Heartwarming / Missing Link

• Sir Lionel is very different from all the members of the club he wants to join. They all usually shoot and kill whatever animal they find on their expeditions. But not Lionel. When faced with the Loch Ness monster, all he wants is photographic evidence of the creature alive, and he's satisfied with just that. His attempt to rescue his assistant also shows he's not entirely without humanity.
• "The word, my dear fellow... is 'trust'."
• Sir Lionel gives a bartender a tall order for tea, right down to making sure it doesn't steep too long. The look the bartender gives him seems to indicate he thinks it's a little much, but later in the scene, we see him bringing out a steaming cup of tea. Looks like he fulfilled the order.
• Adelina truly misses her late husband Aldous. His death isn't treated as a mundane event, nor does the movie make him some story device where he got between her and Sir Lionel. It's the other way around, in fact, as according to her, he was there for her in ways that Lionel never was.
• The significance behind Mr. Link's preferred name "Susan". She was a prospector he encountered in Washington, and was the only person to ever greet him rather than run away or try to shoot him. While Lionel does seem apprehensive at Mr. Link taking up a girl's name at first, he respects the significance behind that specific name and fully accepts it.
  Lionel: It suits you.
• When Adelina and Mr. Link finally meet proper, she warms up almost instantly and talks to him like a real person, as opposed to Lionel's fascination with the sasquatch as a curiosity. What's more, Adelina is noticeably more considerate to Mr. Link than Sir Lionel, to the point where she urges Lionel to start treating the sasquatch as a person rather than a valet.
• On the train ride to Naples, we see Mr. Link looking out the window excitedly and fog-drawing on the window like an innocent child. At seeing this, Sir Lionel gives a small smile, a tiny hint of his selflessness growing.
• During the elephant ride, Adelina and Sir Lionel admiring the beauty around them, and then gently fawning over a sleeping Mr. Link like two parents looking upon their sleeping son.
• Gamu may have a hard exterior, but not only does she see nobility in helping Mr. Link find the yetis, she also cares a great deal about her great-grandson. Just ask Sir Piggot-Dunceby.
• When he first meets one of the yeti (and a hostile one at that), Mr. Link's first reaction is to call him "brother"! Although the yeti doesn't have the same sentiment toward the sasquatch, it's still sweet.
• Sir Lionel, as self-important as he is, is honorable to a fault. A good example is the deal he makes with Mr. Link, promising he'll bring him to Shangri-La for relatively little in return. Not once does Sir Lionel break his promise and try bringing Link himself as the proof. Sir Lionel Frost is truly a man of his word. In turn, Link's loyalty towards Sir Lionel never falters, even when his treatment towards Mr. Link would normally prompt a Broken Pedestal. Sure enough, it pays off when Sir Lionel asks the sasquatch to be his new assistant.
• After his Character Development, Lionel tells off Piggot-Dunceby and vocally regards Mr. Link as his friend.
  Piggot-Dunceby: You would cast aside everything for that... that... thing?!
  Lionel: Yes. Yes I would. And I'll have you know that, that thing has a name!
  Susan: (whispers) It's Susan.
  Piggot-Dunceby: That thing is an ABOMINATION!!
  Lionel: That thing is more of a man than you will ever be. And what's more, he's my friend, which is a far better prize than any fellowship with the likes of you!
• Lionel and Adelina parting ways on good terms after spending most of the movie at each other's throats. Just not on good enough terms for Adelina to let Lionel kiss her. (But it's implied with a wink of her eye that she might start a relationship with him someday.)
  • Adelina telling Sir Lionel that she finally saw proof. That is to say, she saw proof that Sir Lionel was capable of changing his ways and being a good man as well as a great one.
    • What makes this most meaningful is how it echoes Sir Lionel's wish to share proof with the Optimates Club members. Here, he got to share proof of his character growth with someone more worthwhile.
• Adelina came out of the adventure better than ever. As she puts it, she's found a new purpose in life, and that's living for herself.
• Just the way Adelina's photo seems to lovingly smile at the photo of Sir Lionel and Susan, as though happy to see Lionel become a good man and Susan no longer alone.
  • Furthermore, the photo of Lionel and Susan means that even though Susan will grow old and inevitably pass away, taking his species with him, at the very least this photo will be proof of his/their existence and will preserve his memory, it will also immortalize the friendship between Man and Sasquatch.
• During the end credits, we see a photo of our heroes seeing off Gamu, Ama, and the baby. According to the directors' commentary, this was done because test audiences were afraid that Piggot-Dunceby had killed Gamu's great-grandson. If the photo is anything to go by, it's proof that Gamu and her family are safe and sound.
• The post-credit bit, where the audience sees the Laika logo represented not only by an animated sequence of all past Laika stories, but also Missing Link's sequence added to the mix. It's almost like Laika's way of warmly telling him "Welcome to our world, Susan".

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