Top 10 touching/sad moments in Disney films

[WarriorDreamer]

Everyone loves a good cry and Disney have alot of tearjerkers in them. These are in my opinion the most saddest/ most touching moments in Disney movies. Although I haven't seen all the canon films or sequels.

1. Bambi's mom dying. The fact she was killed so brutally and so suddenly is so sad, plus the fact you know he no longer can rely on her anymore.

2. Mufasa dying. Again a brutal sudden death of a parent. It's the look on Simba's face that kills you.

3. Pocahontas saying goodbye to John Smith. This isn't one moment so much as it is the whole ship between Pocahontas and John Smith. The fact that she risked her life to be with him but you know she won't be able to be with him. It makes things worse when you know she doesn't even get with him in the sequel.

4. Todd being taken away by Widow Tweed. The moment is so sad when she has to let him go into the wild. The only thing that stops it being higher up is because he is actually fine once he's been released. Doesn't make it any less sad though.

5. Dumbo seeing his mother. The moment when Dumbo is allowed to see his imprisoned mother is definitely one of the most touching.

6. Quasimodo seeing Esmeralda kissing Phoebus. This is the first time he's had a crush on a girl, only to see her kiss someone else.

7. Kala's child dying. Her sadness then taking in Tarzan as a son is touching.

8. Aladdin recalling his childhood and how he was left behind in Aladdin 3.

9. Ariel's mom dying in The Little Mermaid 3.

10. Rapunzel's parents sending out the lanterns for the 17th time since their daughter was kidnapped.


What are yours? Doesn't have to be 10, can be 5 if you want.

[Dr Frankenollie]

I've decided not to include Pixar moments, as those would dominate the list.

1. 'Baby Mine' (Dumbo)-If you don't cry at this, then check your pulse. Quickly.
2. Bambi's mother dies off-screen and Bambi's subsequent learning of this from his cold-hearted father (Bambi).
3. The Dwarfs (even Grumpy) all cry at the seemingly deceased Snow White's bedside (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).
4. 'Ave Maria' (Fantasia).
5. Cinderella's dress is torn (Cinderella).


I'll complete it later.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I know that you're new and that the search function is kinda wonky right now, but please try and see if there is a thread similar to this before posting. Here is one from 2006 that will work perfectly:

http://www.dvdizzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14353

Again, I know the search is messed up, but just try and see if there's a similar thread.

If a mod could merge these, that would be cool.

[WarriorDreamer]

^ Yeah but the difference is that's just films in general that made you cry. I'm talking about actual touching moments.

[Goliath]

1. 'Baby Mine' (Dumbo)-If you don't cry at this, then check your pulse. Quickly.

Okay, I just checked mine. Still pulsing. Now what?

Here are some of mine, in no particular order:

Madam Medusa to Penny "What makes you think anyone would want a homely little girl like you?"; Penny shuts her eyes, bows her head and sheds a tear.

Basil having to say farewell to Olivia. You really sense he doesn't want to let the girl go, even though he tries his best to remain his old untouchable self.

Triton destroying Ariel's cavern after she said to him: "Daddy, I love him!", and after that, how she says to Flounder, with a sigh in her voice: "Just leave me alone". And later, the part where she sees Eric's ship sail away with Vanessa on board, and she sighs so deeply and let herself slide down against that pole and sheds a tear. That's a real heart-wrenching part.

When the old widow has to take Todd away to leave him in the forest. Everybody who once had to say goodbye to a beloved pet knows how this feels.

Mary Poppin's "Feed the birds". The only Disney-scene that has ever made me cry. I still get watery eyes whenever I hear it.

[Sotiris]

When the old widow has to take Todd away to leave him in the forest. Everybody who once had to say goodbye to a beloved pet knows how this feels.

He was more than just a pet to her. He was her child. He was family.

[Goliath]

He was more than just a pet to her. He was her child. He was family.

You know what I meant. Why nit-pick?

Seriously.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

^ Yeah but the difference is that's just films in general that made you cry. I'm talking about actual touching moments.

