Valiant, a Disney presentation of a Vanguard Animation film, lands in North American theaters today to take advantage of a late-summer frame virtually devoid of kid-friendly competition. The WWII carrier pigeon pic is the first 3D Disney release animated outside of Pixar.
Valiant is an adventure-comedy that tells the story of a lowly wood pigeon who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great Britain’s Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during the Second World War. Ewan McGregor (The Island, Star Wars Episodes I-III) voices the title character, leading a star-studded cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast, House of Sand and Fog) Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones’s Diary), Rupert Everett (An Ideal Husband, My Best Friend’s Wedding), John Hurt (Harry Potter films, The Elephant Man) Hugh Laurie (Stuart Little 1 and 2, TV’s House) and Ricky Gervais (BBC’s The Office).
British character designer Gary Chapman makes his directorial debut with the film, produced by John H. Williams (Shrek, Shrek 2). Exec producers are Barnaby Thompson for Ealing Studios, Ralph Kamp for Odyssey Ent., Robert Jones for the U.K. Film Council and Keith Evans for Baker Street Media Finance. Eric M. Bennett, Curtis Augspurger and Buckley Collum serve as co-producers for Vanguard.
Valiant was produced at Vanguard Animation’s recently built CG studio at Ealing Studios in London. Odyssey Ent. in the U.K. is handling international distribution. Disney isn’t showing a whole lot of faith in the toon, releasing it in just over 2,000 theaters. Even Warner Independent’s doc, March of the Penguins, and Disney’s own 4-week holdover, Sky High, are in wider release. The Mouse House is surely planning a more expansive roll-out for Chicken Little, it’s first CG feature produced in house. That one falls into theaters Nov. 4.
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