Aubrey Plaza, Jenny Slate, Craig Robinson, Rob Riggle and Stephen Merchant have joined the cast of Unified Pictures’ animated feature film The Ark and the Aardvark.
Kung Fu Panda helmer John Stevenson is directing the reimagining of the Noah’s Ark story, which stars Miles Teller as the titular aardvark, Gilbert, who leads a group of misfit animals though natural disasters and personal anxieties.
Plaza joins the voice cast as the ever-smart Brain the Spider, along with Slate as Mitzi the narcoleptic Ostrich, Robinson as the mansplaining Bullfrog, Riggle as Todd the elephant and Merchant as the wise old Croc.
Currently in production, the animated film is being produced by Unified’s Keith Kjarval and Kurt Rauer and executive produced by Cecil Kramer. Unified’s Ben Ruffman and Steve Goldstein, The Fyzz’s Wayne Godfrey and Robert Jones and Watson Enterprises’ Kitt Watson are also serving as executive producers. WME Global is representing the film’s distribution rights.
Plaza just starred in the Neon dark comedy Ingrid Goes West, which she also produced. She next reprises her lead role on the FX series Legion and appears (along with Robinson) in the ensemble comedy An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn. She is repped by CAA and MGMT Entertainment.
Slate will next be seen in the thriller Hotel Artemis starring Jodie Foster, as well as Netflix’s animated series Big Mouth and Universal’s animated sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2. She is repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Robinson next leads the Fox comedy series Ghosted with Adam Scott and also appears in James Franco’s dramedy Zeroville. He is with UTA and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Riggle’s upcoming projects includes the Kevin Hart comedy Night School and the family comedy The War With Grandpa starring Robert De Niro. He is repped by WME and Principato-Young Entertainment.
Merchant wrote and directed the upcoming wrestling biopic Fighting With My Family, starring Dwayne Johnson, Vince Vaughn and Lena Headey. He is with WME and United Agents.