Valiant (2005)

Popularity:

Up 6% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Gary Chapman

Writers:

George Webster (story)
Jordan Katz (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 August 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | War

Tagline:

Meet the Flockers

Plot:

Set in 1944, Valiant is a woodland pigeon who wants to become a great hero someday. When he hears they...

Plot Keywords:

Pigeon | Falcon | Dove | Nursing | Psychological Torture

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Ewan McGregor	...	Valiant (voice)
Ricky Gervais	...	Bugsy (voice)
Tim Curry	...	Von Talon (voice)
Jim Broadbent	...	Sergeant (voice)
Hugh Laurie	...	Gutsy (voice)
John Cleese	...	Mercury (voice)
John Hurt	...	Felix (voice)
Pip Torrens	...	Lofty (voice)
Rik Mayall	...	Cufflingk (voice)
Olivia Williams	...	Victoria (voice)
Jonathan Ross	...	Big Thug (voice)
Brian Lonsdale	...	Toughwood (voice)
Dan Roberts	...	Tailfeather (voice)
Michael Schlingmann	...	Underlingk (voice)
Sharon Horgan	...	Charles De Girl (voice)
Sean Samuels	...	Jacques (voice)
Buckley Collum	...	Rollo (voice)
Annette Badland	...	Elsa (voice)
Harriet Jones	...	Barmaid (voice)
Harry Peacock	...	Recruiting Officer (voice)
Corin Mellinger	...	Wing Pigeon (voice)
Gary Chapman	...	Pigeon Officer (voice)
Curtis Augspurger	...	Pigeon Guard (voice)
Mike Harbour	...	Little Thug (voice)
Michael Jenn	...	Messenger Pigeon (voice) (as Mike Jenn)
Heidi Fecht	...	Saucy Pigeon (voice)
Robert Lence	...	'Tweet' Pigeon (voice)
Ali Dowling	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Christopher Fairbank	...	Additional Voice (voice) (as Chris Fairbanks)
Rupert Farley	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Dan Flynn	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Kristopher Milnes	...	Additional Voice (voice) (as Kris Milne)
Stephen Pacey	...	Additional Voice (voice)
James Dale Robinson	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Emma Tate	...	Additional Voice (voice)

Directed by
Gary Chapman

Writing credits
George Webster		(story)
Jordan Katz		(screenplay) and
George Webster		(screenplay) and
George Melrod		(screenplay)

Produced by
Curtis Augspurger	....	co-producer
Eric M. Bennett	....	co-producer
Neil Braun	....	executive producer
Buckley Collum	....	co-producer
Keith Evans	....	executive producer
Tom Jacomb	....	line producer
Robert Jones	....	executive producer
Ralph Kamp	....	executive producer
Marci Levine	....	associate producer
Barnaby Thompson	....	executive producer
John H. Williams	....	producer

Original Music by
George Fenton

Cinematography by
John Fenner

Film Editing by
Tiffany L. Kurtz		(co-editor) (as Tiffany Hillkurtz)
Jim Stewart

Casting by
Celestia Fox

Production Design by
John Byrne

Art Direction by
Carl Jones

Production Management
Imke Fehrmann	....	production supervisor
Chad Hammes	....	unit production manager
Jan Hirota	....	production manager
Kristen Hudecki	....	production team
Michael Solinger	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Julius Aguimatang	....	storyboard artist
Derek Carter	....	layout designer
Nathan Chew	....	storyboard artist
Daisy Church	....	intern
Michelle Dabbs	....	storyboard artist
Cam DeLeon	....	visual development
John Dorman	....	storyboard artist
Tom Hester	....	sculpture
Brendan Houghton	....	lead storyboard artist
Tim Lawrence	....	sculpture
Robert Lence	....	storyboard artist
Brynne Orloski	....	art department production coordinator
Michael G. Ploog	....	head storyboard artist
Neil Ross	....	visual development
Hank Tucker	....	lead storyboard artist (as Henry Tucker)
Colette Van Mierlo	....	layout designer
Art Vitello	....	lead storyboard artist
Colin White	....	storyboard artist
Al Zegler	....	storyboard artist
Bruce Zick	....	set designer

