Top 20 Darkest Moments in Disney Movies

[Music] who are you are you the ghost of christmas future welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 darkest moments in disney movies [Applause] for this list we're looking at the scariest most disturbing and saddest scenes from disney films which of these left you with nightmares let us know in the comments below number 20 tadashi is blown up big hero 6. disney certainly isn't shy when it comes to killing off family members but tadashi's death is particularly violent after a fire breaks out at the university tadashi tries saving professor callahan by rushing into the burning building no callahan's in there someone has to help unfortunately the building explodes while he's inside and the shockwave knocks hero to the ground the death of a close family member is already tragic and traumatic what makes this even worse is that it happens right before hiro's very eyes at least tadashi went out a hero no pun intended number 19 the firebird fantasia2000 this sequel came a full 60 years after the iconic original like 1940s fantasia fantasia 2000 combines animated segments and classical music the final segment of the movie is scored to igor stravinsky's the firebird and as the name suggests it is absolutely terrifying [Music] in the short a forest sprite proceeds to a volcano and awakens some type of violent volcanic spirit who proceeds to wreck the nearby forest the spirit takes the form of a massive fire-breathing bird with yellow eyes before turning into a lava flow that sets fire to the forest [Music] the visuals are haunting enough but it's stravinsky's music that really gives the scene its horrific tone [Music] number 18 the ghost of christmas future mickey's christmas carol who are you are you the ghost of christmas future the ghost of christmas future is always pretty terrifying disney continued the tradition with mickey's christmas carol a short animated featurette that sees beloved disney characters acting out a christmas carol the ghost of christmas future is portrayed by mickey mouse's nemesis pete pete first appears shrouded in a hood before taking it off and throwing ebenezer into the grave whose lonely grave is this why yours ebenezer the richest man in the cemetery a flaming coffin opens and spews fire towards ebenezer and pete laughs as hellish red smoke swirls around him it's a haunting and sinister sight for the kids who are at home watching on tv [Music] number 17 hellfire the hunchback of notre dame the 34th animated disney movie tends to get less love than the other classics of the disney renaissance but it contains one of the all-time great villain songs in hellfire it's sung by judge claude frollo who is fighting his lustful and obsessive feelings towards esmeralda [Music] the subject matter itself is dark and mature and reportedly made disney executives quite nervous it also nearly cost the movie its g rating as the mpaa was considering a pg he made the devil so much stronger and that's not surprising considering the hellish imagery mature subject matter and lyrics like [Music] number 16 the headless horseman the adventures of ichabod and mr toad serving as one of disney's package films the adventures of ichabod and mr toad contain two individual segments one based on the wind and the willows the other on the legend of sleepy hollow the story is well known for containing one of the most famous villains in literature the headless horseman [Music] [Applause] disney did not shy away from the character's scarier aspects as he appears with a terrifying laugh a horse with red eyes a billowing purple cape and a flaming skull the resulting chase is the stuff of nightmares complete with the horseman's shrieks sword attacks and unsettling music composed by disney veteran oliver wallace [Laughter] number 15 facilier is dragged into the spirit world the princess and the frog facilier is one of the more entertaining disney villains he's perfectly played by the always excellent keith david and friends on the other side is a great bit of jazz pop vasilier's villain song is later reprised when he's taken to the voodoo spirit realm [Music] the scene is extremely unsettling as creepy purple-eyed spirits and shadow figures emerge to surround facilier who's then dragged into the glowing green mouth of a giant voodoo mask the imagery is like something out of a surreal nightmare and the pulsing drums add an ominous tone to the proceedings the spirits ask facilier if he's ready but no one could possibly be ready for this number 14 frollo tries to kill quasimodo the hunchback of notre dame this is certainly one of the darkest disney films and it opens in a deeply disturbing [Music] manner judge claude frollo is instantly depicted as one of the nastiest disney villains of all time as he kills a romani woman and attempts to do the same to her baby by throwing it down a well had it not been for the intervening archdeacon frollo would have done it disney movies are often perceived as fun light-hearted entertainment for children the