History WesternAnimation / MissingLink

* AnAesop: You ''don't need'' the approval of others to define yourself. There's a difference between acceptance and friendship.

** [[{{Foil}} In contrast]], we see Sir Piggot-Dunceby march down the same candle-lit hall that evening. While he rants about all the new things that threaten his traditional world (the suffragette movement, electricity, evolution theory), his walking past the candles snuffs out each and every one of them. As he passes the same mosaic of the world from before, the mosaic is plunged into darkness, representing how Piggot-Dunceby would gladly keep the world in the dark if he could.

* PrideBeforeAFall: Lord Lionel references the phrase before [[spoiler:pulling Stenk off a ledge]].

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: As Creator/ChristopherLee once pointed out, [[spoiler: nobody lets out a blood-curdling scream when they've been stabbed through the chest. (Not even when they're falling to their death like Stenk.)]]

** As Adelina pushes her way through a crowd, she shoves apart a couple about to kiss. [[spoiler: This foreshadows how she will [[KissDiss turn down]] Lionel's kiss towards the end.]]

* GenderConcealingWriting: When describing his encounter with the friendly prospector, Mr. Link never uses gendered pronouns, instead opting for the singular "they". This is to make it a surprise [[spoiler: that the prospector was a woman named Susan]].
* GentlemanAdventurer: Sir Lionel Frost is the epitome of the trope. He's a very proper, but undoubtedly eccentric, English gentleman who has devoted his life to the hunting of cryptids above all else. The rest of the Optimates Club, particularly Lord Piggot-Dunceby, are also examples of a darker and deconstructed nature.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GoThroughMe: Lionel and Adelina pull this for Link when [[spoiler:they stand up to Lord Piggot-Dunceby]]. Link tries to join in, only to be told to stand back and let others be gone through.

** In a less literal sense, Sir Lionel and Adelina will likely be the last humans to ever see and set foot in Shangri-La [[spoiler: after barely escaping when the ice bridge is destroyed by Lord Piggot-Dunceby.]]

* LiteralMinded: Mr. Link admits as much after Sir Lionel hands him a grappling hook with the instruction to throw the rope over a wall, and he throws the whole thing. He struggles repeatedly with Sir Lionel's non-literal figures of speech throughout the film until the very end, [[spoiler: once he's spent some time as Lionel's partner in adventure]], and has apparently learned about idioms through his company.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Lord Piggot-Dunceby is pretty spot on when he claims Sir Lionel doesn't belong in the Optimates Club, but it's less to do with him being worthy to join and more to do with being in a league of his own. [[spoiler: For the same reason, the same could be said for the Elder Yeti's statement that Mr. Link doesn't belong in Shangri-la. He really doesn't belong there, but it's not because he's not worthy of staying in Shangri-la. Rather, it's because he probably wouldn't fit in with the cold and stoic yetis, and would be much happier living with [[FamilyOfChoice Sir Lionel]].]]

* TheShangriLa: It is described by Sir Lionel as a magical place where people do not age. Adelina corrects him, saying it's actually a place where people did not ''evolve'', i.e. remained ape-like beasts. [[spoiler: They actually find the place, which is inhabited by a tribe of unfriendly yetis.]]

** [[spoiler: Adelina's KissDiss is a testament that the girl doesn't always want the guy. Adelina still has her whole life ahead of her, and Sir Lionel has '''much''' more growing to do before she can think of getting back together with him (if ever).]]

* WhamLine: [[spoiler: The Elder Yeti saying that Mr. Link doesn't belong in Shangri-la.]]

* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The eponymous Link is a Bigfoot (referred to only as a Sasquatch), and the protagonists encounter a tribe of yetis.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5053ba75_47f6_4cdd_a730_ca974fb223b2.jpeg]]

[[caption-width-right:350: One Adventure '''Links''' Us All.]]

Not to be confused with ''[[{{Film/MissingLink}} Missing Link (1988)]]'',
''Animation/TheMissingLink'', ''WesternAnimation/TheMissingLynx'', or [[Wrestling/MissingLink the wrestler]].

* GenderNeutralWriting: When describing his encounter with the friendly prospector, Mr. Link never uses gendered pronouns, instead opting for the singular "they". This is to make it a surprise [[spoiler: that the prospector was a woman named Susan]].

** Whilst riding in a carriage to Lord Piggot-Dunceby's club, Sir Lionel's carriage splashes mud onto every unfortunate pedestrian he passes, reflecting Lionel's tendency to step on other people's toes without considering how they feel.

