History EarnYourHappyEnding / Film

* Po in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2''. He spends much of the film in a {{Heroic BSOD}} due to being tormented by visions and nightmares of his real family, eventually finding out that he's the last of his kind. When Shifu said that inner peace is earned through pain and suffering he ''meant it''. [[spoiler:We find out at the end that he isn't actually the last of his kind though.]]

* ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' has Sentinel Prime [[FallenHero turn out to be a traitor]] to the Autobots, Chicago decimated by Decepticon forces, Sam and Carly having relationship troubles, and the Autobots untrusted by the world. But by the end of it all, Sentinel Prime and all of the Decepticons are killed and defeated, Sam and Carly get together again by the end, and the Autobots have proved they're ''not'' the reason the Decepticons are staying on Earth.

* ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'' has Tre who has kept clear of gang lifestyle despite living in the ghetto thanks to his strict father. When his best friend Ricky [[spoiler: is gunned down, he almost gets pulled into the violence of his 'hood by seeking revenge alongside Ricky's brother [[ScaryBlackMan Doughboy]]. Thankfully, he has a change of heart before revenge can be carried out and returns to his father. He goes on to attend college out of a state with his girlfriend where as Doughboy unfortunately is killed in retaliation by rival gang members.]]

* ''SchindlersList'': The movie adaptation of his life implies he never recovers from the events of WWII, either emotionally or financially (because RealityIsUnrealistic), but seeing LiamNeeson portraying Oskar Schindler standing in front of all the people he saved at the cost of virtually everything he owned, hundreds of people there, and then having a HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath because it was only virtually everything he owned, when if he'd gotten rid of literally everything he may have saved perhaps a dozen more... and then the epilogue reveals that the Final Solution in Poland was so severe that fewer than four thousand Jews remained there at the time of the film's release... and then, finally, TheReveal that the descendants of the Jews Schindler saved number over six thousand.

* ''TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' has Sentinel Prime [[FallenHero turn out to be a traitor]] to the Autobots, Chicago decimated by Decepticon forces, Sam and Carly having relationship troubles, and the Autobots untrusted by the world. But by the end of it all, Sentinel Prime and all of the Decepticons are killed and defeated, Sam and Carly get together again by the end, and the Autobots have proved they're ''not'' the reason the Decepticons are staying on Earth.
* In ''TheLastSamurai'' after the destruction of the samurai army and the death of [[spoiler:Katsumoto]], although the Narrator says that no one is sure what happened to Algren, the final scene shows that he made it back to the village and Taka to find "some small measure of peace."
* ''TheArtist'' has George Valentin lose everything as a silent film actor and filmmaker in a artform that seems to have passed him by and comes within a hairsbreadth of suicide, only to be saved at the last moment and shown that he has talent that would make him a star in the sound era.
* The 2013 {{CBC}} movie ''[[Film/{{Jack2013}} Jack]],'' about [[CanadaEh Canadian]] [[CanadianPolitics politician]] Jack Layton, shows him fighting the uphill battle throughout his political career against powerful rivals, and dismissiveness from those who figured he never had a chance; eventually, though, he made it to opposition leader status before he died. Granted, it's not an ''entirely'' happy ending, but it's uplifting compared to most of the movie.

** Arguably ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' could count as this. The titular character disguises herself as a man to save her father's life, and struggles to keep up at the training with the rest of the army, yet does it and earns the respect of the army. After being discovered as a woman, she goes to warn her old team that the Huns have survived the avalanche and are coming, and gets to fight the leader Shan-Yu. She defeats him using a paper fan. Along the way, she also earnes the respect and admiration of [[SweetOnPollyOliver her captain]] without needing a matchmaker.

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* Everyone in ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}''. At the beginning of the movie, the Earth has fallen into decay and waste. After 700 years life finally sprouts again. Despite having lived lives doing almost nothing, the people of the Axiom are happy to set foot back on Earth and try to fix it. In the credits, we see society develop back to its former glory, and lush green fields and lakes are once again alive. Mankind has grown fit and thin again as they start doing things again. The real trick to it all? This is the SECOND happy ending, and this all happens in the credits.

** ''Everything'' WALL-E does to win EVE's heart pays off with EVE deciding she'd rather spend her life with WALL-E than follow the life her programming leads her to do. This leads to another potential happy ending that needs earning: WALL-E gets badly damaged and needs to be fixed with parts that can only be found on Earth, leading ''everyone'' who was affected by WALL-E in a beneficial manner to work together to bring him home. Naturally, WALL-E's HeroicSacrifice does not improve his chances of survival, but it helps the above ending come to pass. Cue thirty seconds of EVE's hardcore repairmanship, coupled with TrueLovesKiss, in an effort to save WALL-E's life. [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Guess how well that pays off]].

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', after undergoing emotional/psychological hardship for most of his life and extreme physical struggles in the last few days, Clark has found a measure of peace at the end of the movie since he's become Superman [[spoiler:and has secured a stable job as a reporter.]]

* In ''NurseBetty'', after all the bad stuff which happens to the main character [[spoiler: (Like for example, being traumatized as a result of witnessing her husband's brutal slaying, to the point of not being able to tell the difference between fiction and reality.)]] things end well for her [[spoiler: (Like for example, being traumatized as a result of witnessing her husband's brutal slaying, to the point of not being able to tell the difference between fiction and reality)]] things end well for her: [[spoiler: She not only recovers her sanity and also manages to survive after being chased by the two hitmen that were trying to eliminate her, but also gets a job in her favorite show and the movie concludes with her taking a vacation in Rome, while she plans to pursue nursing as a career.]]