hunchback of notre dame begins with cold-blooded murder on the steps of a church creepy coral music and trying to send a baby to hell frollo's words not ours [Music] [Applause] cried the archdeacon this is an unholy demon i'm sending it back to hell number 13 knight on bald mountain fantasia as creepy as the firebird is in fantasia 2000 chernabog and his minions are on a whole other level like the firebird segment this one closes out fantasia on an unsettling note set to modest mazorkski's knight on bald mountain this segment sees churnabog and evil spirits running amok on a mountain in the middle of the night chernabog's mountain layer is imposing as is his physical design complete with a gargoyle-like appearance and yellow eyes the floating skeletal figures are even creepier and the scene eventually escalates into an all-out fever dream it's artistically brilliant but also very very creepy number 12 the horned king's army the black cauldron this movie was the first to receive a pg rating owing to quote some scary images according to the mpaa [Music] the rating undoubtedly comes from the horned king and his personal army known as the cauldron born together they make for some of the most formidable and frightening antagonists in the disney canon the scene where the horned king summons the cauldron born still sends chills down our spines the first thing we see emerge is a wide-eyed screaming head that melts into a skull it then turns into a green mist that raises the dead the bump from g to pg really isn't surprising oh it's horrible my beloved warriors have come to life number 11. the maleficent dragon sleeping beauty throughout sleeping beauty maleficent is portrayed as creepy and imposing what with her black and purple robes horns yellow eyes and green skin but that sinister exterior is hiding something far more threatening [Music] at the climax of the movie prince philip storms the castle with the sword of truth and shield of virtue and maleficent turns into a massive dragon to confront him [Music] [Laughter] [Music] even watching it over a half century later this scene still terrifies the prince's bewildered and frightened face says it all number 10. the burnt down village mulan mulan contains one of the most surprising and abrupt tonal shifts in the disney canon as the soldiers set out they sing the cheerful a girl worth fighting for it's quite a fun song and it shows the soldiers that they're chummiest and just when the viewer is relaxing and enjoying the cute song the movie throws a wicked curveball the characters come across the sight of a massacre complete with burnt out buildings raging fires a sea of corpses and worst of all a cuddly doll that once belonged to a child it is an unexpected depiction of the unimaginable horrors of war the general [Music] number nine aurora gets hypnotized sleeping beauty the maleficent dragon wasn't the only scary scene in sleeping beauty aurora is lulled into her famous sleep after being hypnotized by maleficent and made to prick her finger on the cursed spindle the entire sequence is eerie with maleficent unleashing a green light from the fireplace which aurora follows in a wide-eyed trance the scene also owes a lot to the foreboding music that plays as aurora climbs the stairs touch the spindle touch as i say it is a masterpiece of tension building and it remains every bit as effective as it was in 1959 number eight the bear attack the fox and the hound in this movie based on a 1967 novel a heartwarming friendship takes a dark turn when todd a red fox becomes best friends with copper a hound dog he thinks their friendship will last forever unfortunately though copper is a hunting dog and when the two reach adulthood copper turns on him during the chase however hunter amos slade becomes the hunted when a massive bear with glowing red eyes attacks what follows is a tense and scary sequence in which copper and todd team up to defeat the much larger predator for young kids this scene proved more than a little frightful [Music] number 7 giant ursula the little mermaid basically everything about ursula is blood curdling her octopus bottom half and gangly trapped souls are positively chilling her final gigantic form however is particularly nerve-wracking especially the image of her massive head rising from the water giant ursula is the stuff of nightmares complete with accompanying lightning and thunder and the hollow echoey voice that makes her sound demonic and while villain demises are always quite satisfactory ursulas is more than a little disturbing as she's violently impaled on a ship's bow sprit of all the places for the little mermaid to go crack in ursula was a surprising turn of events number six pink elephants on parade dumbo disney knew exactly what they were doing with the pink elephants seeing pink elephants is a euphemism for alcohol-related hallucinations used since the early 1900s when dumbo and timothy get drunk on champagne the euphemism becomes literal and it's actually really creepy [Music] they're here and they're