Rachel West Asked #FilmTwitter About Emotional Animated Movie Moments And Things Got Really Sad
My Twitter feed got really, really sad and it’s all The Land Before Time’s fault.
As the animated movie about tiny dinosaurs named Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, Cera and Spike turns 30 this month, there’s been a lot of talk about those movies that are truly emotionally affecting. Following one of those really good office debates about the most emotional, gut-wrenching moments in an animated film, I put the question out there to see what the crowd had to say. The results were, unsurprisingly, totally sad.
What’s the most devastating, gut-wrenching moment from an animated film?
— Rachel West (@rachel_is_here) November 12, 2018
It shouldn’t come as a shock that a lot of people owe their early childhood traumas and their first taste of death to Walt Disney and his creations. Bambi’s mom, anyone? And it seems as though Pixar has kept those heartbreaking moments alive, thanks to devastating moments in everything from Toy Story and Up to Inside Out and Coco.
Get the tissues ready. According to social media, the be-all and end-all of the Internet, out of nearly 100 replies, the most frequently mentioned sad moments include:
Those opening moments of Up
The beginning of Up. Always the beginning of Up.
— Ripley (@RipleyCM88B) November 13, 2018
Pretty much all of Grave Of The Fireflies:
Grave Of The Fireflies pic.twitter.com/teYfWPZsll
— Brandon Wants Deviled Eggs (@Movies4Brandon) November 12, 2018
THE GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES ending. It levels everyone to tears.
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) November 12, 2018
And my god, I’m crying already 😭 pic.twitter.com/v9JMyEXnCz
— Kevin L. Lee (@Klee_FilmReview) November 12, 2018
So hard to pick. For me, most of Grave of the Fireflies; but also when Miguel finds the wallet in Wrinkles. pic.twitter.com/5fQsPRT4ry
— Sam McCosh (@Sam_McCosh) November 13, 2018
Grave of Fireflies. In the top few saddest films of all time, let alone animation.
— Cameron Petie (@CamPT_79) November 13, 2018
The atomic bomb detonation in Grave of the Fireflies–conversation over
— Ben Sullivan (@benjsullivan79) November 14, 2018
That part in The Iron Giant:
— John Bowman (@johnbowman) November 12, 2018
“Superman.” pic.twitter.com/cha2uO9ujQ
— Peter Marsh (@pmarsh92) November 13, 2018
Damn you, Inside Out‘s Bing Bong!
Since the opening of UP has already been mentioned a lot, I’ll go with the ending of Coco and Bing Bong in Inside Out.
— Meghan (@FallinIntoFilm) November 14, 2018
Inside Out when Sadness sits with Bing Bong and lets him cry.
— Emma Chapple (@emma_chapple) November 12, 2018
Since the opening of UP has already been mentioned a lot, I’ll go with the ending of Coco and Bing Bong in Inside Out.
— Meghan (@FallinIntoFilm) November 14, 2018
When even thinking about “Baby Mine” in Dumbo can bring tears to your eyes:
Baby mine – Dumbo. I’m welling up just thinking of it 🙁 pic.twitter.com/ZcjTKKXNTt
— Amy Patterson (@AmysFutures) November 12, 2018
When Dumbo goes to visit his mom when she’s locked up for defending him from a bully. She cradles him through the bars with her trunk, while Baby Mine plays in the background. Just hearing that song can bring tears to my eyes! pic.twitter.com/HiiobCxjuv
— Amanda Jerome (@MyOneWomanShow) November 14, 2018
For me, it’s when Dumbo visits his mother who is caged for trying to defend him. All she can do is cradle him with her trunk and OH GREAT I’M CRYING NOW. pic.twitter.com/pBkskCfq7d
— Bonnie Dean (@BonDean) November 12, 2018
Dumbo visiting his mother in her cage. Absolutely fucked me up (even more than the weird trip sequence after tbh) pic.twitter.com/W6gHph0OW7
— girl named ‘happy beeps’ leo (@theladymania) November 14, 2018
“Remember Me” from Coco stirs up a lot of feelings for a lot of people:
The entire last 15 minutes of Coco made me cry so hard the theater seats were squeaking pic.twitter.com/W8MwC9F7Q3
— Cody Dericks (@codymonster91) November 13, 2018
Coco- when Miguel sings to his grandmother at the end.. not because it’s devastating, but it is heart breakingly emotional! I know no one who hasn’t sobbed during that scene
— Alex Harwood (@AlexharwoodMuso) November 13, 2018
The last bit of #COCO my God was that right in the feels
— Oliver Gomez (@Zaku1138) November 13, 2018
“Is papa coming home?”
