War of the Birds


War of the Birds is a Danish animated movie directed by Jannik Hastrup in 1990, about two orphan birds, Oliver and Olivia, who fight against an evil vulture with the help of two mice. It is based on a book with a similar name from the writer,
Bent Haller.

Plot

In a forest lives a community of birds who live peacefully, including a pair of sparrows residing happily in a nest awaiting the hatching of their two eggs. A storm rolls in and a white dove warns the couple about Fagin, a sinister vulture who kills every bird in his path. Fagin comes, and the male sparrow bravely attempts to protect his family by distracting the vulture and is pursued but is killed. The female shares her mate's fate, and the struggle caused the two eggs to fall out the nest with only one surviving and landing near a hole in the tree which is owned by Walter, an owl. Betty, a bluebird, comes and decides to adopt the egg. Days and hours later, the egg hatches and Betty names him Oliver. While Betty is away, Walter tells Oliver a story about Betty saving a sparrow named Olivia from a cat and adopting her. Betty introduces Olivia to Oliver, both of them quickly becoming friends. Betty goes away again, and Oliver and Olivia wander off and befriend two orphaned mice named Fredrick and Ingolf. They play but Ingolf, who dreams of flying like a bird, falls into a stream and is saved by the group. The Dove appears and warns them about Fagin, prompting them to run and hide. Oliver, who spots Fagin, becomes too scared to move, but Olivia saves him and hide in a can. Fagin corners the young bird and nearly kills them, but is chased away by a male orthonologist human and his dog. Betty finds them and scolds them for wandering off and while Betty and Olivia leave, Oliver learns to fly with the help of Olivia.
Olivia starts to have a crush on Oliver. The two wander off again to a nearby city where they eat at a small market which the cat is actually at. The cat attacks Olivia who distracts it again other local birds in the city watch Olivia who is pursued by the cat and is outwitted again when the cat crashes into a box angering the owner of the fruit stand and ridiculing the cat in front of the other birds. The birds go back to the forest where the Dove tells Oliver and Olivia about Fagin, Upon realizing this Oliver finds out his real parents where killed by Fagin and decides to fight him. First he tries to gather several birds to fight Fagin but are too frightened to fight Fagin. Oliver, feeling left out, meets again with Armstrong the seagull who tells him to come to his party tonight. Oliver comes back to the nest where Olivia teases him into falling in love with her. Walter goes out, and during the night, Oliver and Olivia sneak off to Arrmstrong's party. Armstrong sings a song about not being afraid of Fagin with Walter being there with a bunch of chickens. Oliver gains trust and plans to outwit Fagin with a trap.
The following day, Fredrick and Ingolf decide to help Oliver with his battle towards Fagin with the trap being set up with his friends along with Armstrong. However, Fagin hears the Dove's talk about Oliver's plan to exterminate him and decides to fight and kill Oliver. When the vulture arrives, Oliver tells Fagin about his parents which he dismisses and attacks Olivia, Fredrick and Ingolf. Oliver tries to save them but is knocked unconscious by Fagin's wing. The Dove alarms Betty about Oliver fighting Fagin. Fagin nearly kills Oliver but is saved by Betty who rips one of Fagin's eyes off making him half blind. He pursues Betty up to the storm clouds, where he killed her. Oliver's friends carry Oliver into a hollow log where Olivia tells Oliver that Betty was killed saving him and the plan didn't work making him lose hope. After the storm, Oliver and Olivia go back to nest only to see the nest destroyed and Walter gone leaving them orphaned once again. After a talk with a pair of blackbirds, they wander off.
After nearly getting into several dangers, Oliver gets angry with Olivia for teasing him to love her. Olivia tells Oliver she loves him, and Oliver decides to accept it. Later on, the two young birds meet up with Fredrick and Ingolf again, and Oliver decides to fight Fagin again with another trap with Armstrong who meets up with them again. Walter is actually nearby searching for food but not realizing this. The Dove comes and warns Oliver and Olivia who look around for Fagin and see him now with one eye due to his struggle with Betty. Now having to fight Fagin for the last time, both Oliver and Fagin battle, with Oliver attempting to lead the vulture into the fire started by Ingolf. Fagin captures Olivia, and Oliver rescues her but is grabbed away as well. The Dove rescues Oliver and grabs Fagin by the wings, trying to hurdle him into the fire. Fredrick and Olivia goes into the fire to save Oliver with Ingolf in shock. The Dove's wing is crippled by Fagin, but he realizes too late that his wing is on fire and both birds plummet into the fire and perish. Oliver's friends mourn him but Oliver has survived and is expected to be okay. Walter finds them with Armstrong, telling them they have finally defeated Fagin and all celebrate.
In the aftermath, the birds return to the forest, now in harmony without fear of Fagin. Oliver and Olivia become mates and bear two children looking like them. Fredrick and Ingolf now take care of themselves and Walter telling stories to Oliver and Olivia's children. Ingolf makes one attempt to fly and does so and the film ends with Ingolf flying into the black screen.
During the credits, a burnt Fagin lands on top a mountain.

Characters