Top 12 Saddest Animated Moments

Hello, loyal readers and welcome again to another issue of Dustin's Dirty Dozen. This week, I am listing the saddest moments in animation. I have already done a list on death, so I tried to generalize a little more to include sad moments, so as to not be repetitive. It may be a little broad, but I love to talk about how much of a "hard on" Disney has for killing characters (almost as much as Joss Whedon), and I do enjoy depressing you all. Anyways, go ahead and grab the tissues I know you have sitting next to your computer, and let's get started.

12) Quasimodo's Rejection - "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"

Really, Disney? You make "Beauty and the Beast" to teach us about inner beauty then make "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" where ugliness is rejected. This movie may be about inner beauty still, but apparently this inner beauty isn't enough to win over a good looking stripper, I mean dancer. The basic premise is Quasimodo (the hunchback living in a bell tower) has spent all day and night worrying about this girl Esmeralda, whom he has a crush on. She finally shows back up to him, carrying another man in her arms, and he, of course (being the nice guy he is), let's the handsome bleeding stranger into his home. Quasi fears that they like each other, and then all of his fears about them getting together are sealed with a kiss. I am pretty sure that all men or women that were not born with natural good looks can relate to this, having more than likely been there before.  

11) Flynn Ryder's sacrifice - "Tangled"

We know that he dies from the opening line of the movie, saying "this is the story of how I die," but that doesn't make it any less traumatic when he does. It is a sacrifice for the girl he has fallen in love with, so she does not have to spend the rest of her life with her captor. The setup is Flynn goes gallivanting into the tower where Rapunzel has been held captive, and as he enters gets stabbed by the witch, keeping her there. Rapunzel has hair that contains magic healing properties (which is why the witch wants her, so she can keep her youth), so she makes a deal with the witch to save her love from death in exchange for her compliance to go with the witch willingly. She goes to heal him, and Flynn cuts off her hair before she can, destroying the witch in the process and sacrificing himself. It was very powerful and moving even though we later find out that Rapunzel's tears have the same healing property, and he comes back to life (it was still very sad).

10) Dot nails the death scene - "Wakko's Wish"

Yakko, Wakko and Dot are characters sealed in the animation canon; the show, "Animaniacs" giving us some great pop culture and adult references.  So, of course they came out with a television movie centered around the large cast of characters chasing after a fallen star. The setup for the scene in question goes as follows: the three are moments away from getting to the star having just escaped the clutches of King Salad Bar (Salazar), when all of a sudden they are hit with a cannon ball. Allegedly, Dot is injured in the attack and dies in her brother Yakko's arms, sending the camp into revolt for them having killed "the incredibly cute one, man." This gives Wakko the opportunity to get to the star unhindered, and when he reaches it, the death turns out to be an act and Dot is alive. I don't care what Yakko says; she definitely has a career in acting with a performance like this.

9) Dil-a-bye - "The Rugrats Movie" 

"The Rugrats Movie" actually has quite a few sad moments in it besides this one; like the scene with Tommy holding the jar of banana baby food over Dil's head, or Spike being thought dead. I think this scene just hit home a little more with the whole "neglected by parents" aspect. The setup is mother (Dee Dee) and father (Stu) are at the end of their wits with the new baby (Dil), who has been crying since they came home with him from the hospital. They try singing him to sleep, and it works; but as they are singing, Tommy is trying for their attention to read him a book. Not able to get their attention, Tommy goes in a nearby closet with his book and cries, singing alone as his parents now focus on Dil, neglecting him in the process. I feel that most parents or siblings can identify with this; I just identify with it for the neglected feelings Tommy is going through.

8) Boo going home - "Monster's Inc."

As stated before, Boo is quite possibly the cutest character in animation, and seeing her let down by something or crying is heartbreaking. Nothing exemplifies this point more than when Sully has to leave her home and go back to his world. The setup: Having just beaten the bad guys Sully is told to bring Boo back home and destroy the door leading to it. Mike says his goodbye, and Sully takes her through the door to go back. When they get there, Boo does what toddlers do, and shows off her room while Sully is trying to let her know that this is goodbye. Unable to reach Boo through the excitement, he gives in and starts to play with her, eventually getting her into bed. He says goodbye to the little girl, and gets a hug, then leaves never to come back. Not understanding the gravity of Sully leaving, Boo goes to the closet thinking that she will be led to the world again only for it to open to her actual closet. As stated before, she is very young, and I think this is what sells the scene the most, that she can't quite fully appreciate that he will never be coming back. At the end of the film, we see that Mike has been working on reconstruction of the door leading to her room, and Sully is again able to see his friend.

7) Hunter's kill Bambi's mom - "Bambi"

This is one of the most remembered deaths in animation (not to say it is the best), and it all happens within the first couple of minutes. So given that it happens before there is any story, there isn't much of a setup, but I think we all know what goes down. Bambi's mother runs through the forest trying to escape hunters and gets shot; done and done. Bambi curls up next to the corpse of his mother trying to accept the loss and some people watching this cry. Not me but some people, it was sad, though. 

6) Ellie - "Up"

Ellie's character is sad just in and of herself. Being sterile, not to mention dying before her husband, helps make this the most natural death Disney has given us. We grow to love her character all within a couple of minutes, from her meeting Carl to finally letting him get out the friend zone (which we all know he had to be in prior to them hooking up). Then we see her in the hospital crying from not being able to have children, and Carl (being the good guy he is) cheers her up by getting their old dream fund started back up. Then she dies from being old, having never gotten to use their funds to go to their fantasy land. This sets up the story for the entire movie and sets the audience up for depression from the get-go. 