Sound Department
Nigel Bennett	....	sound mix technician
Robert Bourke	....	sound effects editor
Wayne Brooks	....	sound effects editor
Peter Burgis	....	foley artist
Matthew Collinge	....	supervising sound editor (as Matt Collinge)
Colin Cooper	....	voiceover recordist
Andie Derrick	....	foley artist
Mike Dowson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Edwards	....	adr mixer
Robert Farr	....	foley mixer
Nick Foley	....	adr recordist
Nigel Heath	....	foley mixer
Gert Janssen	....	dubbing editor
Alex Joseph	....	additional sound designer
Michael Maroussas	....	sound effects editor
David Peacock	....	sound engineer
David Peacock	....	voice recordist
Rob Prynne	....	assistant sound effects editor
Danny Sheehan	....	supervising sound editor
Dave Sloss	....	foley recordist
Jason Swanscott	....	foley artist
Ted Swanscott	....	adr mixer
Mark Taylor	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nick Watson	....	sound consultant: Dolby
Rik Elliott	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Pedro Van der Eecken	....	sound recordist (uncredited in Dutch version)

Visual Effects by
Terence Alvares	....	digital compositor
Paul Amer	....	rigging supervisor
Shigeki Ao	....	lead modeller
Christine Arboit	....	effects technical director
Marco Barbati	....	rigger
Miles Bellas	....	look development artist
Ali Bernard	....	3d character fixer
Steven Blake	....	animator
Philip Borg	....	digital artist
Virginie Bourdin	....	lighter
Robert Bourgeault	....	lighting technical director: Vanguard Animation
Ron Brinkmann	....	computer graphics supervisor
Nicolas Bruchet	....	lighter
Laurie Brugger	....	character modeller/rigger
James Butler	....	digital compositor
Kevin Campbell	....	digital artist
Cyrille Caron	....	layout artist
Martin 'Smoke' Carroll	....	senior character animator
Cyril Frederick Chu	....	texture painter
Dan Copping	....	layout technical director
Pearse Cullinane	....	matte painter
Tom Cushwa	....	modeling supervisor
Olly Davis	....	modeller
Robert Deas	....	cloud technical director
Gareth Dinneen	....	compositor: Vanguard Animation
Ben Dishart	....	shading artist
David Dulac	....	lead lighter
Leif Einarsson	....	character rigger
Steven Elford	....	layout artist
Steven Elford	....	model maker
Luca Fascione	....	pipeline engineer
Jonathan Flack	....	technical director: lighting and rendering
Zachary Franks	....	modeller
Jacqueline Gordon	....	rigging development
Karen Halliwell	....	rigger
Brendan Harris	....	compositor
Christian Hipp	....	effects technical director
David Hirst	....	layout artist
Graham Hopkins	....	supervising technical director
Uel Hormann	....	2D supervisor
Gray Horsfield	....	computer graphics supervisor
Lorea Hoye	....	compositing coordinator
Ken Mitchel Jones	....	effects technical director
Steven Anthony Khoury	....	lighter
Tom Kluyskens	....	CG fluid effects technical director
Neehar Kohli	....	modeller
Daniel Kohn	....	compositor
Eric Kuehne	....	lead lighting technical director
Paul Kulikowski	....	digital compositor
Zoe Lamaera	....	digital compositor
Jason Lazaroff	....	technical director
Danny Lei	....	character modeler: Vaguard Animation (as Chun-Ta Lei)
Bjorn Liljequist	....	lighting technical director
Kevin Lombardi	....	character modeller
Steve Madsen	....	shading artist
Daniel Martin Peixe	....	character animator
Tony Matthews	....	CG and matte painting coordinator
Nathan McConnel	....	character animator
Nathan McConnel	....	compositor
Rodney J. McFall	....	character supervisor
Andrew McPhillips	....	lighter
Rebecca Melander	....	texture artist
Quentin Miles	....	lead animator
Marlon Montgomery	....	3D coordinator
Saybian Morgan	....	effects technical director
David Antonin Mucci	....	supervising lighting technical director
Rolf Muetze	....	lead lighter
Jan Natarajan	....	look development
Paul Oakley	....	modeler
Jacopo Pantaleoni	....	software tools developer
Thomas Pastor	....	lighter
Rob Pizzey	....	digital colourist: One Post [gb]
Christel Pougeoise	....	character animator
Richard Purdum	....	animation director
Justin Rae	....	layout artist
Alireza Razmpoosh	....	visual effects animator
Donald Reich	....	senior layout artist
Robert Rioux	....	effects technical director
Sean Samuels	....	matte painter
Leo Sanchez	....	lead modeller
Rick Sander	....	digital artist
Matt Schofield	....	matte artist
Matt Schofield	....	matte painter
Andrew Schwartz	....	senior compositor: Film Finisher
Priyes Shah	....	lighting technical director
Daniel Smollan	....	render wrangler
Mohamed Sobhy	....	shading technical director
Richard Stay	....	matte artist
Richard Stay	....	matte painter
Jamie R. Stewart	....	character effects technical director
Andre Thomas	....	shading artist
Tony Thorne	....	lead animator
Ray Van Steenwyk	....	lead animator
Frantz Vidal	....	character animator
Romain Villemaine	....	character animator
Mark Wallman	....	digital effects artist
Jo Walls	....	animation technical director
David Woodland	....	matte painter
Lisa Woodland	....	digital compositor
Hidetaka Yosumi	....	software engineer
Mohand Zennadi	....	lighter

