The Battle of Boxhill

A family of peregrine falcons nest on cliffs overlooking Redlands Forest. Ryker and his partner, Safiyya, are having their first set of chicks. Ryker’s relationship with his father, Algar, is strained because Ryker hasn’t learned to hunt for himself. As such, Algar doesn’t trust his son to raise his family. Across the field in Ravenswood, ravens plan to steal the eggs on behalf of Nigel, the gamekeeper. He wants to sell them and use the money to save his dilapidated battery farm. When the ravens attack, Ryker is injured. His parents, mate and eggs are all captured. After the battle, a grieving farmer finds the wounded falcon and nurses him back to health. Ryker tries to persuade the other animals on his farm to help him rescue his family but they don’t trust a bird of prey. Ryker eventually proves his worth by saving the farm animals from a fox. Ryker returns to the cliffs and learns from the birds in Redlands Forest that Nigel trades in rare eggs. The birds have all been living in fear since Seamus, a magnificent golden eagle, was captured and taken to a zoo. Without the eagle to protect them from Dillon and his flock of ravens, the Redlands birds can’t reclaim their lands. One of the pheasants suggests that Ryker team up with Hatcher, a homeless homing pigeon, and Hawkins, a one-legged kestrel, to rescue Seamus from the zoo. They join forces but Hatcher gets lost on the way to the zoo and they end up in London. Here a crafty jackdaw, Duke, promises to show them the way to the zoo as long as they help him free his sons from the ravens in the Tower of London. Ryker, Hawkins and Hatcher reluctantly agree, and the mission is a success. Duke shows them the way to the zoo but, when they arrive, they find that Seamus has grown so fat in captivity that he can barely fly. However, they soon manage to release the eagle and he accompanies them back to Redlands. But while they’ve been away, the ravens have launched another attack and overrun Redlands. With all hope seemingly lost, Ryker and his friends come up with a diversion using the eagle as bait and fight back. They eventually liberate Nigel’s farm, banish the ravens from the forest and rescue Ryker’s parents and partner, but there’s still no sign of his precious eggs. Nigel tries to burn down his farm for the insurance money before escaping with the eggs, but he is eventually captured by the farmer and the police. The eggs break in the confrontation but the chicks were ready to hatch and survive. Ryker has grown from shy youth into responsible adult who commands respect from all the animals in the forest. Audience: This is an animated children’s feature that will appeal most to younger audiences and teens. The violence isn’t graphic and the visual comedy should appeal to younger people, but the verbal jokes will resonate with older viewers. The story even addresses more complex issues of loyalty, emerging sexuality and the importance of family. It contains elements of Legend of the Guardians, Watership Down and Finding Nemo.