''The Ark and the Aardvark'' (originally titled ''Noah's Ark'') is a upcoming English-language Swiss

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by John Stevenson and written by

Philip LaZebnik Philip LaZebnik (born 1953 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American screenwriter and producer. LaZebnik has written screenplays for films including ''Pocahontas'', ''Mulan'', ''The Prince of Egypt'', ''The Road to El Dorado'', '' The Lost Treasur ...

and Glen Dolman. The film tells the story of an

aardvark The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike ...

who becomes the leader of a group of misfit animals in order to bring all the animals onto

Noah's Ark Noah's Ark ( he, תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: ''Tevat Noaḥ'')The word "ark" in modern English comes from Old English ''aerca'', meaning a chest or box. (See Cresswell 2010, p.22) The Hebrew word for the vessel, ''teva'', occurs twice in t ...

. The film stars the voices of

Miles Teller Miles Teller (born February 20, 1987) is an American actor. He played a jazz drummer in '' Whiplash'' and a supporting pilot in '' Top Gun: Maverick''. Teller made his feature film debut in 2010 and gained recognition for his starring role in ...

Aubrey Plaza Aubrey Christina Plaza (born June 26, 1984) is an American actress, comedian, and producer. She began her career performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She starred as April Ludgate on the NBC sitcom '' Par ...

Jenny Slate Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the ...

, Rob Riggle, Craig Robinson and

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

Premise

The story follows an outcast

by the name of Gilbert, who becomes the reluctant leader of a ragtag group of misfit animals that need to be led to the mighty ark before the impending flood. Along their journey, they band together to conquer unforeseen obstacles, and ultimately, Gilbert discovers within himself the inner strength and ingenuity to prove that in a world of "twos", he was truly destined to be "the one".

Cast

as Gilbert, an

as Brain, an intelligent

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

as Mitzy, a clumsy

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

* Rob Riggle as Todd, a short-tempered

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

who is the captain of the ark * Craig Robinson as Clyde, an arrogant

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

as Croc, an evil

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

* John Stevenson as Sparky, a

honey badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed ...

who accompanies Gilbert

Production

It was announced that Unified Pictures would produce a $35 million budgeted computer animated film, ''Noah's Ark,'' which

would write the screenplay, with ElectroAge handling the animation. In March 2013, the studio hired ''

Kung Fu Panda ''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American media franchise that originally started in 2008 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily voic ...

''s director John Stevenson to handle the creative work on the film with Cameron Hood as co-director. While later on August 20, 2014, it was reported that Stevenson had been hired as the director of the film, which had a script from LaZebnik and Glen Dolman. On October 3, 2016,

was set to voice the lead character Gilbert in the film, now titled ''The Ark and the Aardvark,'' which Keith Kjarval and Kurt Rauer would produce the film for Unified. In October 2016, the film's production started in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The film is financed by I Do Culture Corporation, which is funded by the

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

-based diamond brand Hiersun（恒信).The animation is handled at Stellar Creative Lab in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

References

External links

* Upcoming films American computer-animated films American children's animated comedy films Animated adventure films Fictional aardvarks Chinese animated films Chinese children's films Films about spiders Noah's Ark in film Canadian animated feature films Animated films about birds Animated films about elephants Animated films about reptiles Films directed by John Stevenson Films with screenplays by Philip LaZebnik {{animation-film-stub