A new release date was set just weeks before it was to open in the U.S., with the film's visibility at inconceivably low levels (outside of this site, at least) Valiant would now reach theaters August 2005.
distribution rights in 2003 and in retrospect, who can blame them? The future of forging a new pact with Pixar seemed bleak, the financial risk was certainly smaller, and the potential gain seemed phenomenal based on the short list of undeniably impressive performances by past CG 'toons from Pixar, DreamWorks, and others.ĭisney pegged the film for a fall 2004 release and then aimed for April 2005, the same month that the movie opened in its home country. The United Kingdom's first fully computer-animated feature film, Valiant was made by VanguardĪnimation for a fraction of the cost of the CG blockbusters produced by Pixar and chief competitor DreamWorks. During this time, the Disney studio began exploring other outside sources for computer animation that they could distribute. They would also know that things did not seem so cheery a couple of years ago. Disney's lone victory in that span was 2003's Finding Nemo, the work of Pixar Animation Studios, the house most consider the creative and technical standard bearers for 3-D animation and one which Disney just happens to be fortunate enough to have been partnered with since Toy Story broke ground.Īnyone who keeps a finger on the pulse of the animation industry surely knows that Disney and Pixar seem to be heading towards extending their fruitful distribution relationship. In 2005, for the fourth time in five years, it will be another studio which can claim the title of the year's top-grossing animated movie. But Toy Story's release came just months after Disney sent theaters its in-house production of the summer, Pocahontas, which many chart as the first of several disappointments to stem from Disney Feature Animation. The birthplace of the American cartoon feature nearly seventy years ago and the studio heralded as the undisputed champion of the medium many years since.
Today, computer animation is king, even at Walt Disney Pictures, It's been ten years since Toy Story took to theaters, wowed audiences, and ushered in a new age for animation. Voice Cast: Ewan McGregor (Valiant), Ricky Gervais (Bugsy), Tim Curry (General Von Talon), Jim Broadbent (Sarge), Hugh Laurie (Gutsy), John Cleese (Mercury), John Hurt (Felix), Pip Torrens (Lofty), Rik Mayall (Cufflingk), Olivia Williams (Victoria), Jonathan Ross (Big Thug), Brian Lonsdale (Toughwood), Dan Roberts (Tailfeather), Michael Schlingmann (Underlingk), Sharon Horgan (Charles De Girl), Sean Samuels (Jacques), Buckley Collum (Rollo), Annette Badland (Elsa) Theatrical Release: Aug/ Running Time: 76 Minutes / Rating: G