Some pigeons eat crumbs, others make history.
Valiant is a 2005 computer-animated children's film directed by Gary Chapman and produced by John H. Williams, who formerly produced Shrek 1 and Shrek 2. To produce this one, he founded Vanguard Animation, which would later produce Happily N'Ever After and Space Chimps.
It is May 1944, in the midst of World War II. A team of Royal Homing Pigeon Service carrier pigeons, headed by Mercury (John Cleese), are carrying a message of vital importance across the English Channel to Great Britain, when they're suddenly ambushed by German falcon General Von Talon (Tim Curry), and Mercury is taken prisoner and interrogated. Meanwhile, the eponymous Valiant (Ewan McGregor) is a young pigeon of small stature in West Nestington who aspires to be a carrier pigeon himself. Heading to London to sign up, he meets with perpetually filthy pigeon Bugsy (Ricky Gervais), who signs up alongside him to escape the wrath of two thugs. The two go to the training camp and meet three more pigeons; Lofty, Toughwood and Tailfeather, and the five undergo training under the thumb of the aptly named Sergeant Monty (Jim Broadbent). Valiant also falls in love with a nurse (a dove) named Victoria (Olivia Williams). Once training is completed, the five are para-dropped into France on a mission to take a message from Rollo and Charles de Girl, of the French Resistance. When the message is captured by the Falcons, it is vital to rescue it from Von Talon's clutches and get that message back to Britain...
Not to be confused The Legend of Prince Valiant if such a thing were possible.
This film provides examples of:
- Alternate Species Counterpart: The Royal Homing Pigeon Service are clearly inspired by the British Army's Parachute Regiment, and to an extent the Royal Air Force.
- Action Prologue: The film opens with Mercury and two pigeons on a flight over the English Channel, where they are attacked by Von Talon and Mercury is captured.
- Animal Talk: Pigeons, falcons and mice can talk to each other.
- Artistic License – Biology: Von Talon is described as being "20 pounds of pigeon eating muscle" and flying at speeds of 200 miles per hour. In reality; falcons weigh 2.3 to 3.3 pounds, measure 23 inches (or 34 to 58cm), and fly at 230 miles per hour.
- Badass Cape: Von Talon wears a leather one.
- Big Bad: General Von Talon is the main antagonist, plotting to intercept our heroes' message to the Allied Forces.
- Blatant Lies: Von Talon claims he's vegetarian while chewing a pigeon bone. Or he was simply being sarcastic.
- Brutal Bird of Prey: All three of the falcons, especially Von Talon, who is portrayed as an Ax-Crazy Nazi Nobleman.
- Bumbling Henchman Duo: Underlingk and Cufflingk, though Cufflingk has proven to be the more smarter of the duo.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Rollo, the Resistance's sabotage expert has strong Pyromaniac tendencies, but he's kept around because... well, that's exactly what they need him to do.
- Character Title: Valiant, which is the name of the main character.
- Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Nope. They're under-funded, ill-equipped and questionably sane, but their courage and skill are unquestionable.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: The film shows Mercury being tortured with Yodeling. It's treated like the sonic equivalent of thumbscrews, and Mercury's ability to withstand it unsettles even General Von Talon.
- Cool Shades: Wing Commander Gutsy wears a pair of aviators, which go with his accomplished war hero image. Though, he later discards them due to them being damaged from the plane crash.
- Dead Guy on Display: Von Talon keeps several pigeons he and his underlings have killed on display in his quarters. Valiant pretends to be one of these to infiltrate his base.
- Disney Death: Gutsy apparently crashes with the group's transport plane, then shows up later in the movie, injured but alive.
- Downer Beginning: The film starts off with three carrier pigeons about to reach the Cliffs of Dover, only for Von Talon to intercept them with two of them getting killed while Mercury is taken as prisoner. Another pigeon later informs Gutsy about the three pigeons not making it back alive, despite the three being considered top fliers.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Sergeant Monty.
