Disney is the most popular franchise for children’s movies and has been so for decade after decade. Some of these movies made for children are enough to make parents squirm and wonder if their child will need a night light on until he or she heads off to college. Here are just five of the many scenes in Disney movies that are way too tragic for children.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Although there are many totally creepy scenes in this film the worst is when the crowd turns on Quasimodo When the naive bellringer first goes up on stage as part of the fool festival he is love bombed by the crowd. He is so happy to be “the king” that a tear of happiness slips from his eye. While cheering him on they lure him to another location. Soon the mob turns hostile and before long a noose is around his neck and he is tied down to a spinning.spoke wheel while cruel taunts, eggs, and vegetables are lobbed at his face. His cries of “Master, please help me!” is enough to upset an adult, never mind a child. Although they don’t kill him the psychological terror of this betrayal and the sociological construct of mob mentality turned nasty is horrifying.
Finding Nemo
Many Disney films can’t get the plot going while mom is still on the scene so in Nemo she is eaten to set up the story of an overprotective dad and his adventurous son. The first few moments of this Disney hit we meet Coral and Marlon a playful couple who are expecting. As this is Disney, the dear mom’s gotta go and although we don’t see the scary fish devour her, it’s strongly implied.
Bambi
In the beginning of Bambi the mom (of course) is shot. Like Nemo, we get to see the mom long enough to find her endearing but of course, she must sacrifice herself as part of Disney’s “dead mother” trope. For many, this scene ruined the enjoyment of the entire movie and is the most memorable scene that we can’t forget. “Your mother can’t be with you anymore” sends shivers down our spine.
The Lion King
It was bad enough when Scar took out Mustafa. Scar became the first Disney villain to successfully explicitly kill someone. The Los Angeles Times warned that “The on-screen death of Mufasa and a violent battle at the finale may disturb small children.” So while that scene was bad enough, when Scar dies, it’s just as brutal.
The Good Dinosaur
Call me crazy but when someone just gets washed up in massive current and you know that his son will never see him again because he’s dead, I don’t think that’s 100% kid appropriate. Disney has a way of showing completely brutal deaths without actually showing the death. In truth most of these are probably harder on adults than children because the children have no clue what’s going on.
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