These 22 Children's Movies Are So Devastating, They're Borderline Unwatchable (2024)

"My Girl. Seeing Macauley Culkin get smoked by bees and Vada work through that loss is so hard. Great movie, and several colleagues of mine (we are funeral directors now) agree it was foundational for us."

—Julie, California

"Holy, how on earth was that considered a kid movie? I have a lump in my throat just thinking about it. 'Where’s his glasses? He needs his glasses.' And it was to get her mood ring. That’s why he died. 😢"

—queermochamama

"That one definitely traumatized us. 😭 I watched it the other day, and that scene still destroys me every time."

—jewelmichael59

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame, when they beat the poor humpback man on some type of circle-round torture device. As a child, I hated watching that, and as an adult, I still can’t stand the fact they allowed kids to watch it."

—Anonymous

"TheSecret of NIMH. I remember thinking some scenes were scary when I was a kid, but now I understand everything happening on so many more levels. I am also now a parent. The scene near the end, where the kids are in danger and everything the mother goes through, makes me have to hold back tears just thinking about it. It is a great movie, but it has no business being rated G. Someday, I will probably recommend it to my young son, but I’m not sure how long I’ll wait. Not anytime soon, that’s for sure."

—Jessica

"How to Train Your Dragon. I cry every time when Hiccup wakes up and realizes he’s lost a leg."

—Anonymous

"The movie Baltois a great story (even though it's not historically accurate), but it does have some pretty sad spots in it. One of the most emotionally wrenching scenes is when Balto is wandering through the town and looks into the undertaker's shop, where he is building child-sized coffins. At that point, hope is running low that the medicine will arrive in time, and people fear that some of the town's children probably won't survive. And then there are all the sick kids in the hospital, with their exhausted parents next to them. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending, but those sad scenes really stick in my mind!"

—jomariem

"Oh definitely. When I went to Central Park and saw the statue, I started getting teary-eyed, and my then-boyfriend couldn't understand why. But he was super sweet and just hugged me and invited me to get a cup of hot chocolate (it was winter)."

—iz_cerise

"Jack Frost was already a bit of a tear-jerker. Yes, his dad (Michael Keaton) comes back as a snowman after dying, but man...after losing my dad, the movie is almost too much to bear."

—Tab, 44, Indiana

"The Good Dinosaur. My daughter is a toddler and wanted to watch only this movie for a solid month. Within the first 10 minutes, the dad dies. Then, Arlo gets separated from his newly widowed mother. Later, we find out that Spot is an orphan, and he and Arlo bond over how much they miss their parents. And near the end, Arlo has to say goodbye to his new best friend so he can go and live with the caveman family who will adopt him. I would cry during at least one of those parts (sometimes multiple) every time I would watch it with my daughter. I finally started to divert her interest to any other movie when she would ask to watch it. It’s honestly depressing. :("

—Anonymous, 34, West Virginia

"All Dogs Go to Heaven. Judith Barsi (who played the little girl in the film and Ducky in The Land Before Time) and her mother were killed in a murder-suicide by her alcoholic father.When Burt Reynolds went in to film his final lines, it took over 63 takes. The tears and sadness you hear in his voice in the final scene was genuine."

—Jen, 44, Florida

"The 'I’m sorry' at the end is literally so heartbreaking."

—cleverorc27

"Not a parent, but I’ll never show the nephews and nieces All Dogs Go to Heaven."

—mandapanda24

"All Dogs Go to Heaven completely destroyed me as a child."

—firthoffifth

"Where the Red Fern Grows. I read it to my third-grade class, but I could never finish it without crying, so I would show the movie. It was a little easier that way."

—Anonymous

"It's a really old movie (though there's a more recent remake), but Where the Red Fern Grows. I remember seeing that and Old Yeller in the same year in school. It's a rough double feature."

—absurda42

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As the mother of two boys, the scene when Cedric’s father yells, 'That’s my son. That’s my boy,' just kills me."

—Sandra, 65, Gainesville, FL

"The last 20 minutes of Encanto. The way they animated Alma's silent scream and desperation as she watched her husband get cut down in front of her while holding her newborn triplets gets me every time. And I had a kid that had me watching it multiple times a day, and I still sobbed each time."

—dizzywalrus792

"'I think it’s everyone in town…' I’m done. Every. Time. Those townspeople come over the hill, and I am a gd mess."

—annieddie

"Encanto. My husband won’t even let me watch it anymore."

—dorasmarmy

"Pete’s Dragon. The original. Oh my god."

—furrypuppy598

"When my daughter was about 5, we rented Heidi, starring Shirley Temple. At the beginning of the movie, Heidi’s dad has a terrible argument with her grandfather, and the grandfather kicks them out during a thunderstorm. A few minutes later, lightning strikes a tree, and it falls on her parents, killing both of them. What became of Heidi? She was sent back to live with her ill-tempered grandfather. This all happened in the first 5–10 minutes of the movie. My daughter was so upset that she became physically ill and threw up. Heidi was sent back to the video store, never to be seen again at our house."

—metallicgoblin175

"The Rescuers! Even hearing the intro song reduces me to tears."

—jammih

"All I am going to say is The Bear."

—Anonymous

"The beginning of Oliver & Company,when he’s the only one left in the box after all his siblings get adopted and then a rain storm washes him out into the street. It never bothered me much as a kid until I watched it with my younger brother, and he asked me, 'Why doesn’t the kitty just go home?' I lost it and, while sobbing, told him, 'He doesn’t have a home.' I can’t even think about it now without tearing up."

—hotmesstrain

"I agree with so many, but one that I can't watch anymore is Matilda. As a kid, I thought her throwing away the soup and making pancakes was so cool, but now it just makes me sad. All the neglect and abuse she goes through just breaks me."

—k432086fbe

"The Last Unicorn!!! IYKYK. 💔💔🦄"

—ruggggs

"The Last Unicorn got me bad as a kid and as an adult."

—kimberlyw12

"Molly Grue. 😭"

—inblackink

"Despicable Me hits different now that I’m a mom. The scene where Gru is telling Margo to jump to him from the plane and promises not to let her fall...yep, tearing up now just typing this out. Spoiler alert: He did catch her!"

—Lovey, 33, Florida

"My favorite movie as a kid was Hook, and I watched it so much I memorized it. But it hits differently as an adult. I can't watch it now. I'm a bawling mess from start to finish. I had a hard childhood and the story of Peter Pan just really gets to me."

—the_tyger

"Rufio's last line always gets me. I love the movie so much, but that scene WRECKS me."

—kathleenannc

"Mary Poppins. The scene where Bert talks to Jane and Michael about their father and why he does the things he does."

—chaaaaaaaaaaazy

"E.T. is terrifying and sad. Saw it once when I was a kid, and will never watch it again. Very upsetting movie."

—rhonda20

"I think it's worth watching again (or at least finishing it for those who didn't). it does end on a happy note. And I do still cry every time when E.T. is sick, so I get it, and I know it ends well, but I still cry, LOL, but that shows how good of a movie it is to me, that it still has that effect on me. JMO, of course, but I've seen it many, many times and still like it. it ends happily, so I guess it's worth the crying, LOL.
I was 12 the first time I saw it, when it came out."

—pikakats

"I still remember being terrified during that scene where E.T. is sick, and the government scientists — or whatever they're supposed to be — are experimenting on him and Elliott. I was probably a preschooler when I saw it, and I've never seen that movie all the way through again!"

—leslies22