IT'S the biggest animated feature produced in this country, so there is a hefty weight resting on the humble wings of lowly wood pigeon Valiant (voiced by Ewan McGregor).

So impressed is the young bird with the heroic exploits of Gutsy (Hugh Laurie) and the other members of the Royal Homing Pigeon Service (RHPS), that he can't wait to join up.

It is May, 1944, and the birds of the RHPS are flying messages back and forth across the Channel as Allied forces co-ordinate the invasion of France with local Resistance.

Many birds are lost to enemy fire and even more fall foul of the villainous General Von Talon (Tim Curry) and his squadron of fighting falcons.

Valiant (pictured) heads for the RHPS recruiting station in London, where he meets streetwise con-bird Bugsy (Ricky Gervais), who enlists with him rather than sticking around to be plucked by his two latest victims.

Such is the need for new fliers that the birds are barely trained when they are sent into action. Gutsy is sent to rescue RHPS bird Mercury (John Cleese) from Von Talon and collect the latest message from their Resistance contact - a mouse called Charles De Girl (Sharon Horgan).

It all builds to a suitably satisfactory conclusion with mission accomplished, hearts warmed and wars well on their way to being won.

There's precious little violence - suggested or otherwise - to get in the way of the little ones' enjoyment of the story and the syrupy songs are kept to a minimum.

McGregor's voice gives a better account of itself in Valiant than it did in Robots - thanks, no doubt, to a superior script - but it is no surprise to find Gervais purloining most of the best comic moments for himself. Having said that, Curry predictably wrings every ounce of cheese from Von Talon's "Vee hav vays of making you sqvawk" line!

The animation more than stands up to comparison with the best of what America has offered in recent years, and most of the fun comes from the unashamedly slapstick humour.

But stick around until the end. There is a serious point to all these shenanigans.

Valiant pays tribute to the 54 animals whose bravery earned them a Dickin Medal (the animal Victoria Cross) - 18 dogs, three horses, a cat... and 32 pigeons.

Makes you think.