Camera and Electrical Department
Marco Barbati	....	rigger

Animation Department
Tohru Patrick Awa	....	character designer
Julia Bordeau	....	lead texture artist
Simon Carlile	....	junior animation technical director
Matthew Clubb	....	lighting artist
Olly Davis	....	fix animator
Brian Eyre	....	animator
Jim Feeley	....	character developer
Guillaume Herent	....	animator
David Krentz	....	character developer
Francis Lacharriere	....	animator
Martin Lanzinger	....	animator
Franck Laurin	....	animator
Paul Lee	....	animator
Marie Martinet	....	animator
Nathan McConnel	....	animator
Abraham Meneu Oset	....	character animator
Stuart Messinger	....	animation production coordinator
Quentin Miles	....	lead animator
Claus Pedersen	....	animator (as Claus N. Pedersen)
Andres Puente	....	character animator
Tom Roth	....	animator
Michael Schlingmann	....	lead animator
Nicolas Seck	....	animator
Emil Simeonov	....	lead animator
Simon Sonnichsen	....	animator
Alan Sperling	....	lead animator
Siouxsie Stewart	....	animation management
Scott Swan	....	checking supervisor
Anders Thonell	....	animator
Ray Van Steenwyk	....	lead animator
Alexis Wanneroy	....	animator
Ralph Zondag	....	character developer

Casting Department
Vanessa Baker	....	adr voice casting
Brendan Donnison	....	adr voice casting

Editorial Department
Matt Adams	....	digital intermediate producer
Bryan Atkinson	....	assistant editor
Stefanie Boose	....	editorial coordinator
Hermione Byrt	....	first assistant editor
Carrie Holecek	....	digital intermediate producer: Technicolor DI
Paul Jones	....	digital intermediate manager
Eric Lake	....	first assistant editor
George Missor	....	epk assistant editor
Timothy Peeler	....	digital film colorist (as Tim Peeler)
Rob Pizzey	....	digital film colorist
Michael Rostker	....	assistant editor
Briana Ryan	....	editorial manager: Los Angeles
Nicholas Siapkaris	....	additional editor
Liz Webber	....	additional editor
Samantha Welland	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Geoff Alexander	....	orchestrator (as Geoffrey Alexander)
Peter Clarke	....	music editor
George Fenton	....	conductor
Janice Graham	....	orchestra leader
Jake Jackson	....	score recordist
Steve Price	....	music recording engineer
Patrick Savage	....	musician
Bill Silcock	....	music preparation

Other crew
Johnathan Abbott	....	intern
Philip A. Brown	....	intern (as Phil Brown)
Neil Chatterjee	....	software developer
Daisy Church	....	intern
Marisa Dean	....	assistant: Mr. Augspurger and Mr. Collum
Venecia Duran	....	assistant: Mr. Williams
Venecia Duran	....	script supervisor
Florentino Fernández	....	voice dubbing: Bugsy (spanish version )
David Fowler	....	head of systems administration
José Luis Gil	....	voice dubbing: Mercury (spanish version )
Pauline Hume	....	title designer: end titles
Harriet Jones	....	assistant: Mr. Jacomb
Natalie Kavanagh	....	production assistant intern
Amar Koeri	....	systems administrator
Ramón Langa	....	voice dubbing: Von Talon (spanish version )
Paco León	....	voice dubbing: Valiant (spanish version )
Sherin Mahboob	....	intern
Nichola Martin	....	assistant: Mr. Thompson
Hannah Mole	....	intern
Richard Morrison	....	title designer
Manne Ohrstrom	....	developer
Jon Parker	....	intern
Jeremy Pelzer	....	studio director
Martin Poyner	....	production assistant
Liz Roberts	....	layout and modelling manager
James Rose	....	systems administrator
Mathew Selby	....	lead software engineer
Sterling Sheehy	....	intern
Bill Stevens	....	production accountant
Samantha Steyns	....	production coordinator
Richard Underwood	....	systems administrator
Salim Zayat	....	software developer

