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'Valiant': Disney's pigeons never take flight

With most of the nation's tots still on summer vacation, Walt Disney Pictures figures their parents still need a cinematic baby sitter.

So the studio is releasing an underwhelming computer-generated British import called Valiant, a kid-friendly but feather-light salute to the Royal Homing Pigeon Service, which helped flip the Nazis the bird during World War II.

Walt Disney Pictures 'Valiant' C The verdict: A cute, kid-friendly tale of World War II pigeon valor, without sufficient adult humor.tale. Director: Gary Chapman Starring: Ewan McGregor, Jim Broadbent, John Cleese, Tim Curry, Rupert Everett Run time: 109 minutes Release date: August 19, 2005 Rating: G. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "Valiant"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

The film starts promisingly enough with a chipper, period-perfect black-and-white newsreel on the war effort, but the adult humor level soon falls away in favor of a soapy saga of a runty wood pigeon (Ewan McGregor), the title character, who wants to enlist and fly with the big guys.

Predictably, there is the gruff drill sergeant pigeon (Jim Broadbent), a wiseguy, scruffy Trafalgar Square pigeon (Ricky Gervais), a come-hither nurse dove (Olivia Williams) and ruthless General Von Talon (Tim Curry), who heads a swarm of Germanic falcons. Do not look for the level of character development or snarky gags that Pixar (Finding Nemo, The Incredibles) has led us to expect.

The ragtag squad of pigeons head to France, where they hook up with some mice of the Resistance, and Valiant gets the inevitable opportunity to prove himself.

The animation is good enough, though not quite state-of-the-art. For all I know, cuddly pigeon dolls are being readied for the holiday season, but expect Valiant to be history by Labor Day.