History WesternAnimation / EthelAndErnest

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* LifeWillKillYou: [[spoiler: Ethel dies from leukemia, and Ernest follows a month later from stomach cancer. Raymond may be all grown up and married now but has to say goodbye to everything that existed in his childhood home. It's even more tragic that in real life, Raymond loses his wife to leukemia, two years after his parents' death.]]

* SliceOfLife: The movie is entirely about the life of Ethel & Ernest, from the time they met to [[spoiler: their unfortunate deaths]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: Jarringly enough, to ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows'' as it stars a loving couple [[spoiler: who, erm... stop being alive by the end of their stories.]] The only key difference being that whilst that takes place in a fictional depiction of surviving a then-plausible nuclear war, this one is based on true events. Also, the couple from ''When the Wind Blows'' are based off of the author's parents whilst the couple in this one ''are'' the author's parents.

* TogetherInDeath: DownplayedTrope, [[spoiler: since Ernest died from a fatal heart attack not long after his wife's death in the same year]].

->''"There was nothing extraordinary about my mum and dad. Nothing dramatic. No divorce or anything. But they were my parents, and I wanted to remember them by doing a picture hook. It's a bit odd, really, having a book about my parents up there in the bestseller list among all the football heroes and cookbooks. They'd be proud of that, I suppose. But probably rather embarrassed, too. I imagine they would say, “It wasn't like that.“ or, "How can you talk about that?" Well, I have... And this is their story."''

-->'''Intro'''

''Ethel & Ernest'' is a British animated biographical film directed by Roger Mainwood. The film is based on the graphic memoir of the same name written by Creator/RaymondBriggs, and follows Briggs' parents, Ethel and Ernest, through their period of marriage from the 1920s to their deaths in the 1970s. It was broadcast on television on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC One]] on 28 December 2016.

* AdultFear:
** The horrors of World War II have Ethel and Ernest face bombings, separated from Raymond so he can be safer, and seeing/hearing about deaths.
** Raymond getting a conscription notice which worries Ethel immensely because it could mean that he might be sent to the Korean war, especially not long after the news of a friend's son having been killed there. Fortunately for everyone, he'd only be working at an office as a draughtsman.
** Raymond and Ernest are unable to do anything as [[spoiler:Ethel's senility grows and she eventually dies.]]

* DownerEnding: Despite the movie and the book being heartwarming, [[spoiler: Ethel dies and Ernest follows her shortly afterward. Raymond may be all grown up and married now but has to say goodbye to everything that existed in his childhood home. It's even more tragic that in real life, Raymond loses his wife to leukemia, two years after his parents' death.]]

%% * 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.

* DotingParent: When Raymond starts attending grammar school, Ethel begins to low-key brag about their son to the neighbour. Even after her son comes home in a police van[[labelnote:*]]For context, Raymond was caught attempting to steal billiard cues from a golf club[[/labelnote]] and her neighbour confronts her about it, she fibs that Raymond was helping them with some detective work, in an attempt to save face.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Jarringly enough, to ''ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows'' as it stars a loving couple who...[[spoiler: erm, stop being alive by the end of their stories.]] The only key difference being that whilst that takes place in a fictional depiction of surviving a then-plausible nuclear war, this one is based on true events. Also, the couple from ''When the Wind Blows'' are based off of the author's parents whilst the couple in this one ''are'' the author's parents.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: When Ernest invites Ethel to come and try out the springs on their new mattress, she cheekily refuses by saying, "it's broad daylight." Before that, Ernest also remarked "newlyweds need good springs" which prompted a small gasp from Ethel. Make of that what you will.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Ethel is upset at being unable to conceive properly as she approaches 37 and that despite being married for two years, they haven't had any children yet. Obviously, this is eventually averted since they would conceive a child who will grow up to be Raymond Briggs, the author and illustrator of this very story. They initially planned to have more, but because Ethel was severely weakened from the delivery along with her advanced age, the doctor warns Ernest that having another child could kill her. This results in Raymond being an only child for the rest of his life.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Ethel is upset at being unable to conceive properly as she approaches 37 and that despite being married for two years, they haven't had any children yet. Obviously, this is eventually averted since they would conceive a child who will grow up to be Raymond Briggs, the author and illustrator of this very story. Initially, they planned to have more, but because Ethel was severely weakened from the delivery along with her advanced age, the doctor warns Ernest that having another child could kill her. This results in Raymond being an only child for the rest of his life.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Ethel is upset at being unable to conceive properly due to her advanced age and that despite being married for two years, they haven't had any children yet. Obviously, they eventually conceived a son who will grow up to be author and illustrator Raymond Briggs. Initially, they planned to have more, but because Ethel was severely weakened from the delivery along with being 38 years old, the doctor warns Ernest that having another child could kill her. This results in Raymond being an only child for the rest of his life.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance:

* NosyNeighbour: Mrs. Bennett is a minor one. Ethel herself also sort of counts as one due to her DotingParent tendencies. Ernest even tells her at one point that going on about their son to Mrs. Bennett is in poor taste since her, their neighbour's son, did not go very far in life.

* AuthorAvatar: Raymond, obviously, who is Ethel and Ernest's son. An interesting case in that he's delegated to a minor character while his parents take the spotlight as the main leads.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Jarringly enough, to ComicBook/WhenTheWindBlows as it stars a loving couple who...[[spoiler: erm, stop being alive by the end of their stories.]] The only key difference being that whilst that takes place in a fictional depiction of surviving a then-plausible nuclear war, this one is based on true events. And that whilst the couple from ''When the Wind Blows'' are based off of the author's parents, the couple in this one ''are'' the author's parents.