“Remember me, though we have to say goodbye……”
Holy shit I’m about to cry again. This movie needs to come with a parental advisory that parents shouldn’t watch it. pic.twitter.com/wPz04kmiJ7
— Jamie Keller thinking about keeping Haloween avi (@Jamie7Keller) November 13, 2018
The tears are real when it comes to The Fox And The Hound
— Dr. Jones Jr. (@Ilikeweirdshit) November 12, 2018
— Dr. Jones Jr. (@Ilikeweirdshit) November 12, 2018
In THE FOX AND THE HOUND when Widow Tweed abandons Tod in the woods. Traumatized me then and I just started crying thinking about it now. pic.twitter.com/5OhMcQeBXh
— Screen Zealots (@screenzealots) November 14, 2018
— Whit_17_Mc📚 (@Whit_17_Mc) November 12, 2018
“Mother?” Bambi makes for much boo-hooing
As many of the ones I was going to bring up have been mentioned, the cold, certain starkness of the scene in BAMBI where he learns what happened to his mother in the meadow kills me. Every time.
I shall now think of happier moments from that movie before I start bawling… pic.twitter.com/YyRRLTZy3P
— Sara M Fetters (@MoviefreakSara) November 13, 2018
Bambi finding out his mother was gone pic.twitter.com/rrAunAjtkA
— JUST A BRAND (@BrandonColon09) November 13, 2018
Woody, Buzz, Jessie et al. from Toy Story
The When She Loved Me montage from toy story 2. Flawless. pic.twitter.com/6zPBovr898
— Kennedy (@OctopusSoap) November 13, 2018
— David Oakes (@DavidOakes8) November 12, 2018
Toy Story 3, when they’re holding hands going into the incinerator 😭
— jenn alice reid✨ (@jennalicereid) November 12, 2018
NOTHING WILL EVER TOP THIS: pic.twitter.com/H4za7Rfbku
— Shane Avery (@ShaneAvery) November 13, 2018
The entirety of Toy Story 3. 😂
— Lauren Huff (@_LaurenHuff) November 12, 2018
I’m still bawling… pic.twitter.com/hqYKNIKDjv
— Hope and George (@MaddWolf) November 13, 2018
— Nika (@nikashvili) November 12, 2018
And in the “I didn’t know this was a thing and it sounds truly horrifying” category, The Plague Dogs, which traumatized a lot of people:
The ending of The Plague Dogs
— Jan Werthwein (@JanWerthwein) November 12, 2018
Basically the entire run time of both WATERSHIP DOWN and THE PLAGUE DOGS. Both of them wrecked me even as an adult. pic.twitter.com/HylfDsEBeT
— Jennifer Garlen (@jennifergarlen) November 12, 2018
I’m not sure “brutal” covers it. However, The Plague Dogs is essential viewing. pic.twitter.com/5DYUOlvUS8
— Sara M Fetters (@MoviefreakSara) November 13, 2018
British animated features When The Wind Blows and The Plague Dogs are powerfully unflinching.
