Forgotten Disney Animation “Valiant”: Review

Valiant is a decent outing in comparison to a lot of films from its era, the era of Hoodwinked. But it’s clear why this Disney released feature is largely forgotten, and currently streaming for free on Tubi.

Recruits of the Royal Homing Pigeon Service have succumbed to their missions, so they’re looking a few new valiant men. Their scrawny newest member is named, quite on the nose, Valiant

The film follows their training and premature deployment to the frontlines.

Indeed, animals did play such a part in the Second World War that the Dickin Medal was created. There were 54 awarded during the extended conflict, the film’s close notes. “18 went to dogs, 3 to horses, 1 to a cat… and 32 to pigeons.”

It’s a premised that could work, and does to a moderate extent, but is held back by its digital aesthetics, slightly dated even in its own era.

Bugsy’s adverse to birdbaths, and so he has scruffy plumage, wonderful visual texture. Similarly, the villainous falcons and aggrieved ravens have fun designs. But the pigeon heroes just seem like toys, a slight texture here and there, but largely flat. Their faces are intentionally more human, with heavy brows and eyes on the front. But they still have a cere, the formation above their beak with the nostrils. It’s smaller than real life, but in close ups, distracting.

These feathered recruits are going to “the most important mission in World War II,” but the stakes never feel high. The pigeons exist in the human world, but you never even see the other armed forces, even blurred in the background, or know why they’re fighting. The closest we get is a statue of a knight, on top of his tomb in a bombed out church.

The “why” of war isn’t necessary in movies set during wartime, Peter Pan: Return to Neverland, for instance. It’s told from the viewpoint of a child, and so all we need is sheer terror and resilience.

Like all animated films from the era, outside of Disney and Pixar themselves, it ends with a dance sequence.

Overall, it’s a middling outing despite the real world stakes and Disney distribution. It’s the perfect sort of film for a Tubi watch, pleasing but forgettable.