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STUDIO: Walt Disney
MSRP: $29.99
RATED: G
RUNNING TIME: 76 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Bloopers
• Valiant Training Challenge – 3 Different Game Levels
The Pitch
“Watch Pigeons save the day without having a bowel movement!”
The Humans
Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais, Tim Curry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie, John Cleese, John Hurt.
The Nutshell
A short pigeon named Valiant (Ewan McGregor) joins Britain’s Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II. Along with other misfit pigeons they must make sure the most secret of secret documents gets in the hands of the allies. Their only obstacle, besides bombs and bullets, is the pigeons #1 enemy, the Falcon Brigade. Can our little heros save the day and help win World War II or will they be disgraced and forced to beg for food on the streets? The suspence is just too much.
Stoned characters is something Disney is starting to experiment with to help their bottom line.
The Package
Vailant, just like the 76 minute running time is short on extras. The blooper reel features two scenes and lasts five minutes. The games are cute and will appeal to young children. Why on earth Disney did not add more extras to this cute little movie is beyond me. So what it was not a blockbuster! Surely there was a few scraps of reel laying around that they could have slapped together and placed on this set!
The Lowdown
What made Valiant fun to watch is not the outcome (it’s a given who will win in these sort of movies) but watching the pigeons interacting and going through training. Once they get beyond the training the movie is just not that enjoyable. The main baddie, falcon leader Von Talon (Tim Curry,) helps keep the third act going even though his appearance is brief.
I have to give credit to Walt Disney for coming up with the idea of showcasing pigeons in an animated flick, although there are no worries of them taking over the penguins as the latest "it" animal. It is still a novel approach and it can now be safe to say that all aspects of WWII has now been covered in movies.
Yes, pigeons were actually used during WWII to deliver messages so using them in Valiant is not that far fetched and a cute concept. The main problem is having Valiant as the underdog because there were never any obstacles for him to overcome. He fit right into training which actually should have been where we see him barely make it.
Enough of this scene already!
It is a cute movie although I can see where even kids would get bored. There is just nothing here to hold them and let’s face it, how cute can you make a pigeon?