— James Clarke (@jasclarkewriter) November 13, 2018
The people who think outside of the box, being one of only a few to mention these moments:
okay it’s not devastating but my dad has always been into computer animation and the ball deflating gutted me as a kid https://t.co/f2Q0DWZQ97
— Samantha B (@samanthadjb) November 12, 2018
The original animated Charlotte’s Web (1974, I think) when she dies and her babies leave Wilbur.
— Jacquelyn Middleton (@JaxMiddleton) November 13, 2018
Saying goodbye to Anne-Marie without waking Itchy “All Dogs Go To Heaven” pic.twitter.com/upRZB76Znj
— Jessi Lauren (@SearchToFindYou) November 13, 2018
When EVE can’t get WALL-E to work and she leans her head on his, just before it sparks back to life it’s just heartbreaking.
— moviedrone (@moviedrone) November 12, 2018
Some great choices here that I would have picked myself too, so I’m gonna throw an unconventional but brilliant one here. Anomalisa directed by Charlie Kaufman. The whole film is gut-wrenching. pic.twitter.com/P3EJ7yWF8c
— J (@FilmandNuance) November 13, 2018
Most of the ones I’d choose have already been mentioned, but the beginning of Finding Nemo when Coral dies and all the eggs are eaten, but Marlin finds Nemo still in his egg and promises he’ll never let anything happen to him.
— Rachel Willis (@rachelcwillis) November 13, 2018
one that no one has really respected is the ending of How To Train Your Dragon where Toothless desperately tries to save Hiccup from falling to a firery death and Stoic is uncertain of his sons fate, gets me everytime
— The Album (@TheAlbumWeb) November 13, 2018
Lots of Happy Feet. But it is also the most uplifting in parts. pic.twitter.com/CQUx1rbOq5
— Wendy Errington (@w_errington) November 13, 2018
This has some of the very
best storytelling I have seen
in film (CG/stop-motion
animation or any genre)
in recent years.
Once the pieces come together and the scene ends, it is hard
not to be emotionally affected.https://t.co/oiJ0go1Rk7— BCD (@SmaugDude) November 13, 2018
Does Waltz With Bashir count as an animated movie? If so then it should be in consideration
— Captain Jack Gonzo (@JackGonzo) November 13, 2018
When Moana returns the heart and transforms te kā to te fiti. “That is not who you are… you know who you are” 😭😭😭😭 gets me on a transcendental level.
— 🐅🐆🦓🦍🐘🦏🐪🐫🦒 (@zechy) November 14, 2018
All of the above, and also the moment in My Neighbour Totoro when Satsuki bursts into tears contemplating the real possibility that their mother may die https://t.co/6dfleVfPqx
— Jenny Bullough (@jennybullough) November 12, 2018
In The Last Unicorn, when Molly Grue meets the unicorn for the first time, and cries out “where have you been?! Where have you been? Where were you 20 years ago, 10 years ago? Where were you when I was new? How dare you come to me now…when I am this?”
— Chrissy W (@acousticchrissy) November 13, 2018
The Secret of Nimh especially the ending and the explanation of “Nimh”. I think it is a different level of gut wrenching but it is one I grew up on.
But the last scene to Coco is a close 2nd. As is Graveyard of Fireflies.
— Mat Starfighter (@MatStarfighter) November 13, 2018
The last few minutes in WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, where the elderly couple tired and slow come to terms with death. Perfect atmospheric music and lines delivered in one long, heartbreaking take.
— Mark McPherson (@Madness_Mark) November 13, 2018
The Breadwinner – when it turns out Parvana’s brother Sulayman was killed by an IED/land mine he thought was a toy 😭
— Sarah Ralph (@sarah_ralph) November 13, 2018
When I was six…. it was the death of Optimus Prime in The Transformers Movie 😭
— Milstead On Movies (@MilsteadMovies) November 13, 2018
The moment ‘when marnie was there’ reveals itself in the last 30 minutes or so made me weep uncontrollably and so suddenly
— zachary taylor weiss (@ApresPompeii) November 13, 2018
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