Noah's Lark
About Noah's Lark
Noah's ark pitches in a storm while the animals sing and clown on deck. A parrot spots an amusement park through a telescope, and Noah gives the crew shore leave at Luna Park on Coney Island. A monkey band marches them in; on the merry-go-round they yank a brass ring and haul an elephant out of the wall. Noah climbs a podium, shouts "Watch this," and snakes in his pants send him crashing onto a policeman. The animals bolt back to the ark, the ship sinks under their weight, and Noah chases a mermaid through the water.
Cast & crew
More about Noah's Lark
Max Fleischer produced the short and Dave Fleischer directed it. Paramount released it on October 26, 1929, as the first Talkartoon. Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation had registered the copyright the day before, October 25, 1929 (MP784). Silent Era lists the production under Inkwell Studios, with Al Eugster animating and Max H. Manne as musical advisor.
Themes
Background
Max and Dave Fleischer pitched Paramount a series in which characters would do more than dance under the bouncing ball of the Song Car-Tunes. Paramount took the series. Noah's Lark opened it on October 26, 1929.
Making
Talkartoons began as one-shot cartoons rather than a series built around one star. Noah's Lark was the first. Fleischer only later settled on the dog Bimbo as the regular lead.
Technique
Most of the short is paper-cutout animation with very few gray tones, the same process Fleischer was using on the Screen Songs and on earlier silent cartoons.
Music
The AFI Catalog credits Art Turkisher as composer, and Silent Era lists Max H. Manne as musical advisor. Billy Murray and an off-screen chorus sing "The Animals Went in Two by Two" over the titles. The track also uses "Sailing, Sailing," "The Sailor's Hornpipe," "In the Good Old Summer Time," "The Girl I Left Behind Me," and "The Stars and Stripes Forever," drawn from copyright-free 78s.
Preservation
Silent Era records that a print exists and lists the film as public domain in the United States. A circulating scan runs about seven and a half minutes.
Notes
- Billy Murray supplies the vocal effects, and James Stanley shouts "Ahoy!"; both are uncredited on IMDb.
- The Talkartoons filmography notes that no animators were credited on the print, though Silent Era names Al Eugster.
- The AFI Catalog times the short at 6 minutes and credits Art Turkisher as composer.
- Sweden's Film AB Paramount released it on March 16, 1930, as Noaks ark. The Swedish Film Database records a 218-meter print, censorship number 44546.
- IMDb lists a French title, En avant... arche!
- Wikipedia's Talkartoons entry says the Noah is drawn like Paul Terry's Farmer Al Falfa, and that the short looks patterned on Terry's Aesop's Film Fables.
Scenes
- A monkey uses a giraffe's ears as mallets and plays the neck like a xylophone.
- On the merry-go-round, an animal pulls a brass ring and drags a whole elephant out of the wall.
- Snakes crawl into Noah's pants while he stands on a podium at the park.
- The overloaded ark sinks, and Noah chases a mermaid.
Influenced by
- Aesop's Film Fables
Quotes
Watch this!
