I just watched it tonight and I love it...I did not see that at the end everyone would live happily ever after...I just saw that they still clung to their traditions...and to me it showed that traditions must adapt in order to survive....the dauther knew this...the grandmother knew this...the whales knew this...the Chief didn't...he was struggling hard to keep the traditions firm and unbending...til he too realised they must adapt in order to survive...in order for his people to survive...