In the Beginning: The Bible Stories

The Vatican reached out to Tezuka Osamu through the Italian National Broadcasting Network, asking him to adapt the Bible into an animated film. They likely wanted to see how a non-Christian like Tezuka would interpret the material. He agreed and spent two years working on a pilot film focused on the story of Noah’s ark. Tezuka threw himself into the project, writing the script and even drawing the artwork personally. Sadly, he passed away during production, leaving director Dezaki to finish the film in his place.