The faith-based concerns surrounding Noah neglect to mention a key element of the classic tale–the hundreds of animals who hitch a ride on the signature ark.
Turns out director Darren Aronofsky decided to use CGI wizardry rather than bring actual animals on the set of his big-budget film. Doing so would clash with the film’s purpose, as he sees it.
When you’re doing Noah’s ark, of course you’re going to be dealing with animals – that’s the whole story”, the Black Swan director says. “Immediately, it would be very questionable to start taking sentient creatures and sticking them on a set… It’s kind of against the actual themes of the film.
Noah features a decidedly pro-animal message. The creatures who eventually come aboard the ark are dubbed “innocents,” and the cruel humans who eat animal flesh are mocked in the film’s opening moments. Noah’s villain (Ray Winstone) insists during one scene that animals exist to serve humans.
The director previously used real animals while making his 2006 box office dud The Fountain, and he was “alarmed” with the conditions the creatures endured as part of the movie making process.