big elephants everywhere known as pink elephants on parade the scene sees dumbo and timothy experiencing disturbing visions including multiplying pink elephants that play instruments step on each other and smash each other in giant symbols and that's just in the first minute and to think this predated the psychedelic era by 20 years number five the shoe dip who framed roger rabbit blending live-action and hand-drawn animation who framed roger rabbit was a monumental success grossing 329 million dollars and winning a special achievement academy award for its groundbreaking visuals it also contains what is undoubtedly the scariest scene in a live-action disney film to frighten the tunes into compliance judge doom decides to make an example of a poor defenseless shoe with a concoction known as the dip remember how i always thought there wasn't a way to kill a tune while doom found the way turpentine acetone benzene he calls it the dip he slowly dips the shoe into the liquid forcing audiences to watch it panic and squirm around in pain as it slowly melts to death needless to say this scene is firmly ingrained in the memories of 80s kids the world over number 4 clayton's demise tarzan as seen throughout this list disney isn't afraid of depicting some rather grim and violent ends but clayton's death in tarzan may prove a little much owing to its eerie realism i can use a challenge because after i get rid of you rounding up your little eight family will be all too easy after chopping his way through vines clayton falls from the treetops and accidentally hangs himself when a vine wraps itself around his neck while viewers don't actually see the hanging itself they do see the shadow of clayton's dangling torso and legs an upsetting image punctuated by thunder and lightning it makes for gorgeous animation but is definitely a dark and disturbing moment that lingers in your memory number three lampwick's transformation pinocchio the pleasure island segment of pinocchio is incredibly twisted it depicts children enjoying adult vices including gambling drinking and smoking they are then punished by being turned into donkeys oh yeah and the donkeys then become slaves and are sent into salt mines and the circus [Applause] lampwick's transformation is particularly frightening things begin funnily enough with lampwick growing ridiculous ears and a tail but then things get downright horrifying with a terrified lampwick begging for help as he transitions into a braying donkey the creepy music and sound effects certainly do not help number two bambi's mother dies bambi the death of bambi's mother is still considered one of the saddest scenes in movie history and for good reason for many kids the movie was their introduction to the very idea that one day they would lose their parents or even that death was a part of life bambi and his mother are simply foraging for food and minding their own business when the unnamed man shows up and shoots bambi's mother leaving bambi grieving and alone we made it mother wait mother [Music] it's extremely dark material for a children's movie your mother can't be with you anymore before we unveil our top pick here are some honorable mentions the mob song beauty and the beast gaston rounds up a mob to storm the castle the queen's transformation snow white and the seven dwarfs a terrifying if iconic disguise olivia's kidnapping the great mouse detective the mouse is kidnapped by fidget bolivia shan yu invades china mulan the huns breach the great wall [Music] rorke's death atlantis the lost empire the commander is completely consumed by the crystal before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one scar kills mufasa the lion king simba's father's demise takes everything that was tragic about bambi's mother's death and multiplies it by about a million with a terrifying stampede and some cold-blooded fratricide after the nail-biting stampede sequence things look up when both mufasa and simba escape that is until scar digs his claws in and pushes mufasa to his death the murder itself is tough to watch but it's simba's reaction to mufasa's body that has everyone shedding tears it's enough to traumatize younger audience members and to have adults hitting fast forward to skip the scene dad dad come on you gotta get up dad we gotta go home do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest [Music] videos you

Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 339,692

Rating: 4.9216805 out of 5

Keywords: darkest moments in disney movies, darkest disney moments, darkest disney movies, darkest disney scenes, scariest disney movie moments, shocking disney movie moments, animated disney moments that went too far, unforgettable moments in disney movies, sleeping beauty, the lion king, bambi, dumbo, tarzan, mulan, the little mermaid, big hero 6, fantasia, the hunchback of notre dame, Animated, Cartoon, Movies, watchmojo, watch mojo, top 10, list, mojo

Id: Wx22LUJGaLM

Length: 20min 25sec (1225 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 28 2021