over their scarce food supplies by telling them they’ll win the singing competition. They end up hoarding more food than they could ever eat while the other animals starve.