These are all the moments in some of our favorite movies that scared the crap out of us. Seriously, why did they put these moments in children’s movies? Were they trying to scar us for life and, if so, what was the point?
To turn us into depressed, fearful, and nervous adults?
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Well, they succeeded!
1. Anakin kills the children.
Sure, all the Jedi in the universe dying was one thing.
But Anakin truly turned to the dark side when he took down a bunch of children in Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith .
2. Artax dies.
The Neverending Story . This movie was so needlessly dark and sad, but the peak of murky sorrows came when the horse died.
We really didn’t need to see that, am I right?
3. Large Marge.
Not only did she have one of the scariest stop-motion faces of all time, but the fact that Large Marge from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was revealed to have been dead the whole time…
Brings chills to my spine.
4. The Other Mother.
Not only did she have this creepy air to her, but the “Other Mother” (creepy name) from Coraline also tried to sew buttons into the titular character’s eyes so she could steal her soul!
5. The walrus.
Remember the Walrus from Alice In Wonderland ?
He was supposed to be a metaphor for something, but we didn’t care. All we know is he took baby oysters (drawn like human babies) to his home and ate them alive!
6. The opening to *Up*.
Oh God, please don’t make me remember this. I’m sorry I had to make you remember this too. They were so darn happy together!
And we only got to see it for like…2 minutes before they killed her off!
7. “Hellfire.”
Minister Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not a good guy. He thinks he’s this overly religious righteous man and looks down upon pretty much anyone that isn’t him.
And then his song about the devil, hell, and an innocent girl. Not my cup of tea.
The theme is super disturbing.
It’s about how badly he wants Esmerelda, who he’s lusting after. He sings that if he can’t have her, no one can, so she must die.
And then, of course, there’s the fire and red-cloaked hooded figures.
Oh, and consider this, people:
It’s a Disney song, a Disney song no less, with the word “Hell” in the title. You hear that kids? “Hell” is officially cool to say!
Hey, Mickey Mouse said it!
8. The shoe from *Roger Rabbit*.
Oh, look, an adorable little shoe! Aw, how it squeaks, that’s lovely! I hope those mean men don’t do anything horrible with it.
We all hoped, but it got us nowhere. The poor shoe dissolved in acid.
9. The Hell dream.
When Charlie the dog from All Dogs Go To Heaven has that nightmare about Hell where he sees all the demons and hellhounds? That’s scarring!!!
Jeez, those images still give me nightmares to this day! How did I handle it as a kid?
10. Clayton’s death.
We all know that a lot of Disney villains get pretty gruesome deaths.
Scar gets eaten alive by hyenas, Ursula is stabbed with a ship, but the bad guy from Tarzan got the most horrific of them all.
He and Tarzan are climbing up a tree, battling.
Long story short, Clayton slips and hangs himself on a vine.
It’s hardly even implied either, the animators literally put a shadow of a hanging man against a tree for a frame or 30.
11. Leslie drowns.
Do you remember thinking “Uh what?” when Leslie drowned in Bridge To Terabithia ?
Here we were, enjoying a nice fantasy adventure movie when suddenly they ruin everything by killing a sweet, innocent little girl.
12. The scream extractor in *Monsters Inc.*
The whole concept of the scream extractor was just sadistic. But to then go and strap an innocent little girl into a chair and make us watch was just too much.
Who dreamt up this torturous device?
13. When Mrs. Brisby visits the Great Owl in *The Secret Of Nimh*.
This entire movie is just terrifying. Fair warning, don’t show this film to your kids. Especially the scene with the Great Owl.
Just look at those eyes! They still have been known to haunt my dreams.
14. The creepy marionettes in *The Polar Express*.
The film version of The Polar Express took a lot of creative liberties when it came to the plot.
One that I could have definitely done without was the terrifying puppets. Can someone please explain to me why they were necessary?
15. The Nightmare King is released in *Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumberland*.
Just take one look at the Nightmare King and you can understand why he’s a tough character to forget.
The scene where Nemo accidentally frees the captive king is one of the most chilling moments in animation history.
16. The pink elephants on parade in *Dumbo*.
I’m just going to go on record and say that I absolutely hate Dumbo . The entire film just makes me feel uncomfortable.
The song that the pink elephants sang during this scene made it so much worse.
17. Hanging rats in the window in *Ratatouille*.
In order to teach Remy that humans aren’t to be trusted, his father shows him the window of a pest control shop. In the display are the hanging bodies of dozens of dead rats.
That’s a pretty strong image for a child.
18. Flying monkeys in *The Wizard Of Oz*.
I seriously get shivers just thinking about these disgusting flying monkeys. What are they even supposed to be, anyway?
They’re like some kind of walking genetic experiment gone terribly wrong. Half bird, half ape, and completely horrific.
19. Chernabog raises Hell in *Fantasia*.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall the day that this scene from Fantasia was pitched: “Oh, I know, guys! Let’s make a giant demon climb on top of a mountain and (literally) raise Hell?!”
Horrible. Just plain horrible.
20. The boat ride in *Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory*.
Once again I’m left scratching my head watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory .
The boat scene isn’t just haunting – it’s downright disgusting. I still get queasy every time I watch it.
21. Fields of blood in *Watership Down*.
Some parents fall into the trap of thinking that just because the movie is animated, that immediately makes it a kids movie.
Let me assure you: Watership Down is not for young children. The fields of blood are just one of many examples.
22. Ursula, the gigantic sea witch in *The Little Mermaid*.
Even at her normal size and stature, Ursula is both intimidating and formidable.
When she steals Triton’s trident and transforms into a giant sea witch, well, that’s right about when I hit the fast forward button on the remote.
23. Peeling off the head witch’s face in *The Witches*.
A lot of Roald Dahl’s books, as well as their film adaptations, deal with some pretty mature subject matter.
The only thing scarier than watching the head witch peel back her mask is the face that’s underneath.
24. The terrifying mall Santa from *A Christmas Story*.
“HO HO HO!”
I never would have thought anything or anyone could ever make me afraid of Santa Claus. Alas, I was greatly mistaken. A Christmas Story was the reason I never sat on a mall Santa’s lap.
25. Hexxus sings “Toxic Love” in *Fern Gully*.
When I was a kid, I used to hate Hexxus because the character genuinely frightened me.
Now, as an adult, I hate the directors for subjecting children to an overtly sexualized musical number.
26. The giant red bull from *The Last Unicorn*.
The Last Unicorn is a difficult film to watch. It tries to do the book justice but, unfortunately, it fails miserably. They did manage to capture the fear element of the novel perfectly though.
The giant red bull is as horrific as it is symbolic.
27. The Wet Bandits nearly biting off Kevin’s fingers in “Home Alone*.
Kevin’s antics in Home Alone are all in good fun – until he gets caught.
Harry and Marv hang him from a door and threaten to not only shove nails through his feet but to bite off his fingers one by one.
28. Robin Williams’ entire “Nightmares” speech from *Jumanji*.
“You think monkeys, mosquitoes, and lions are bad? That’s just the beginning . I’ve seen things you’ve only seen in your nightmares. Things you can’t even imagine. Things you can’t even see… Afraid? You don’t even know what afraid is.”
Utterly terrifying.
