Plot

At the height of World War II, a tiny wood pigeon enlists in the elite Royal Homing Pigeon Service to serve Britain, as the fearsome General Von Talon (Tim Curry) and his deadly squadron of falcons patrol the English Channel. Is he a war-hero in the making?

Set in 1944, Valiant (Ewan McGregor) is a woodland pigeon who wants to become a great hero someday. When he hears they are hiring recruits for the Royal Homing Pigeon Service, he immediately sets out for London. On the way, he meets a smelly, but friendly pigeon named Bugsy (Ricky Gervais), who joins him, mainly to get away from clients he cheated in a game of find-the pebble, and helps him sign up for the war.—Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

At the height of World War II, Valiant, a tiny but brave and utterly common wood pigeon, thirsts to do his part by enlisting in the elite Royal Homing Pigeon Service to serve Britain. However, carrying encoded messages across the vast and perilous English Channel is an extremely dangerous job, especially now that the fearsome General Von Talon and his deadly squadron of falcons patrol the area. Under those circumstances and with Mercury, the seasoned dove-courier, captured behind the enemy lines, it's up to Valiant and the courageous Squad F to save the day. Is Valiant a war-hero in the making?—Nick Riganas

The animated comedy tells the story of a lowly wood pigeon named Valiant, who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great Britain's Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during World War II. The RHPS advanced the Allied cause by flying vital messages about enemy movements across the English Channel, while evading brutal attacks by the enemy's Falcon Brigade.—markwiatrowski

In May 1944, 5 years since the declaration of World War II, three Royal Homing Pigeon Service (RHPS) war pigeons are flying across the English Channel with the White Cliffs of Dover in sight, carrying vital messages to Great Britain. Despite the poor weather conditions the pigeons have nearly reached their destination. They are, however, suddenly ambushed and attacked by a German enemy falcon called General Von Talon (Tim Curry). Two of the pigeons are instantly killed, yet the third is taken as a prisoner of war.

A messenger pigeon named Gutsy informs his commanding officer that none of the 3 pigeons made it across the English Channel, despite them being their top fliers. The commanding officer says that they need to recruit some new birds very fast, to keep the messenger service active, else Britain risks losing the war. Pigeons are being used in WWII to deliver top secret messages from behind enemy lines. The RHPS leads the way.

Elsewhere a small wood pigeon named Valiant (Ewan McGregor) is watching an Allied forces propaganda film about the RHPS in his local bar (an overturned rowing boat) in West Nestington. He is best friends with Felix, an old seagull with a peg leg and the local barman. Valiant believes that he has what it takes for the RHPS and wants to enlist. The other pigeons make fun of Valiant as he is not as big in size as the other pigeons. Wing Commander Gutsy (Hugh Laurie), a decorated war hero flies into the bar, informing everyone that sign-ups are scheduled the next day in Trafalgar Square, London.

In General Von Talon's lair, Mercury (John Cleese) (the captured prisoner of war) resists interrogation by his captors. Von Talon wants to know Mercury's contact in the resistance and the town they reside in. Valiant flies off to London, bidding his mother Elsa (Annette Badland) and Felix (John Hurt), the local barman, goodbye. In London, Valiant meets a filthy pigeon named Bugsy (Ricky Gervais), who is wanted by two thugs, after having tricked them at a shell game. In order to escape the wrath of the thugs, he signs up with Valiant and heads to the RHPS recruiting and training center. Bugsy has never had a shower in his life and is positively filthy.

At the recruiting center Valiant is rejected for not meeting the minimum height requirements. Bugsy spins a yarn that Valiant is best friends Wing Commander Gutsy and that they went to school together. The recruiting officer lets Valiant and Bugsy in, so as not to antagonize Gutsy. Once the thugs are gone, Bugsy tries to leave, but by then all the recruits are locked up and transported to the RHPS training academy on the outskirts of town.

The recruits, Valiant, Bugsy, Lofty (Pip Torrens) an intellectual red pigeon, and Toughwood (Brian Lonsdale) and Tailfeather (Dan Roberts), two strong but dim-witted twin brothers, form Royal Homing Pigeon Service Squad F. Under the command of Sergeant Monty (Jim Broadbent), who declares that he will toughen them up for the RHPS, the training begins. The training period is a full 6 weeks and Monty is a tough taskmaster. Monty is sure that Valiant would not even last one week. As part of the training Bugsy is given a shower and his real color is revealed.

Meanwhile, Von Talon and his minions Cufflingk (Rik Mayall) and Underlingk (Michael Schlingmann), try numerous attempts to discover the message's departure location. However, Mercury refuses to tell, despite the tortures inflicted upon him, such as irritating him with yodeling music and injecting him with truth serum, before Mercury accidentally reveals the location: Saint-Pierre.

Throughout the training, Valiant develops a crush on Victoria (Olivia Williams), the camp's nursing dove. Eventually, Gutsy arrives and tells the Sergeant that the recruits need to leave the next morning, despite their training being vastly incomplete. Bugsy, however, decides not to go on the "highly dangerous" mission and flees the camp that night. Next morning Valiant and the others prepare to leave, and start to board a Handley Page Halifax bound for occupied France, but not before Bugsy shows up at the last second.

The journey becomes extremely perilous, as the plane is caught in an anti-aircraft attack. Their plane sustains heavy damage, and the pigeons soon have to bail out, in boxes equipped with parachutes. The pigeons are dropped from the plane. However, a technical malfunction causes Gutsy's box to fail to deploy. The plane goes down in an inferno of flames, presumably killing Gutsy in the resulting explosion.

In France, the pigeons meet Charles De Girl (Sharon Horgan) and Rollo, two mice from the French Resistance, Mouse Division, the latter being an expert saboteur who lead them to Saint-Pierre, where they receive the message they have been ordered to deliver. They soon come under attack by Von Talon's henchmen, resulting in Bugsy and the message being captured. Von Talon takes the message from Bugsy and decides to lock him up and kill him later, planning to personally deliver the message to Der Fuehrer himself.

Valiant and the troops follow Bugsy to the falcon's bunker, where they discover that Gutsy has survived the plane crash. Valiant takes advantage of his small size and sneaks into the bunker through the gun barrel, retrieves the message, and frees Bugsy and Mercury. Unfortunately, the falcons are alert and give chase. As Gutsy and the others fend off Von Talon's henchmen, Valiant flies to London to deliver the message, followed closely by Von Talon.

After a climactic chase by the falcon, Valiant hides in the cottage where he lives, where he is attacked by Von Talon again. With the help of his mother and Felix, Valiant finally defeats the villain by getting a giant hook caught on his medals, leaving him to be beaten senseless by the water wheel. Valiant delivers the message, and upon its arrival in the war room, a change of plans is made; the Allied fleet will land in Normandy. Valiant is rewarded with a Dickin Medal. After receiving the Dickin Medal, Squad F returns to the local bar in West Nestington, where Valiant reunites with Victoria.

A message is then displayed commending the animals that saved thousands of lives during World War II.