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: Sir Lionel Frost starts out as a self-centered GloryHound who is willing to put others in danger for his own reputation. During his journey with Mr. Link and Adelina, he learns to care about others and becomes Mr. Link's true friend.

* CivilizedAnimal: Susan, aka Mr. Link, is a Sasquatch that learned to speak, read, write, and even to play chess. His intelligence is on par with humans, and he even wears clothes to blend in when needed, it’s never brought up whether he is abnormally intelligent for his species or not however, the fact that the yetis are also intelligent suggests the latter.

* CivilizedAnimal: Susan, aka Mr. Link, is a Sasquatch that learned to speak, read, write, and even to play chess. His intelligence is on par with humans, and he even wears clothes to blend in, but it’s never brought up whether he is abnormally intelligent for his species or not (however, the fact that the yetis are also intelligent suggests the latter).

* AlmostKiss: Nearly happens twice between Adelina and Lionel. The first nearly occurs during the elephant ride through the jungle, but the interference of a sudden tree branch prevents it. [[spoiler:Towards the end of the movie, Lionel attempts to give Adelina a goodbye kiss, but she stops him in his tracks.]]

* ArmourPiercingQuestion: Sick of him griping about the club, Adelina asks Lionel why he wants to join a group of old men who openly hate him. Lionel goes silent for a moment then forces himself to admit that he only wants to join because they said he couldn't.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Maps of the United States show Arizona and New Mexico despite the movie being set in 1909, before they became states.
* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The eponymous Link is a Bigfoot, and the protagonists encounter a tribe of yetis.
* BlowingARaspberry:After escaping from Shangri-La with his friends, Mr. Link blows a raspberry at the Elder Yeti, surprising her enough to make her break her contemptuous frown.

** The story begins with Sir Lionel's assistant quitting for good, and ends with Sir Lionel finding a new one, [[spoiler:Susan]].
** The beginning of the story shows a shot of Sir Lionel's office, complete with a photo of Adelina. The story ends with a similar shot, but this time, [[spoiler:photo Adelina's smile seems to smile upon the adjacent photo of Sir Lionel and Susan as friends.]]
* CivilizedAnimal: Susan aka Mr. Link is himself a Sasquatch that learned to speak, read, write and even to play chess, his intelligence is on par with humans and he even wears clothes to blend in, it’s never brought up wether he is abnormally intelligent for his species or not (however the fact that the yetis are also intelligent suggests the latter).
* CrapsaccharineWorld: [[spoiler:Yes, Shangri-la may be lovely and pristine and overall preserves the very beauty of nature. But its inhabitants, the Yetis, are not only cold and isolationist, but heartlessly sentence all intruders to life imprisonment.]]
* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Lord Piggot-Dunceby, and to a lesser extent the Optimates Club as a whole, embody much of the (by modern standards) bigoted and generally imperialist mindset that characterized many early 20th-century explorers. Heck, Piggot-Dunceby's EstablishingCharacterMoment is regaling his comrades with a tale about the time he [[RefugeInAudacity shot down an unarmed "savage" in the jungle]].
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Lord Piggot-Dunceby and his assistant fall to their deaths after [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard the former destroys the ice bridge]]. Subverted by Stenk, who only falls after [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice being struck by a giant icicle]].]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The photo of Aldous and Adelina counts as this for him, showing that he was a good husband as well as a great man.
** When Sir Lionel boards the first voyage to seek the lead on Sasquatch, there's a notable shot of the other passengers saying good-bye to their loved ones ashore. Sir Lionel is already in his cabin unpacking because he has no one to see him off.

** The giant foot print in the snow can easily be a hint of the existence of the yeti and their part in the story.
** A portrait of Adelina can be seen hanging on the wall of Lionel's office, showing his connection to her.
** The letter Sir Lionel receives that gives him a lead to the elusive Sasquatch seems badly written. It's a telling hint that the letter was written by none other than the Missing Link himself.
** The audience is treated to a view of the plaque for the Optimates Club. Sir Lionel's carriage unwittingly splashes mud onto it. [[spoiler:This hints that Sir Lionel will come to disown his dream of joining their club.]]
** Lord Piggot-Dunceby tells Sir Lionel "I say we are descended from great men, ''not'' great apes." To this, Sir Lionel says he disagrees and he believes "the two go hand in hand". This frames how Sir Lionel would come to form a friendship with Mr. Link, hence "go hand in hand".
** As Adelina pushes her way through a crowd, she comes between a couple about to kiss. [[spoiler: This foreshadows how she will [[KissDiss turn down]] Lionel's kiss towards the end.]]
** The Elder Yeti sharing the true name of Shangri-La, "Keep-Out-We-Hate-You", not only paints how isolationist the yetis are [[spoiler:but how little they care for Mr. Link (or any outsiders for that matter).]]

