On this day in 1980, The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark soared into theaters with an impressive cast that included Elliott Gould, Genevieve Bujold, Tammy Lauren, Ricky Schroeder, 20 chickens, six pigs, five sheep, four rabbits, two grey geese, four white ducks, two goats, two bulls, and a mallard duck. The film tells the story of a scruffy, hot-tempered pilot, a woman missionary, and two stow-away children who crash land on a deserted South Pacific island. Ricky Schroeder, who was just 11 during filming and disappointed at not being allowed to skateboard during the shoot owing to the possibility of scrapes, cuts, bumps or bruises. Nevertheless, just two weeks into the filming, Ricky got a rope burn while playing, which had to be written into the script, and another time, while posing for publicity photos atop the film’s 2,400 pound Brahma bull, he toppled off into the shallow water of the ocean. Despite the minor complications of production with an energetic young boy, the movie was completed, and a day before filming ended, Ricky got his skateboard.