Thanks
Sarah Counnas	....	thanks
Dominic Glynn	....	thanks
Matthew Hampton	....	the producers wish to thank
Phil Hay	....	thanks
Matt Manfredi	....	thanks
Jo Rogers	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Vanguard Animation
• Ealing Studios
• UK Film Council
• Take Film Partnerships
• Odyssey Entertainment (as World Sales)
• Walt Disney Pictures

Distributors

• Buena Vista Pictures (2005) (USA) (all media)
• Entertainment Film Distributors (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
• Alfa Films (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Bontonfilm (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Pandasia Entertainment (2005) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• LNK Audiovisuais (2005) (Portugal) (all media)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• SND Films (2005) (France) (all media)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Sweden) (all media)

Special Effects

• Polygon Pictures (additional modeling and rigging)

Other Companies

• Air Lyndhurst Studios  music recorded and mixed at
• Bank of Ireland  production financing provided by
• Central Band of the Royal Air Force, The  music performed by
• Chris Dean and the Syd Lawrence Orchestra  music performed by
• Fig Productions  main title design
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Hollywood Records  soundtrack
• Musicalities Limited  music copyright consultants
• Phaze UK  sound design
• Pinewood Studios  optical sound negative (as Pinewood Sound Studios)
• Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The  music performed by
• Sapex Scripts  post-production scripts
• Shepperton Studios  sound re-recording
• Skylark Sound Studios  sound recording and editing studio (recording for DVD bonus game)
• Technicolor  laboratory
• The Sound Company Ltd.  original dialogue recording

Also Known As:

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Czech Republic:U | Finland:S | Iceland:L | Ireland:G | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:6 | Norway:7 | Philippines:G | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:G | South Korea:All | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:GP | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Vanguard Animation

Trivia:

The second full-length British CGI movie, after Dominator (2003).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The German falcons wear "Pickelhauben" (pointed helmets) which were worn during WWI not WWII.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lofty:[seeing Valiant & Bugsy] For a, quote, 'elite unit', unquote, they seem to be letting in anything with wings
[to Bugsy]
Lofty:, including those flies circling your bottom.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: Episode #34.11" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Da Jodel-Rudel

British send up of WW2 films is a tad slow to start but is a funny feel good movie

Oh boy, Disney has their hands full with this one... a British animated and voiced film about World War Two with death, destruction and rude jokes. Oh, lets hope they don't cut the living hell out of this thing.

This is the story of Valiant, a smaller than normal pigeon, who wants to join up with the Royal Carrier Pigeon Service. With the help of Bugsy, a con artist pigeon he accidentally saves, he manages to trick his way into the service. Training has barely begun when they are rushed off to France to bring back an important message. There Valiant, Bugsy and his squad come face to face with the evil falcon's who'd like nothing better than to make them lunch.

A brief 75 minutes long (reports of 109 minutes must be wrong) this is a good send up of World War Two conventions. We have hateful Nazi falcons (the leader is played evilly by Tim Curry); the do or die mission; Mom's tearful goodbye; Edith Piaf on the gramophone, French resistance, balmy Brits (two of which are John Cleese and John Hurt); heroic sacrifice and on and on and on.

The voice cast is excellent and any Anglophiles out there will want to see this for the great voice cast which includes Ewan McGregor as Valiant, who is a wonderful hero, Ricky Gervais as Bugsy who is hysterical as the slob friend, and then add in Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Curry, Cleese, Hurt and many others others bringing life to the birds on screen. The whole cast is fun to listen to.

The humor is a wide net of British style humor from puns to fart jokes to clever spoof to just about anything. In its way its completely different than any typical American (ie.Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks) film. Its not broad American humor, its quiet British humor with slips into slapstick. Its a Britcom versus sitcom.

Technically this film is a marvel with stuff that will put Disney to shame, and make Pixar and Dreamworks work harder. There are some beautifully rendered sequences, in particular the numerous action scenes. WOW.

The problem here is the pacing which is a tad slow. It un-spools like a British World War Two film from the period. Its not bad but it might prove taxing to American audiences who are used to faster paced comedy. However once they go to France on the mission it picks up nicely with chase after chase.

A friend asked if it was similar to Chicken Run, sort of. Both are Britsh war spoofs, but the style of humor is different and you don't have Mel Gibson bending it in the direction of American nonsense. Chicken Run is probably better but its hard to say fairly since I need to see Valiant again.

Certainly not the be all and end all I do recommend it, especially if you like British style humor.