Valiant (2005)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

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 | Flatulence | Mouse | London England

Awards:

1 nomination

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
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)
Chris Fairbanks	...	Additional Voice (voice)
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
Siouxsie Stewart	....	animation manager

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
Mike Dowson	....	sound re-recording 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
Rob Prynne	....	assistant sound effects editor
Danny Sheehan	....	supervising sound editor
Dave Sloss	....	foley recordist
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)

Special Effects by
Marco Barbati	....	rigger

Visual Effects by
Terence Alvares	....	digital compositor
Paul Amer	....	rigging supervisor
Shigeki Ao	....	lead modeller
Christine Arboit	....	effects technical director
Miles Bellas	....	additional staff
Ali Bernard	....	3D character Fixer
Philip Borg	....	digital artist
Virginie Bourdin	....	lighter
Robert Bourgeault	....	technical director/lighting
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	....	digital compositor
Ben Dishart	....	shading artist
David Dulac	....	lead lighter
Leif Einarsson	....	character rigger
Steven Elford	....	layout artist
Steven Elford	....	model maker
Zachary Franks	....	modeller
Jacqueline Gordon	....	rigging development
Karen Halliwell	....	rigger
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 Moussa 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 (2004)
Paul Oakley	....	modeler
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	....	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
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
Brian Eyre	....	animator
Jim Feeley	....	character developer
David Krentz	....	character developer
Martin Lanzinger	....	animator
Paul Lee	....	animator
Nathan McConnel	....	character animator
Abraham Meneu Oset	....	character animator
Quentin Miles	....	lead animator
Claus Pedersen	....	animator
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 manager
Anders Thonell	....	character 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
Stefanie Boose	....	editorial coordinator
Hermione Byrt	....	first assistant editor
Carrie Holecek	....	digital intermediate producer: Technicolor DI
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
Bill Silcock	....	music preparation

Other crew
Johnathan Abbott	....	intern
Neil Chatterjee	....	software developer
Daisy Church	....	intern
Marisa Dean	....	assistant: Mr. Augspurger and Mr. Collum
Venecia Duran	....	assistant: Mr. Williams
Venecia Duran	....	script supervisor
David Fowler	....	head of systems administration
Pauline Hume	....	title designer: end titles
Harriet Jones	....	assistant: Mr. Jacomb
Natalie Kavanagh	....	production assistant intern
Amar Koeri	....	systems administrator
Sherin Mahboob	....	intern
Nichola Martin	....	assistant: Mr. Thompson
Hannah Mole	....	intern
Richard Morrison	....	title designer
Manne Ohrstrom	....	developer
Jon Parker	....	intern
Jeremy Pelzer	....	studio general manager
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)

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)
• LNK Audiovisuais (2005) (Portugal) (all media)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• Pandasia Entertainment (2005) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• SND (2005) (France) (all media)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Sweden (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
• 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:

Vaillant, pigeon de combat! (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Vaillant (France) [fr]
Valiant (Argentina) [es]
Valiant (Italy) [it]
Valiant - Héroes plumíferos (Venezuela) (poster title) [es]
Valiant - Um Herói Que Vale a Pena (Brazil) [pt]
Valiant och de fjäderlätta hjältarna (Sweden) [sv]
Valiant, to gennaio peristeri (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Vanguard Animation

Trivia:

Over 200 artists from 41 different countries worked on the film

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the movie members of the French Resistance, play "Non, je ne regrette rien" sung by Édith Piaf. However World War II was over twelve years before the song was even written.

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:

Spoofs Top Gun (1986)

Soundtrack:

(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover

Hilarious for adults and children alike!

This is an animated comedy of a British Valiant-pigeon who enlists to "The Royal Pigeon Message Service" of the World War II. Falcons represent German's Luftwaffe and French animal resistance is in the hands of mice! Overall impression is quite like with Chicken Run, only this is made with computer animation.

It has come to be a habit for animations to contain loads of references to other movies and general pop-culture so that adults can have their own fun while their descendants laugh at animation characters' slapstick. This film makes no exception in that sense. But it does this mixing superbly. Additional credit has to be given to makers because the WW II might be considered a-bit-harder-than-usual subject for a kid-flick. The cast is excellent. Especially Ricky Gervais' character Bugsy felt so much alive that I almost waited him to break through the shell of an animated character and become visible on-screen. This comes not only from the voice but from delicately characterized animation, though.

There are no songs disrupting the storytelling and there is some mild violence (well, in war there is, right?), so this might be not the best choice for the very youngest children? Not Shrek, but a quite hilarious little film for adults and children alike!