* GentlemanAdventurer: Sir Lionel Frost

* GoThroughMe: Lionel and Adelina pull this for Link when [[spoiler:they stand up to Lord Piggot-Dunceby]].
* [[{{HiddenElfVillage}} Hidden Elf Village]]: “Shangri-La” The secluded valley of Yeti’s in the Himalayas. (They don’t want to have anything to do with the outside world and they have [[{{HumansAreBastards}} total disdain for humankind]] and Susan).
* InkSuitActor: Mr. Link (Creator/ZachGalifianakis), Sir Lionel (Creator/HughJackman) and Adelina (Creator/ZoeSaldana) all greatly resemble their voice actors.

** Lionel is already an adventurer in his own rights, and an awesome one at that. Yet he feels he needs to join a club dedicated to so-called adventurers (who are more like your average petty poachers) in order to prove himself.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: When Sir Lionel is talking about the legend of Big Foot to the Optimates Club, he lists off all the varying names for this legendary creature, the last of these names being "Sasquatch". Mr. Collick scoffs "It'll never catch on."
* JerkassHasAPoint: The Yetis [[KnightTemplar are extreme]] in their isolationism but Adelina concedes that they have a point that humans ruin the beauty of nature in vain and glorious efforts to validate their self worth.

** [[spoiler:The Elder Yeti is no better when she not only tells Mr. Link to his face that he ''doesn't'' belong in Shangri-la, but says humans are more "[[StealthInsult his kind]]".]]

* LastOfHisKind: Susan, an intelligent and English speaking Sasquatch, reveals to Sir Lionel that he is the last of his kind.
** In a less literal sense Sir Lionel and Adelina will likely be the last humans to ever see and set foot in Shangri-La [[spoiler: after barely escaping when the ice bridge is destroyed by Lord Piggot-Dunceby.]]

* LiteralMinded: Mr. Link admits as much after Sir Lionel hands him a grappling hook with the instruction to throw it over a wall and he throws the whole thing.

* MuggedForDisguise: After a bar fight Sir Lionel has Susan wear a tweed suit a few sizes too small that they got off of one the unconscious participants. Later they mugged a nun for a disguise to evade Adelina at the train station, but she sees right through it.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During the fight on the boat, Mr. Link attempts to save Frost and Adelina from Stenk, but due to his clumsiness and the boat rocking, he instead knocks out Frost and pushes Adelina overboard.
* NoCartoonFish: All the animals in the movie have asymmetrical features and oddly shaped limbs, possibly to make the more evenly-proportioned Mr. Link look better to viewers.
* PaperThinDisguise: Susan avoids attention in public places the entire movie wearing an ill fitting tweed suit while barefoot.
* PosthumousCharacter: Aldous Fortnight.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Twice over does Adelina point out to Lionel that he needs to check his ego and think about others for once in his life.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Lord Piggot-Dunceby is pretty spot on when he claims Sir Lionel doesn't belong in the Optimates Club, but it's less to do with him being worthy to join and more to do with being in a league of his own. [[spoiler: For the same reason, the same could be said for the Elder Yeti's statement that Mr. Link doesn't belong in Shangri-li. He really doesn't belong there, but not because he's not worthy of staying in Shangri-la. Rather, it's because he probably wouldn't fit in with the cold and stoic yetis, and would be much happier living with [[FamilyOfChoice Sir Lionel]].]]

** Whilst riding in a carriage to Lord Piggot-Dunceby's club, Sir Lionel's carriage splashes mud onto every unfortunate passerby, reflecting Lionel's tendency to step on other people's toes without considering how they feel.

** The way Sir Lionel and Lord Piggot-Dunceby make their deal next to a roaring fireplace, it gives a whole new meaning to the term "heated discussion". What's more, it invokes a "deal with the devil" motif.
** When Sir Lionel rushes down the halls of the Optimates Club, he trails research papers behind as he struts past a mosaic of the world. He seeks to find knowledge and spread it throughout the world, and it shows.