- Eating the Enemy: This is what German falcons do to the English messenger pigeons once they've intercepted their messages.
- Eyepatch of Power: General Von Talon has one of these.
- A Father to His Men: Gutsy is this, even when they're not technically his men yet (seen with him shutting down the pub patrons mocking Valiant's desire to join the RHPS with a firm Death Glare and clearing of his throat).
- Fear Is Normal: Gutsy certainly seems to think so, reassuring the team when the plane carrying them comes under fire;"It's okay to be scared, fellows; I'd be worried if you weren't. It won't get better, but you'll get used to it."
- Greater-Scope Villain: Who do you think trained those falcons?
- Hates Baths: Bugsy finds the idea of taking a bath to be horrifying, as it would take away the smell that he enjoys and for his feathers to be toneless and irritated, something which he himself refuses to live with.
- Hook Humiliation: Big Bad General Von Talon is hooked by Valiant at the end on the old mill to both restrain and humilate him.
- Icy Blue Eyes: The single eye General Von Talon has left is light blue, fitting his ruthless personality.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: Basically the center of the whole film.
- Large Ham: Tim Curry as typical. Also counts as Evil Is Hammy.
- Loud of War: Von Talon tries to get Mercury to tell him the message by blasting him with annoying yodeling music.
- National Animal Stereotypes:
- The German falcons. Germany, especially Nazi Germany, often used birds of prey in their heraldry (although Nazi heraldry typically depicted eagles rather than falcons).
- The pigeons are English and the mice are French, which is not the usual nation-species pairing, but it serves the plot. Both species are natural prey of falcons, just like how both nations were attacked by Nazi Germany.
- Never Trust a Trailer: The US trailer
(a reedited version of the UK/international trailer) is mostly scored with rock music (and the last minute is set to "Danger Zone"), when the film only has one pop song during the final scene (a pop version of "Shoo, Shoo Baby"). - No Swastikas: No swastikas are seen in Von Talon's lair nor on his uniforms; possibly because this is a children's film.
- Onion Johnny: Charles de Girl and Rollo are half dressed cartoon animals who wear berets, and a red neckerchief in Charles's case. Note that they wear the beret in a military fashion: inclined and with Cross of Lorraine's insigna pin on it.
- Red Shirt: The two pigeons accompanying Mercury in the opening, who are killed with little fanfare by Von Talon.
- La Résistance: Rollo and Charles de Girl.
- "Ride of the Valkyries": Von Talon sings "Pin on my medals... PIN ON MY MEDEALS..." to the tune of this whilst showering.
- Shell Game: Right before meeting Valiant, Bugsy used this to swindle a couple of other birds out of their birdseed. He gets caught in the act and signs up for the Royal Homing Pigeon Service in a desperate attempt to hide from them and their wrath... by the time it was safe to come out of hiding, the crate was already getting carried away for training, much to Bugsy's dismay.
- Shout-Out: While the falcons take a pigeon to a cage he says this quote: "Get your talons off me you filthy falcons!" which is a reference to the 1968 film, Planet of the Apes.
- Shown Their Work: The Germans did indeed train falcons to intercept carrier pigeons during WWII.
- Singing in the Shower: Von Talon does this while humming "Ride of the Valkyries".
- Stomach of Holding: Having no way of carrying the message back to base, Valiant is forced to stuff it down his throat. He then barfs it up when back at base.
- Survival Mantra: Mercury sings "Rule Britannia" to stave off the yodeling.
- Terrible Trio: Big Bad General Von Talon is backed by two henchmen: Cuffingk and Underlingk.
- Those Wacky Nazis: The falcons symbolize this.
- Truth Serum: When the yodeling doesn't work, Von Talon gives Mercury one of these.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Despite some hammy moments, Von Talon is quite a sinister villain since he's basically an animal version of a real life Nazi war criminal in an otherwise family oriented cartoon. We also discover that he killed and/or ate various Allied pigeons. Some of them are also stuffed as a sort of Creepy Souvenir.