Well, you also included the most sad films that make you cry; I'm just trying to save some bandwidth (even if it doesn't enormously help). Plus it helps to minimize multiple threads with the same/very similar topics.

[Sotiris]

You know what I meant. Why nit-pick?

Because some people don't consider pets as family and view them as "soulless animals"; a commodity that can be bought and replaced and belittle the feelings you have towards them.

I know what you meant; I just wanted to point this out.

[Cheshire_Cat]

Off the top of my head, I can think of three separate scenes that often get to me. One is at the end of Beauty and the Beast when Beast lies dying in Belle's arms; and the end of The Hunchback of Notre Dame when, after rescuing Esmeralda from the bonfire, Quasimodo tries to revive her with water, but she just lies there unresponsively, and Quasi realizes that she might be dead and starts weeping; and another is from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when the dwarfs hold a funeral for Snow White and are all weeping at her bedside, with funeral music playing in the background.

[monorail91]

I've got one for almost every movie haha, I am a total emotional wreck!

Snow White - Snow's funeral
Dumbo - Baby Mine
Bambi - Beginning and end (love the whole full-circle vibe with "Love is a Song")
Little Mermaid - When Triton says something like "Now there's just one problem: How much I'm going to miss her"
Beauty and the Beast - during the title song, and death/transformation/ending
Aladdin - One Jump Ahead (Reprise), Whole New World, ending
Lion King - Circle of Life, Mufasa's death, ending
Meet the Robinsons - ending when main character sees his mom when he time-travels
Princess and the Frog - ending, and random times just cause it's so good!
Tangled - I See the Light, and Flynn's death

[Sky Syndrome]

- In Pinocchio, the boys who are fully transformed into donkeys get shoved into crates to be shipped heaven knows where and the boys not fully transformed beg to be changed back and set free.
- Dumbo visiting his mother during her solitary confinement for much needed cuddling.
- Simba witnessing his father's big fall into the stampede and freaking out over his father not coming to. Scar arrives and makes Simba believe he's to blame for his father dying and runs away as Scar told him he should.
- Bambi searches in the snowfall for his mother after she doesn't return to their thicket. Eventually Bambi encounters his father who tells him his mother won't come back and takes Bambi away with him.
- Snow White's funeral at the dwarfs' cottage.
- Drusilla and Anastasia ripping up Cinderella's dress her animal friends worked so hard to finish in time for her to wear to the ball. After her stepmother and stepsisters leave for the castle, a crestfallen Cinderella flees to the garden.
- Widow Tweed reminicises about the times she had with Tod as she drives him to a game preserve, where she leaves him so he can live in freedom and be safe from Amos.
- In The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the crowd during the Festival of Fools pelting Quasimodo with food and binding him up when he fights to escape.
- In Dinosaur, Aladar and his family looking back at their island home burning from the fiery wave sent by the landed meteorite. Suri and Aladar howl and bellow toward the island in hopes of response from their friends but none answer back.
- Ratigan bringing Mr. Flaversham's daughter Olivia to him to show that she's in Ratigan's custody. Olivia and her father hug each other and after allowing that for a small time, Ratigan has Olivia sent away. Ratigan tells Mr. Flaversham no harm will come to her if the decoy is ready for tonight.

[Lazario]

I agree, not with Frankenollie, on the "Baby Mine" sequence. It doesn't work on everyone. It's cute but not inherently sad, tear-inducing.

Since "touching" could literally mean up-lifting, some of these might surprise people.

I think I would go with Fantasia's "Ave Maria" as #1. I'm not even religious and this is so beautiful it freaks me out.

#2- the opening credits sequence and song ("The Journey / Rescue Me") in The Rescuers. Now, there's an epic that just hits you on a pure, genuine level. And without even knowing Penny, the moment speaks volumes about loneliness, desperation, and hopelessness.

#3- The Three Lives of Thomasina - after she dies, especially when the father tries to make Mary happy by getting her a new pet. And then again later when I believe (it's been at least 10 years since I watched it last) Mary sees Thomasina outside and cries out but nobody else believes her.

