Saddest Moments in Disney Movies

[InformationGeek]

So I was watching Nostalgia Critic's video of Top 11 Saddest Moments and it got me thinking about number one.  1 was every single Disney movie ever made and I tend to agree.  Disney is kid friendly, but damn do they like depressing and reducing you to tears in a lot of their movies.  So, let's fess up right now, what are the saddest moments in a Disney movie that made you cry or tore your heart in half.

I would have to say the death of Simba's dad in The Lion King and the opening for The Fox and the Hound, where I think Todd's mom is killed.  It's been a while, but I know there is one very sad scene in there that makes me unable to ever watch it again.

[Raffine]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eHr-9_6hCg
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"Mother..?"

BAMBI

[Flick James]

Bambi's mom is always going to be the big one. Now, are we talking about just animated films here? Because if it's all Disney films across the board, I think you're going to be hard-pressed to beat the ending of Old Yeller.

[InformationGeek]

Bambi's mom is always going to be the big one. Now, are we talking about just animated films here? Because if it's all Disney films across the board, I think you're going to be hard-pressed to beat the ending of Old Yeller.

It's for all Disney films, so yes, Old Yeller is in.

[Paquita]

Just looking at this topic makes me want to cry  .

[Flick James]

Just goes to show you, Disney has had a stake in manipulating the viewers emotions from a very early stage.

[Newt]

The whole 'childrens lit' genre has undergone a huge change in the last 70 years or so.  Look at what passed for 'great' children's literature when the Disney operation was in its early years:

(Warning: spoilers!)

The Yearling (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; 1938. Won the Pulitzer for books 1939. Film 1946. TV movie 1994.) - the pet deer dies.
The Red Pony (John Steinbeck; 1937. Films in 1949 and 1973) - the pony dies.
Old Yeller   (Fred Gipson; 1956. Film 1957) - the kid has to shoot the dog
and yes, Bambi (Felix Salten; 1926. Film 1942).

Those are just the works I am most familiar with, but it strikes me that a good portion of the 'classics' for kids included the harsher life lessons.  Death was a fact of life.  Harder times perhaps?  It remains that the contrast between good times and bad makes for good stories and a formula that makes movies work.  It's no wonder that Disney has continued to visit it.

[Flick James]

The whole 'childrens lit' genre has undergone a huge change in the last 70 years or so.  Look at what passed for 'great' children's literature when the Disney operation was in its early years:

(Warning: spoilers!)

The Yearling (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; 1938. Won the Pulitzer for books 1939. Film 1946. TV movie 1994.) - the pet deer dies.
The Red Pony (John Steinbeck; 1937. Films in 1949 and 1973) - the pony dies.
Old Yeller   (Fred Gipson; 1956. Film 1957) - the kid has to shoot the dog
and yes, Bambi (Felix Salten; 1926. Film 1942).

Those are just the works I am most familiar with, but it strikes me that a good portion of the 'classics' for kids included the harsher life lessons.  Death was a fact of life.  Harder times perhaps?  It remains that the contrast between good times and bad makes for good stories and a formula that makes movies work.  It's no wonder that Disney has continued to visit it.

Excellent point. Just looking at your examples, the majority of them came from stories written before WWII. Tougher times indeed.

[Mr. DS]

I found Jessie's musical interlude in Toy Story 2 horribly tear jerking. She relives the old days when she was played with frequently by her owner.  However her owner grows up and she spends a long time under the bed collecting dust.  Finally one day she is picked up again by her owner and she is happy...however, her owner leaves her on the side of the road at a donation bin.  I'm sorry, but this scene rips out my heart and stomps on it every time I watch it. 

[feiyen]

"UP" You go thruw the life of a happy couple and then you lose one ::teary:: actually I though the whole movie was a bit sad even the kid who's father isn't around much.

This is a bit off topic but some of the deaths of the villains aren't exactly pleasant either they seem to die in a gruesome manner One that came to mine was Tarzan I mean he got hung! worst you see it in the shadow background.