5) Mufasa's death, a brother's betrayal  - "The Lion King"

This is Disney's top death by far, seeping into children's minds everywhere, and leaving them all crying into their parent's arms. The setup for the three people alive that haven't seen the movie is as follows: Simba is caught in a stampede of rampaging wildebeest after being led to a gorge by his uncle Scar. Simba's father, Mufasa, is alerted to his son's imminent death and races to save him (which he does but is ultimately carried away by the stampede). He valiantly escapes and starts to climb up the side of the gorge getting to the ledge where his brother is waiting for him. Mufasa calls for Scar's help, but is betrayed and falls to his death, leaving Simba heir to the kingdom. Simba finds his father's corpse and curls up next to him only to be interrupted by his uncle telling him how much trouble he is in. Simba runs away never to return, leaving his uncle in charge, as Simba is presumed dead. Amazing storytelling and absolutely depressing.

4) One of Vegeta's Deaths - "Dragon Ball Z"

Death surrounds this show as much as "Game of Thrones" or comic books, luckily the characters in it have magic balls that grant wishes, so no one stays dead for too long. Knowing that a lot of my readers are not familiar with Dragon Ball Z (or anime in general), I will go into a little more detail as to why this deserves to be up here, and fill in some of the the back-story. Vegeta is the prince of all Saiyans (an alien race of fighters), and has been told from birth he is the best because of the royal blood in his veins. This builds up a great deal of pride and showboating but also makes him ruthless and driven. The scene that I am talking about starts off with Vegeta fighting a monster (Majjin Buu). Unable to best him, he realizes he is no match so he plans to sacrifice himself, expelling all of his energy to topple Buu. He sends the monster flying off and buys enough time to start saying good bye to his son (Trunks), holding Trunks in his arms for the first time since the boy was a baby and telling him that he is proud of him. Trunks begs to help his father destroy Buu; and Vegeta, knowing that there is no way that his boy will leave willingly, knocks him unconscious. A friend (Piccolo) watching from the sidelines, grabs the unconscious Trunks so that they can leave from the imminent explosion that will come from all of this energy being expelled. Vegeta stops Piccolo and asks what will become of him in the afterlife (since Piccolo knows that sort of thing), and Piccolo says that even with this sacrifice he will still go to hell, then flies away. Vegeta still sacrifices himself knowing that he will go to hell, and the worst part is that even this is not enough to kill the monster.  

3) When She Loved Me - Toy Story 2

Jessie is a great character with a tragic back story explained in a montage accompanied by a song that makes for a truly sad moment. The setup is Jessie had a girl that used to play with her all of the time, but as the girl grows up, Jessie is cast aside. She sits under her owner's bed and collects dust until one day she is rediscovered after her owner drops a bag of make up. Hope returns to Jessie thinking that she will finally be played with only to find herself in a donation box abandoned and never to be played with by her girl again. The incident itself was sad, but when you throw in the song (sang by Sarah McLachlin) it will bring a tear to your eye. Not mine, but probably yours.

2) The Iron Giant gets blown up - The Iron Giant

This and my number one are the only animated sequences to make me cry thus far; so maybe that should let you know how great they are. The setup: a small town meets a giant robot and of course is afraid of it killing all of them; only to have their minds changed when the robot saves some kids. While fighting off the military a nuclear missile is sent in to destroy the robot and incidentally the town with it. The giant will not allow this to happen though and says goodbye to the boy he has grown to love (Hogarth) using his own words against him before he flies to stop the incoming missile. So he stops it, destroying himself in the process and the town is saved. Another thing that sells this as one of the saddest moments in animation is that the robot idolized Superman and just before he was destroyed says his name finally living up to the man of steel's legacy. Oh and it turns out that the robot was destroyed but didn't die since he can put himself back together; still makes me cry

1) Seymour Asses - Futurama

Futurama was a stroke of comedic genius for creator Matt Groening; however it also gave us the saddest and most depressing moment in animation. For those of you who have never seen "Futurama," the show follows a man who was trapped in cryogenic stasis during the year 2000 and is thawed out in the year 3000. The tear-soaked setup for this episode is that Fry has found his dog's fossil, and his nephew Farnsworth tells him that he can be cloned (complete with memories), bringing the dog back to life. Fry declines, seeing that Seymour had lived to the age of 15 (12 years after Fry was frozen) and must have formed new memories and forgotten all about Fry. To the contrary, Seymour had waited outside of Panucci's Pizza for his master's return every day since he was frozen, obeying his master's last command, never leaving the spot and never giving up hope. That was the ending we all got; it was later changed using a "Paradox-Free Time Travel Machine" to make it so Fry and the dog had spent the last 15 years together. When I saw the episode "Jurassic Bark," I was depressed for the rest of that day and actually did cry; all dog owners should get this.

Honorable Mention) Littlefoot's Mother's Death

"Bambi" but with dinosaurs. A "Long Neck" replacing a deer, and a "Sharp Tooth" replacing the hunter with a gun. Still sad even if these beasts are extinct.

Next time on Dustin's Dirty Dozen: The top 12 Dreamworks/Blue Sky animated movie. Let's put "Shrek" against "Ice Age!"