#4- "Feed the Birds" (almost forgot about that one)

#5- the moment in The Parent Trap when Sharon has to slap Susan into realizing they're sisters by showing her the picture of her mother. This works so well because I actually bought each Hayley Mills character as an individual person- I thought it was a very good performance (though she did have her moments of chalkboard-scraping).

#6- Alice in Wonderland, "Very Good Advice" - it's all symbolic of being a kid and thinking you want something, then getting it and realizing you were wrong but it's too late. This is one scene that makes it for the better than the whole movie turns out to have been a daydream. Otherwise, instead of it being a way for her to learn something on her own, it would be the movie's way of punishing her (which she didn't deserve). Better the movie not make moral judgments. By the end, it becomes a great movie about daydreaming. With a lot of quirkiness and this one truly sad moment. The fact that her regret is able to deepy touch the Tugley Wood animals and make them cry is proof that this scene is underrated.

#7- this one is going to be strange but... there's a scene in The Brave Little Toaster that always seemed incredibly sad. I don't remember what it was because I haven't seen that movie in at least 15 years. But, if I ever do see that movie again- I'll be like: "how did I ever forget this scene?!" This spot is reserved for that scene in case I ever see it again.

#8- the Baía sequence from The Three Caballeros. Not sad, but touching to me is, like Ave Maria in Fantasia, something so beautiful you can only hope to put it into words.

#9- the end of Dumbo. Yes, I think it's just as emotionally potent when you get to the end of the journey and realize how much the character's struggle was worth.

#10- Pete's Dragon, the "Candle on the Water" sequence. Don't know why, but it always got to me as a kid. You know how kids hate scenes that don't move very fast? I was one of those kids and yet, this scene always intrigued me.



Honorable Mentions:

* The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh- Christopher Robin and Pooh say goodbye.

* Pete's Dragon- saying goodbye to Elliot. I don't know why, Pete sure handled it well. It just always made me sad for some reason. Even the upbeat music didn't make me feel better.

* Bambi- the mother's death

* Cinderella- the stepsisters ripping Cinderella's dress and her running in tears

[Sky Syndrome]

#7- this one is going to be strange but... there's a scene in The Brave Little Toaster that always seemed incredibly sad. I don't remember what it was because I haven't seen that movie in at least 15 years. But, if I ever do see that movie again- I'll be like: "how did I ever forget this scene?!" This spot is reserved for that scene in case I ever see it again.

Was it this?
<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l9mUB0ZqLrA" frameborder="0"></iframe>

The Brave Little Toaster is one of my favorite movies since childhood.

[Lazario]

No, but... I think I remember that scene.

[Disney's Divinity]

No, but... I think I remember that scene.

Not to play a guessing game, but is it when the air conditioner basically blew himself up because he was chained to a wall or the ending climax in the dump when the appliances are about to be crushed (the cars sing a song as they die)? Both those scenes were very eerie and depressing to me.

Anyway, because I think I've answered this question as best as I probably could already, I'll re-post what I had in the Top Ten thread (+ I tacked on the bit about The Little Mermaid from the Favorite Happy Endings thread):

Top 10 Saddest Moments

1. "Baby Mine" (Dumbo) ~ The part that always gets me is, at the end, when Dumbo walks away, and you hear the chains as she runs to the other side of the enclosure so she can still see him.

2. Pinocchio’s Death and Resurrection (Pinocchio) ~ It always seemed so gruesome to me when the scene ended with a shot of Pinocchio face down in the water. One of the darkest (and the saddest) scenes I know, both as a child and an adult.

3. “Goodbye May Seem Forever” (The Fox and the Hound) ~ Kind of epitomizes loneliness.

4. Ariel and Triton Say Goodbye (The Little Mermaid) ~ When Triton comes up out of the water, he does so in a sort of loving/playful way (like a father blows on their daughter's stomach or something like that, as a joke), and then they pause there and see each other as people--rather than father and daughter--and realize that the life they had before is over. That one "I love you, daddy" speaks volumes. Maybe it's just sad because it's like she's saying goodbye there. I don't know, everyone wants to be accepted by their parents even if they don't necessarily agree with you.

