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Parents' Guide to

Noah's Ark

By Tracy Moore, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Animated biblical tale has cartoonish violence, crass humor.

Movie NR 2014 88 minutes
Noah's Ark Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Noah's Ark Movie: Scene #1
  • Noah's Ark Movie: Scene #2
  • Noah's Ark Movie: Scene #3

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Paul1962
Paul1962 Adult
September 13, 2020
age 18+

IT MOCKS THE STORY OF NOAH'S ARC!

This is in no way historically accurate to the story in the bible, it contains what my grandson calls Furries and it's sexualised in some parts!

This title has:

Too much sex
Nebbie Zebbie
Nebbie Zebbie Adult
June 6, 2019
age 8+

So bizarre it's charming

This is a "so bad it's good" movie for adults, and might keep kids entertained simply because things are always happening. At its core, it takes the Noah story and somewhat shoves Noah aside with talking anthropomorphic animals to focus on the story of a young, vain, and horny king lion learning to become a real leader with the help of a smart replacement love interest. It almost works, but the human parts tend to fall flat and the animal parts tend to go to extreme tangents a bit long. As well, don't be fooled into thinking it's very religious, it's more akin to Ice Age with a bit of God on the side to drive the plot. I must note this review is for the uncut version, not the later cut version available on DVD. The main difference is the inclusion of some more sexual parts, and I think it's actually better with them, as without it would be quite boring, if more appropriate for younger children. Certain parts are rather sexual and the humor is crass. At one point, the king lion and his original lover are heavily implied to be having sex based on a character's reaction and the way they're seen after a cut to them. There's a few instances of very shapely anthropomorphic females dancing suggestive as well. There's a lot of toilet and butt humor, including several instances of small animals going up the butts of larger ones, to the point that a character even dies presumably either from being up one, or from drowning. Similarly, on grossouts, there's a bit where some characters end up in a pile of rotting garbage (and presumably poop) that is disturbingly better animated than everything else.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much sex
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In NOAH'S ARK the world has gone to pot and it's up to Noah (Joe Carey) to help God (Ron Von Paulus) start over by building an ark and loading up two of every animal species he can find. But how will Noah convince the animals, or his bickering family, for that matter, to get on board before the rain starts? And what about the hesitant, vain lion king Xiro (James Keller) -- can he help them all get along if he can't even convince himself to lead? What happens if they run out of food, or worse, everyone turns on each other? Noah's and everyone's limits are more than cosmically tested when he decides to take God up on the ultimate ask.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (2 ):

Noah's Ark is a biblical retelling that manages to potentially alienate both its natural audience of true believers and the secular crowd who might just enjoy a good story. Here, God is a nonchalant, golf-playing roustabout who is more concerned about getting good material for his future book than he is about how the animals and Noah will pull off his crazy loyalty test. That premise is amusing enough, but it plays out in a dragging plot overloaded with bickering and some pretty questionable material. The early setup, with its references to debt and gluttony and, yes, prostitution -- an attempt to show the world as a lost cause in need of a do-over in the shape of a flood -- will likely cause a bit of confusion for young kids. But if that doesn't do it, the rest of the film will -- animals plot murder (sometimes rather explicitly), while Xiro the lion king-in-waiting has to decide whether he will ever stop chasing a promiscuous tiger named Panty (not kidding) long enough to get his act together and lead.

There are fart jokes, some drinking, a bit of cartoonish violence, and a spat where one female cat calls another one fat. For a story out of the bible, there are surprisingly few good role models. But for kids who like animals and big boats, and parents who will take any version of a bible story they can get, there are ultimately positive messages about working together. If you can ignore the greed, murder, sex, and farting jokes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the cartoon violence in Noah's Ark. Did you find any of the scenes too extreme for a movie like this? Did the fact that there were no serious consequences make a difference to how you felt about the scenes? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • Discuss the positive messages in the movie. What examples of teamwork can you give from the movie? Why is teamwork such an important character trait to have? When have you used teamwork to achieve something in real life? How can I use media to teach my kid teamwork?

  • What do you know of the original Noah story? What happens in the version you are familiar with? How did this movie compare to that?

  • Have you ever been stuck together with a group of people for a long time, perhaps on a family trip? What was it like? Did you get along? Why or why not? How can people get along better when they are stuck with each other for a period of time?

  • The story of Noah's Ark is really about starting again. Is there anything you would start again if you could? What would it be, and why? How would it change things?

Movie Details

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