While discussing The Hangover 3 on IMDb, I found that a lot of people missed something important at the beginning regarding a major theme in the movie. The following is my interpretation of why the giraffe and Alans father die at the beginning of the movie.
Comedies can have dramatic moments. In fact, comedy without drama is generally pretty juvenile.
And personally, I think that marks an important thematic shift in the third movie. Alan is a perfect example of that shift. The whole movie is really about Alan finally becoming an adult(albeit an incredibly stupid adult but he's clearly mentally stunted).
Alans reaction to the death of the giraffe at the beginning of the movie is in stark contrast to his actions at the end of the movie. The death of the giraffe and his father are his lowest point in the entire series.
As silly as the majority of these movies are, there are brief flashes of depth both in the writing and the characters. To me, it's a terrible shame that so much of this depth is lost because people can't see the meaning behind the dramatic moments.
Now, I'm not by any means saying this movie is deep. Only that there is something beyond the absolute surface.
Think of this movie as being similar to Bubbleboy(which Zach is also in oddly enough). It's silly for the vast majority of the movie, but there's a whole lot more to the movie lying just below the surface. Unconditional love, forgiveness and acceptance are MAJOR themes in that movie. While the major overall theme in this movie is growing up.
If we don't see Alan at his worst and most juvenile at the beginning of the movie, finding the death of a giraffe funny, and wishing his mother had died rather than his father, his turn at the end of the movie wouldn't have quite the impact that it does. These two events were incredibly important in highlighting the growth of his character in this particular movie, and go a long way with regards to reminding us what kind of character he is throughout the first two movies.
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