Noah's Ark

image for Noah's Ark

Short takes

Not suitable under 6; parental guidance to 8 (violence, scary scenes, coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Noah's Ark
  • a review of Noah's Ark completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 25 February 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 6 Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes, and coarse language.
Children aged 6–8 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes, and coarse language.
Children aged 9 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Noah's Ark
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: Very mild themes and animated violence
Length: 96 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Tom (voice of Marcelo Adnet) and Vini (voice of Rodrigo Santoro) are a pair of music-playing mice 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). They find out that God is planning to flood the Earth and is tasking Noah to build an Ark that can house two of every animal. However, they will only let on one male and one female of each kind, meaning that only one of them will be allowed on. Confronted with this, 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 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 are met with a gang of animals, led by Baruk the lion (voice of Keith Silverstein), who have taken over the boat, controlling the food supply and creating a VIP zone where the other animals cannot enter. The other animals push back, and it is decided that a singing competition will be used to choose the leader of the Ark. However, 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 they can exit the Ark before it’s too late. During the competition, Baruk’s deceit is revealed, causing the other animals to riot 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.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Animal distress; Natural disasters; Death.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • 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 a pair of 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 others on the Ark, forcing them to crowd around the edge of the boat while they 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 protecting the pantry.
  • A bear backhands Vini across the room.
  • Baruk states 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 between the animals.
  • A pair of 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 do not write a song for Baruk.
  • A bug bites a hyena to help Tom and Vini break Nina out of the cage she was being held in.
  • Noah’s granddaughter tells a pair of animals posing as Tom and Vini to stay where they are, or she will rip their snouts off.
  • Tom and Vini are chased by hyenas.
  • Alfonso is squashed by a hyena and almost dies.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Beams of light come down from the sky and papers fly out the window of Tom and Vini’s cave as God begins talking to Noah.
  • God sends out lightning and talks with an intimidating and commanding tone, which may scare younger viewers.
  • The menacing appearance of the animal gang including the lions, snakes and hyenas may be frightening to some viewers.
  • Noah hits his hand with a hammer while trying to hit a nail.
  • The appearance of the bugs, including a cockroach, fly and a worm, may elicit disgust and fear.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Vini and Tom find out that only one male and one female of each species will be allowed on the Ark and are confronted with the realisation that only one of them can survive.
  • Tom and Vini almost get squashed by larger animals walking, as they try to make their way onto the Ark.
  • Vini almost drowns during the floods but is saved by Alfonso.
  • A pair of birds collide while trying to land on the Ark.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Tom and Vini discuss learning a TikTok dance.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

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

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Multiple animals shake their behinds while dancing to a song.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Vini and Tom play music inside of a ‘bar’, though no alcohol is present.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • What the heck.
  • I swear to God.
  • Maggots.
  • Shove over.
  • Useless beings.
  • Nasty.
  • Good for nothing.

In a nutshell

Noah’s Ark is the English version of the Brazil-India production A Arca de Noé. The film is an animated, musical and comedic retelling of the classic biblical tale. Frequent threats of violence, scary scenes and coarse language make the film best suited for ages 9 and up, with parental guidance for ages six to eight.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in yourself and keep trying until you succeed. Additionally, the movie implores the audience to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Teamwork
  • Compassion
  • Faith
  • Resourcefulness
  • Self-belief.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of:

  • Gaining consent – as Alfonso repeatedly kisses Vini without his consent. This is played off as a joke in the movie, but the consequences of such actions can be extremely damaging and traumatising.
  • Acting ethically. Alfonso, Tom and Vini work together, selling songs to the other animals. They tell every animal they will win the competition to convince them to hand over their already scarce food supplies. This leads to the trio hoarding more food than they could ever eat while the other animals starve.