Heartwarming / Hairspray (2007)

• Wilbur when he bails Maybelle and her dancers out of jail along with Edna, knowing it would be a major financial hit for him. A deleted scene shows exactly why Edna was arrested. The police officer was originally going to let her go, but then she realizes that he's only being nice to her because she's white, while arresting the black women who were protesting. Edna is so angry at this that she insults the police officer until he gives in and arrests her as well.
• Amber undergoes a Heel–Face Turn: first eyeing a black dancer with interest, then saying that she accepts her loss, and is last seen, after smirking and shrugging at her still-disgruntled mother, joining the dance and gleefully jumping into the arms of the black dancer.
• Wilbur's complete and utter devotion to Edna, who, though a Big Beautiful Woman, has an extreme lack of self-confidence and dresses in frumpy clothing. When Velma tries to seduce Wilbur by putting on an extremely sexy red dress, visiting his joke shop and throwing herself at him, and singing a sexy version of "Big, Blonde and Beautiful," Wilbur not only remains totally unswayed, he actively tries to fend Velma off with the various practical joke devices he has in the store. He later admits that his "heart beats only" for Edna. D'aww.
• A small detail during “I Know Where I’ve Been”. As the march starts, Maybelle holds Seaweed’s hand. This is a subtle detail that indicates she’s not doing this protest for herself, but for her family in hope that they have a better future.
• The whole family dynamic between Wilbur, Edna, and Tracy is an extended Moment of Heartwarming. While Edna is worried about Tracy early on in the movie, that worry stems from a deep love of her daughter, and she is also overjoyed when Tracy lands a spot on the Corny Collins Show. When Edna suggests that Tracy may need an agent to help deal with her newfound fame after Mr. Pinky offers Tracy a modeling gig for his plus-size line, Tracy convinces her mom to be her agent (claiming, "Who's going to look out for me better than my own mom?"), and urges Edna to break out of her seclusion and embrace life in the number "Welcome to the 60s".
  • Wilbur supports his daughter unconditionally throughout the film. He encourages her to try out for the Corny Collins Show, and later when she vents her frustration against the studio for cancelling Negro Day, he advises her not to back down, saying "You can't wait for us old dogs. We need to learn new tricks from you." In "Timeless to Me", while it's mostly a love song between Wilbur and Edna, Wilbur also expresses pride in their daughter in the line, "And we got a kid who's blowing the lid off the Turnblad family tree!"
• Most everything Corny Collins does in the finale, from knowing Little Inez's name to being happy to see Tracy to bringing Maybelle up on stage and telling her "This is your time".
  • The fact that he could rattle off that tiny, tiny loophole off the top of his head gives the distinct impression that he's been looking for a way to integrate the show for a long time.
  • "Not a chance, Velma. This is the future." One of the most uplifting Shut Up, Hannibals! ever.
  • During the moment he's about to announce Amber's name, he seems to be taking a very long time to get to the point...almost like he was hoping Tracy would show up. Given how happy he is to see her, that seems to be exactly what he was doing it for.
• One or two girls from the Council are smiling rather than shocked when Tracy makes her big entrance to start singing "You Can't Stop the Beat", showing that Link isn't the only member of the Nicest Kids in Town without at least a little sympathy for Tracy and her actions at that point.
  • Also, how happy the Nicest Kids in Town all are to welcome Inez on stage and later dance together with the black dancers, especially in the stage musical where they had been actively resistant to the idea of integration at first but throughout the final number clearly have a change of heart and realize how much more fun integration is. It turns out they really were the Nicest Kids in Town!
• Building on the above—the entire audience, including several people viewing on television (Mr. Pinky and his staff among them), cheering and applauding when Corny announces that the show is "now and forever officially integrated." It proves that Velma was wrong—the people of Baltimore are not only fine with integration, they're actively for it.
• Also near the end, Wilbur encourages Edna to dance. She's been so low on self-esteem for so long that it's heartwarming to see her confident and happy, and the fact that her husband backs her up just makes it better.
• The way Link's face lights up when Tracy crashes the pageant and begins her musical beatdown of Amber.
• When Tracy and Link share their kiss at the end.
• Maybelle, smiling approvingly when Seaweed and Penny admit their love for each other, while warning them that not everyone will be so approving:
  Maybelle: So this is love. Well, love is a gift, a lot of people don't remember that. So, you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin' at you from a neverending parade of stupid.
  Penny: So you met my mom.

---