** [[spoiler:After Lord Piggot-Dunceby destroys the bridge to Shangri-la, it rightly represents the Yetis' isolationism coming to a head where they've cut off all ties from the world.]]
* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Our heroes travel thousands of miles to reach Shangri-La and unite Mr. Link with his yeti "cousins" so he can belong, only to learn that not only do they not want Mr. Link in their world, but Lionel decides that Mr. Link already found somewhere he could belong: with his friends Lionel and Adelina.]]
* TheShangriLa: It is described by Sir Lionel as a magical place where people do not age. Adelina corrects it, saying it's actually a place where people did not ''evolve'', i.e. remained ape-like beasts. [[spoiler: They actually find the place, which is inhabited by a tribe of unfriendly yetis.]]
* ShoutOut: Inside one of Sir Lionel's desk drawers, there's [[WesternAnimation/ParaNorman the "Sleeping Beauty" story book]], [[WesternAnimation/TheBoxtrolls a doodle of a boxtroll]], and [[WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings a wooden monkey charm]].
** In the Optimates Club, there's a head trophy of a [[WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings monkey]] [[note]] according to the art book[[/note]]. (An eagle eye will see it peeking from behind a pillar next to the taxidermy polar bear).

** The prospector Susan who made a difference in Mr. Link's life is only mentioned, never seen on-screen or in some flashback. But her simple kind act of [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe smiling nicely at Mr. Link]] meant so much to him that he wants to be named after her.
* StealthPun: When Skenk remarks that Lord Piggot-Dunceby won't like the collective bad news that Sir Lionel is alive, still has the Missing Link, and is well on his way to Shangri-La, we GilliganCut to a shipping create labeled "nuts". Sure enough, in that same harbor, Lord Piggot-Dunceby is going ''nuts'' over his bad luck.

* SuggestiveCollision: When Lionel and Adelina are having a conversation in her cabin on the boat they are traveling on, the waves cause the ship to list from side to side, causing the two to stumble into each other's arms.

** Sir Lionel thinks that Link should be able to scale a wall with his long arms and such. But Mr. Link is so [[TheKlutz clumsy]] that rather, he crashes though the wall.
** Ama's baby is a small one, reminding audiences why toddlers and infants are referred as "snot-nosed".
** When asked a second time if she can take them to Shangri-la, Gamu basically says no and offers to give her adult granddaughter Ama directions so she can lead in her stead. At Gamu's age, she's too infirm to journey through the mountains, much less guide our heroes.

** In the case of the Yeti Elder, [[spoiler:sometimes, [[IceQueen people with cold personalities]] are just that, cold to the core. They can't always be [[DefrostingTheIceQueen changed]] by people who are warm, kind or at least good-mannered.]]

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: The film is a charming little story about a GentleGiant bigfoot and a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold self-centered but well-intentioned]] explorer travelling the world to find a home for the former. But their pursuers, the snobbish PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Lord Piggot-Dunceby and the ruthless assassin/hunter Willard Stenk, are utterly despicable, going as low as [[WouldHurtAChild threatening a small child]] to get a confession out of an old woman.
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Implied. What is Sir Lionel's motivation to joint the Optimates Club despite that its member don't respect him or like him? Why does he want to be one of them? According to Lionel, it's because "they said [he] couldn't."
* WhamLine: [[spoiler: The Elder Yeti's line that Mr. Link doesn't belong in Shangri-la.]]
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: A non-villainous example, where Sir Lionel's (former) assistant Mr. Lint emphasizes "''I'm a human being!''" and how he's had it up to here with being treated like a servant expected put his life on the line whenever they hunt for a new (possibly dangerous) creature.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: One of the themes of the movie. Adelina eventually has to point out to Sir Lionel that his treatment of Mr. Link is inconsiderate at best and selfish at worst. She recognizes that Mr. Link is a person in his own rights and even urges Sir Lionel to at least offer Link to name himself.

* AdultFear: Imagine being Gamu, and then imagine [[spoiler:a bunch of men come along and threaten to not only shoot you (and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking your chicken]]), but your [[WouldHurtAChild infant great-grandson]].]]
* AlmostKiss: Nearly happens twice between Adelina and Lionel. The first nearly occurs during the elephant ride through the jungle, but the interferance of a sudden tree branch prevents it. [[spoiler:Towards the end of the movie, Lionel attempts to give Adelina a goodbye kiss, but she stops him in his tracks.]]

* CivilizedAnimal: Susan aka Mr. Link is himself a Sasquatch that learned to speak, read, write and even to play chess, his intelligence is on par with humans and he even wears clothes to blend in, it’s never brought up wether he is abnormally intelligent for his species or not.

'''Mr. Link:''' Sounds good. What is it?\\