* In ''Film/NurseBetty'', after all the bad stuff which happens to the main character [[spoiler: (Like for example, being traumatized as a result of witnessing her husband's brutal slaying, to the point of not being able to tell the difference between fiction and reality.)]] things end well for her [[spoiler: (Like for example, being traumatized as a result of witnessing her husband's brutal slaying, to the point of not being able to tell the difference between fiction and reality)]] things end well for her: [[spoiler: She not only recovers her sanity and also manages to survive after being chased by the two hitmen that were trying to eliminate her, but also gets a job in her favorite show and the movie concludes with her taking a vacation in Rome, while she plans to pursue nursing as a career.]]

* ''Film/BatmanBegins'': Bruce loses his parents and all sense of purpose in his life other than vengeance against his parents' murder, Joe Chill, then loses that purpose when Joe Chill is murdered by a hitwoman for the Gotham mob. Then Bruce runs away from Gotham to try to understand the darker aspects of life and to find a way to overcome them. Bruce is then presumed dead and Gotham has to suffer for years through an economic depression as well as a corrupt legal system where almost every cop is a CorruptCop, the mafia rules the city and crimes like murder are extremely common. As Gotham loses hope, Bruce is trained by [[EvilMentor Henri Ducard]], a KnightTemplar who helps Bruce regain hope and find purpose in fighting crime...but Bruce has to betray and leave Ducard to save when he finds out Ducard wants to destroy places filled with crime (like Gotham). Bruce returns to Gotham as {{Batman}}, and fights to give the city hope against both normal criminals and [[PsychoPsychologist Dr. Jonathan Crane]]...who gives Ducard a fear toxin that Ducard plans to use to destroy the city. Batman then must overcome both his fears and the returning Ducard (AKA Ra's al Ghul) and the League of Shadows to save his city. After much struggle, with Wayne Manor being burnt down and then some of Gotham's slums being driven insane, Batman saves the day and gives Gotham hope for the first time in years. To emphasize this, the Bat-signal triumphantly shines in the night for the first time during the final scene.

* The 2013 {{CBC}} movie ''[[Film/{{Jack2013}} Jack]],'' about [[CanadaEh Canadian]] [[CanadianPolitics politician]] Jack Layton, shows him fighting the uphill battle throughout his political career against powerful rivals, and dismissiveness from those who figured he never had a chance; eventually, though, he made it to opposition leader status before he died.

* ''WhatDreamsMayCome'' - "[[YouAreWorthHell Let this hell be our heaven.]]"

** Arguably ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'' could count as this. The character disguise herself as a man to save her father's life, and struggles to keep up at the training with the rest of the army, yet does it and earns the respect of the army. After being discovered as a woman, she goes to warn her old team that the Huns have survived the avalanche and are coming, and gets to fight the leader Shan-Yu. She defeats him using a paper fan. Along the way, she also earnes the respect and admiration of [[SweetOnPollyOliver her captain]] without needing a matchmaker.

** Arguably ''Mulan'' could count as this. The character disguise herself as a man to save her father's life, and struggles to keep up at the training with the rest of the army, yet does it and earns the respect of the army. After being discovered as a woman, she goes to warn her old team that the Huns have survived the avalanche and are coming, and gets to fight the leader Shan-Yu. She defeats him using a paper fan. Along the way, she also earnes the respect and admiration of [[SweetOnPollyOliver her captain]] without needing a matchmaker.

** ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' heaps as much trauma on a (mouse) child as inhumanly possible, not giving poor Fievel a break until the last five minutes of the movie.

** ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'': Another frightened mouse has to protect himself from the dangers of the shady corners of New York City to reunite with his family.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'': A group of dinosaur children undergo an odyssey to find a utopia. [[spoiler:One loses his mother]]
** ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'': A former criminal dog must change his ways and literally go through hell to redeem himself.

* Po in KungFuPanda2. He spends much of the film in a {{HeroicBSOD}} due to being tormented by visions and nightmares of his real family, eventually finding out that he's the last of his kind. When Shifu said that inner peace is earned through pain and suffering he ''meant it''.
* WreckItRalph and his little pal Vanellope Von Schweetz earn their happy endings with interest.

* ''SavingPrivateRyan'' ends its WarIsHell theme with this quite explicitly, with Captain Miller telling the eponymous private to ''earn it'' when he returns to the 'States.
** The Epilogue shows him as an old man at Captain Miller's grave in France with his wife, children and grandchildren, and has him breaking down and asking his wife if he was a good man. ManlyTears were shed, especially by battle hardened old men in the audience.

* Po in KungFuPanda2. He spends much of the film in a {{HeriocBSOD}} due to being tormented by visions and nightmares of his real family, eventually finding out that he's the last of his kind. When Shifu said that inner peace is earned through pain and suffering he ''meant it''.

* Po in KungFuPanda2. He spends much of the film in a HeriocBSOD due to being tormented by visions and nightmares of his real family, eventually finding out that he's the last of his kind. When Shifu said that inner peace is earned through pain and suffering he ''meant it''.

* Everyone ''WesternAnimation/{{WALL-E}}''. At the beginning of the movie, the Earth has fallen into decay and waste. After 700 years life finally sprouts again. Despite having lived lives doing almost nothing, the people of the Axiom are happy to set foot back on Earth and try to fix it. In the credits, we see society develop back to its former glory, and lush green fields and lakes are once again alive. Mankind has grown fit and thin again as they start doing things again. The real trick to it all? This is the SECOND happy ending, and this all happens in the credits.