5. Mufasa’s Death (The Lion King)

6. Cinderella’s Lost Faith (Cinderella) ~ I love the reprise of “ADIAWYHM” that plays during this scene. It’s so ghostly and sad. This part of the film was just so well-done, from Cinderella's crashed hopes that the Stepmother could ever love her, to having her real mother's dress torn to shreds, and the hopelessness of her situation.

7. “I’m Still Here” (Treasure Planet) ~ I think this situation is something a lot of modern children can relate to--the feeling of being ignored, of growing up alone and always coming second to your parents' issues.

8. Tiana Remembers (The Princess and the Frog) ~ Facilier’s temptation scene at the end, when Tiana looks back on how her father worked himself to death to get somewhere and all she ever saw was a man whose dreams never came true, only to realize he had a family he loved and a daughter who loved him.

9. John Smith’s Departure (Pocahontas) ~ I think the part that was the most tearjerking was the way Pocahontas acts calm as Smith's taken away to the boat, and how she slowly walks toward the cliff as her father watches, and she's trying to be reserved and not show emotion, before she finally gives up the act and goes on a full-on sprint.

10. Megara’s Death (Hercules) ~ Although somewhat undercut by the fact that she’s brought back minutes later (like most Disney deaths: SW, Baloo, Trusty, Pinocchio, etc.), this scene’s always had an impact me. Even Hercules’ struggle in the river to reach her soul/spirit is fairly poignant--it vaguely reminds me of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, and since the movie is such a mish-mash, maybe that’s not a surprise. It also foreshadows his decision on Olympus in the next scene to very literally accept death to be with her.

(11. Lewis Gets A Home (Meet The Robinsons) ~ The ending, when Lewis leaves the orphanage's headmother with Lucille and her husband. It’s always sad to me that she has to let the children go. Plus, I love when he hugs his new parents at the end, and then the “Keep Moving Forward” quote at the end.)

[supertalies]

Todd being taken away by Widow Tweed. The moment is so sad when she has to let him go into the wild. The only thing that stops it being higher up is because he is actually fine once he's been released. Doesn't make it any less sad though.

That one. Everytime I see it, it makes me sad.

[Goliath]

Adding: the scene in Lilo & Stitch where Stitch is taking the storybook of 'The Ugly Duckling' outside and goes looking for family in the middle of the night. And then he mimics what the ugly duckling says in the book: "I am alone".

If that's not Disney Essence right there, I don't know what is.

Also: the prison scene in 'Not in Nottingham' in Robin Hood, when the old rabbit is sharing his crumbs with the little hungry mice.

[Dr Frankenollie]

I watched Mary Poppins earlier today; to be honest, "Feed the Birds" isn't as touching as the scene where Mr Banks goes to the bank near the end. There is a moment when he goes past the cathedral and sees that the Bird Woman has gone; his expression then changes from mild irritation to forlonness as he realised that the Bird Woman has died (an elderly homeless person in 1910's London is undoubtedly going to die sooner or later - this fact coupled with the performance and editing makes me believe this). Then the music swells as Banks looks up at the cathedral, seemingly looking for the birds who are then absent, and then continues to wander alone in the mist.

[Lazario]

No, but... I think I remember that scene.

Not to play a guessing game, but is it when the air conditioner basically blew himself up because he was chained to a wall or the ending climax in the dump when the appliances are about to be crushed (the cars sing a song as they die)? Both those scenes were very eerie and depressing to me.

Ugh- I really need to rewatch the movie. I got to see that scene on YouTube, which I searched for after The Nostalgia Critic mentioned how sad the movie was.

But... now I think it just might have been the flower. It really has been forever since I saw the movie. If it was the car crashing scene, the scenes of the guy and his friend talking about buying things while the TV was desperately trying to get them to come back buy from him was pretty sad as well. For some reason, these characters really seemed like it was life and death that someone would take them home. So many characters which ended up just being forgotten about. Really resonates for a kid. But even as a kid, the scene of the TV trying to make them buy got to me too.