| Father Noah's Ark | |
| Director: | Wilfred Jackson |
| Producer: | Walt Disney |
| Starring: | Allan Watson J. Delos Jewkes Lucille La Verne Walt Disney The Rhythmettes |
| Music: | Leigh Harline |
| Animator: | Chuck Couch Paul Fennell Harry Reeves |
| Studio: | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributor: | United Artists |
| Color Process: | Technicolor |
| Runtime: | 8 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Father Noah's Ark is a Walt Disney Silly Symphonies animated film. It is based on the story of Noah's Ark. The short's musical score is an adaptation of the first dance in Ludwig van Beethoven's 12 Contredanses.[1] The cartoon was released on April 8, 1933.[2]
The short begins with the building of the Ark. Father Noah makes the plans of the ark and gives commands to its construction. His sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth "build the ark from dawn to dark and make a lot of noise" with some help from the animals, while their wives load up food supplies to see them through the flood and Noah's wife is washing clothes.
Eventually, the storm rolls in and the animals are summoned, two-by-two, to the ark, purposely leaving two skunks behind. The ark is soon buffeted around by the storm and the ark's occupants praise to the Lord. At one point, Noah gets rainwater leaking through the ceiling in his mouth and has to open a porthole to spit it out, whereupon he is chased by a stray lightning bolt, which he lets out through another porthole.
40 days later, the storm recedes and a dove, carrying an olive branch, flies back to Noah and his family to signify that land has been found. They lower the gangway and the animals and their offspring all come back out onto dry land (the ark, in this case, resting atop a tree).
The Pomp and Circumstance segment of Fantasia 2000, also based on Noah's Ark, makes minor references to this short.
The short was released on December 4, 2001, on Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies - The Historic Musical Animated Classics[3] [1] and on the UK VHS of Dumbo as a bonus feature.