El Arca de Noé

This short was Disney's first visit to Noah-it was followed up 26 years later by Noah's Ark. Of the two, this one is much closer to the typical Disney animated short and this one is very good. The other is more unusual in style and format, but both are fairly successful in what they try to do. Good to see this in-print. Beautifully executed. Recommended.

I don't have this on a special edition DVD (there weren't any DVDs when I was little) it was screened on our televisions on an old "Dumbo" video and I get so moved at how old-fashioned, how old school but how lovable this little old cartoon really is. However now that I am older and wiser, I noticed some torture towards the animals during the construction of the ark so if you are a person who becomes easily distressed or offended by those scenes in this short then keep out of its way. For those of you who aren't usually affected by violence towards animals, I think it's safe for me to say that the opening construction-of-the-ark scene was great fun! The ark was built here in this Disney short through very vivid creativity, it's quite obvious that those who collaborated in the making of this classic put truckloads of imagination into it. Overall, this is a colourful and happy-go-lucky masterpiece with joyful songs and that now-ancient, flickery but just beautiful style of Disney animation! It's unmissable!

Even though I am NOT a fan of singing cartoons (a BIG fad during the 1930s), I couldn't help but admire "Father Noah's Ark". From the opening screen to the end of the picture, it was a visual treat--one of the prettiest and most complex cartoons I have ever seen. First, as the cartoon began, it showed amazing colors--with wonderful blends and that you just need to see for yourself. Second, throughout the cartoon, the colors were amazingly rich and satisfying. Third, I was REALLY blown away by many of the early scenes in which MANY animals were moving independently of each other. I'd never seen so much action in a cartoon and it's obvious that this film was a labor of love, as it was VERY difficult to make. This is no ordinary cartoon, that's for sure!

As for the plot, it's about what you'd expect--it's a retelling of the story of Noah's ark. But, to sanitize it and make it more acceptable to a wider audience, there isn't any God in the cartoon--just Noah and his family and the animals. No condemned folks of the Earth, either, as showing the multitudes screaming in agony would have been a real downer! No, in this world, it's all happiness and fun as the animals work with the family (sort of like in "The Flintstones") to build the boat. It's all pretty clever and although I hate singing, the songs were pretty good for what they were. All in all, a sweet and eye-popping cartoon.

Father Noah, a Santa Claus lookalike is carrying out the ark-building task that God gave him and plans to have 2 of every land animal shelter from the forthcoming flood on it (without resorting to eating each other, which is the most obvious flaw in this fable - and it is a fable). The animals are only too happy to help out with its construction, including birds of flight, which is kinda odd as they don't really need the ark.

The animation is colorful, and the animals are cute, but as usual with early Disney cartoons, the humans are quite ugly. The song they sing is forgettable, much like the entire cartoon overall.

Underlying message of the cartoon: don't believe everything the Bible tells you.

A Walt Disney SILLY SYMPHONY Cartoon Short.

Work is proceeding at a hectic pace to complete the building of FATHER NOAH'S ARK. Each of the eight humans, and all of the animals, have specific chores to do. The immense task is no sooner finished than the storm clouds start rolling in...

A lively retelling of the Biblical story. The large menagerie of animals are fun to look at and must have kept the animators very busy. Most Sunday School lessons would not include the rabbit & dog gags with which Disney ends the cartoon.

The SILLY SYMPHONIES, which Walt Disney produced for a ten year period beginning in 1929, are among the most fascinating of all animated series. Unlike the Mickey Mouse cartoons in which action was paramount, with the Symphonies the action was made to fit the music. There was little plot in the early Symphonies, which featured lively inanimate objects and anthropomorphic plants & animals, all moving frantically to the soundtrack. Gradually, however, the Symphonies became the school where Walt's animators learned to work with color and began to experiment with plot, characterization & photographic special effects. The pages of Fable & Fairy Tale, Myth & Mother Goose were all mined to provide story lines and even Hollywood's musicals & celebrities were effectively spoofed. It was from this rich soil that Disney's feature-length animation was to spring. In 1939, with SNOW WHITE successfully behind him and PINOCCHIO & FANTASIA on the near horizon, Walt phased out the SILLY SYMPHONIES; they had run their course & served their purpose.