Unmarked spoilers below!
- As sad as the film's ending is there are some oddly heartwarming undertones. Not just the implication in the end credits song that the Dogs have found peace in death but Rowf's final lines have some kind of heartwarming implications too; either that Rowf is willing to face the death that he feared so much as long as his friend doesn't die alone or that one of if not the most pessimistic characters in the whole film has learned to feel hope again, even when all seems lost.Rowf: "We must be near the island!"
Snitter: "There isn't any island, Rowf!"
Rowf: "There it is. There! Can't you see it? Our island! Just stay with me. I'll get you there." - The Tod's role in the film is honestly rather touching. While he certainly seems untrustworthy, and Rowf doesn't trust him for most of the story, he sticks by them even when it's clear he has very little to gain by helping them. He comes back to warn them when people first start hunting for them, puts himself in extreme danger to save Snitter from being shot, and even after Rowf tries to attack him he comes back to protect the dogs from yet another person trying to kill them. His Heroic Sacrifice is also heartwarming, despite how much of a Tear Jerker it is, showing just what a good guy he was all along.
- Snitter and Rowf's entire friendship is very sweet, particularly in the film. Always asking if the other is alright after a tense moment, licking each other comfortingly, and always coming back to find each other even when it's dangerous. It's really the sweetest thing in this otherwise heartbreaking and depressing movie, and what keeps you from sinking into despair.
- The book features a much happier ending for the monkey in the sensory deprivation tube, who's rescued and taken home by one of the scientists as a way to atone for what he's done to the lab animals.
