Stowaways on the Ark 1988

An ancient woodworm lives tucked inside a tiny piece of wood high on a mountain and begins to tell the sprawling tale of his ancestors riding out a world-spanning flood aboard a grand ark. The oldest forebear in this lineage, Willi Holzwurm Wolfgang Ziffer, shares the shelter of a trunk with his wife, Alice Holzwurm Dagmar Biener, as they weather the growing storm of destiny around them. In the wider world, Noah Arnold Marquis—a careful carpenter—works with God to draft plans for a vessel that must cradle a pair from every animal species. The trunk is cut and carved, and fear tinges the air as the couple senses their humble home is being repurposed for a much larger, cosmic mission.

When the ark is finished, a small bottle from God is thrown to celebrate, its cork carrying little termites that scatter across the deck’s floor. God then signals Noah to begin the embarkation, and the animals start to file aboard as rain begins to fall in earnest. A female dragon, clutching an egg, attempts to join, but tragedy strikes when the egg breaks and she is denied entry because she lacks a partner. Amid the bustle and tension, the ship’s purpose becomes clear: salvation for life on Earth, preserved through the long voyage ahead.

As days pass, dark tunnels appear along the journey home, and Willi grows wary of what lies beneath. Willi and Alice welcome numerous woodworm hatchlings, expanding their family within the ark’s wooden corridors. On the upper deck, a bear tries to lift the mood by coaxing the animals to make music; on the lower deck, another bear urges them to sing. The rifts between decks widen as the sounds clash, and the animals blame one another for the odd disharmony of life inside the floating wooden world.

Trouble escalates when termites begin to chew through storerooms and threaten the ship’s stability. Willi warns his children and their kin, urging them to spread the word, but many animals doubt the urgency of the warning. In a desperate bid to save Alice, Willi and two of his sons drill toward the stern through tunnels the ants have shown them, exploiting a distracting scent to pull termites away from the trapped wife. The ark shakes as the floors crack and the flood intensifies, yet pockets of cooperation begin to form as fear gives way to ingenuity.

In a pivotal turn, the inner rifts between decks are bridged by a shared problem. The bears on both decks discover a honey-based solution that plugs the holes, and their partnership helps them weather the crisis. Meanwhile, a termite mound near the bow crumbles, sending the ark toward chaos, until a walrus named Argos [Alexander Herzog] appears in the sea and guides a chorus of whales toward hauling the great ship to land. Noah’s sons, and the rest of the living crew, realize they are nearing shore as the waters recede and the voyage’s inland chapter begins.

When the ark finally reaches land, the animals debark and begin a new phase of life outside the vessel. The woodworms—led by the couple Willi and Alice—remain inside the ark, which becomes their ancestral home for many generations. Over time, the ark itself shrinks to a fragment of its former self, a quiet relic that still holds the memory of a world saved through steadfast effort and unlikely alliances. The storyteller concludes with a gentle note: while many search for the ark’s remains, time erodes what once was, and only the legend of its endurance endures.