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!

This is a super-strange and highly creative short from Disney--and it looks nothing like a Disney production. That's because it is NOT hand-drawn animation but stop-motion! Well, evidently, the Oscar people liked it, as they nominated this film for Best Animated Short.The story is a pretty traditional retelling of the story of Noah's Ark. However, it includes peppy music (Dixieland, jazz and rock 'n roll) and VERY weird animals. That's because there is no attempt to make them look realistic! The animals consist of various objects, such as funnels, bottles, eggs, pipe cleaners, corks, pencils and other strange materials. It's weird but also pretty cool how they were able to use the materials the way they did. You just have to see it to believe it.

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.

This cartoon was nominated for an Oscar in 1959. The animation style is stop-motion, almost a Puppetoon type of animation. This is the only cartoon from Disney that I recall ever seeing. It certainly is not your typical Disney cartoon. The music is all over the board-there's even some pretty good blues in here. Worth chasing down to see at least once. Runs infrequently on the Disney Channel during "Vault Disney" in the wee hours of the morning.