Top 10 Hardest to Watch Animated Movie Moments

The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Widow Tweed loves and cares for Tod, her pet fox, but when it becomes clear hes not safe with her anymore, she leaves him in the woods to be with other wild animals. Its a harrowing scene. Widow Tweed is a wreck, but its the foxs complete cluelessness about why she would do this to him thats the most heartbreaking. As she drives away, its hard not to feel that lump in your throat. Its even more sad when you think about all the real-life animals who have been abandoned by their owners and had no idea why.

Coco (2017)
Young Miguel arrives home from his trip to the afterlife with a message for his great grandmother Coco. The message is her long-dead fathers song for her. For the first time, the previously unresponsive Coco rouses and sings with him, remembering each word of her fathers lullaby. Its a quiet but profoundly moving moment for the family. Watching people we love grow old can be a painful experience, but its one we all share. The movies themes of family, both living and dead, are universal. Thats why the last few scenes of Disney Pixars Coco hit so hard.

Nimona (2023)
This acclaimed animated feature takes place in a futuristic society where knights are commonplace and monsters are the enemy. Nimona is a shapeshifter who draws the suspicions and hatred of the kingdom for her abilities. While most of the film is full of raucous fun and standard adventure movie set-ups, it hits some pretty deep emotional territory in the latter half. At her lowest moment, Nimona transforms into a monster only to be confronted by Ballister. Staring down her hulking form, he talks her out of making a drastic decision. Emotionally devastating and gorgeously illustrated, the scene is one for the ages.

Toy Story 2 (1999)
Before she ended up in Als curio cabinet, Jessie the Cowgirl was a regular toy. A montage takes us through Jessie and her owner Emilys relationship, underscored by the sad, Oscar-nominated song When She Loved Me. As Emily grows up, she becomes less interested in Jessie, leaving her behind just as she leaves childhood behind. If the Toy Story series is about anything, its about the things we grow out of, physically and emotionally. Seeing the story from the perspective of the things kids literally leave behind is what makes it so powerful.

Inside Out (2015)
Joy and Bing Bong, Rileys imaginary friend, end up at the bottom of the Memory Dump, where Rileys early memories fade as she grows older. To save her, the two have to find a way to Headquarters. They try to ride a wagon back up to the surface but are unsuccessful. Realizing that hes weighing them down, Bing Bong bails at the last second. He sadly fades away as Joy continues on. Of course, as usual in Pixar movies, theres multiple things happening at once here. Bing Bong isnt just a fading memory. Hes a symbol of Rileys childhood innocence fading away, too.

The Iron Giant (1999)
This animated classic sees a young boy named Hogarth befriending a space robot who crash lands on earth. But its the Cold War era, and paranoia is at an all time high. A tragic set of circumstances finds the robot being targeted by the government. Faced with an impending nuclear missile detonation, the Giant says goodbye to his new friend and hurls himself at the missile to save the humans down below, destroying it and himself. As he heads for the missile, the Giant cries out Superman, a callback to the comic book hero his friend once compared him to.

Toy Story 3 (2010)
Just when you thought Pixar couldnt wring anymore tears out of a franchise about living toys, they dropped Toy Story 3 on us. The third movie takes Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the whole gang into uncharted territory when it comes to emotions. First, theyre almost incinerated. Then, it comes time to say goodbye to Andy as he goes off to college. Their last playtime together is as happy as it is devastating. As they watch him drive away, we know the toys will be well cared for with Bonnie, but its still hard to accept that their time together is over. For millennials of a certain age, lets just say it was an incredibly well-timed gut punch.

Up (2009)
In just its first 10 minutes, Up tells one of the best and most effective love stories in movie history. Carl and Ellie meet as kids, sharing a love of adventure that follows them throughout their lives. Without a single word of dialogue, we follow their life together. From their wedding to an implied miscarriage to their old age, this opening immediately surprised and captivated audiences. This is a Disney Pixar movie after all, and while kids growing up is one thing, people growing old together is another. But Up makes their romance, in all its beauty and sadness, feel real in just a few short minutes.

The Lion King (1994)
Betrayed by his power-hungry brother Scar, King Mufasa falls to his death in a raging stampede of wildebeest. His son, Simba, searches the valley for him and eventually finds his lifeless body. Watching Simba beg his dad to come back to him is easily one of the saddest scenes in the Disney canon. The studio has long produced movies that make lifes hardest lessons accessible for kids. The death of Bambis mom charted similar territory. But over 50 years later, The Lion King really went for it. It boldly confronts the pain and helplessness that come with losing a parent.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
As beautiful as Isao Takahatas Grave of the Fireflies is, its an almost unbearable watch. We could have included the whole movie on this list. It follows two young siblings who survive the 1945 bombing of Kobe, Japan, only to endure unspeakable conditions and a land scorched by war. Arguably the hardest moment to watch is young Satsukos death by starvation. Her brother manages to feed her a little watermelon, but she is too far gone. Even the movies spiritual aspects, which see our two main characters reunited as specters in the afterlife, dont exactly leave you on a hopeful note. It all feels so unfair, and that its based on very real wartime trauma makes it even more profound and necessary to see.

Which moment had you reaching for the tissues? Sound off in the comments below.