Most traumatic scenes in kids’ movies
<p>I’m not sure whether it was just being a child growing up in the 1970s and 80s, but most of my early childhood movie memories were traumatic ones.</p>
<p>From the horrors contained within Disney’s early animated output to <em>Never Ending Story</em>’s drowning horse (which played just before the intermission), it seems no trip to the movies then was without tears or a subsequent sleepless night.</p>
<p>In celebration of Oscar-winner <em>Inside Out’</em>s fabulous depiction of childhood emotions, here are 10 movies that still haunt me to this day.</p>
<p><strong><em>Bambi</em> (1942)</strong></p>
<p>Many a child was scarred by a visit to see this seemingly benign animated adventure.</p>
<p>While most of the film involved fauna frolicking amongst the undergrowth, one early scene casts a pall over proceedings - the death of Bambi’s mother.</p>
<p>One minute she’s warning him of the dangers of the forest, the next we hear a gunshot that signals her demise.</p>
<p><strong><em>Fantasia</em> (1940)</strong></p>
<p>Another classic bait-and-switch from the team at Disney.</p>
<p>A portmanteau film involving matching images to music, for the most part it’s all happy, happy, joy, joy.</p>
<p>But then comes the final sequence, Night on Bald Mountain, set to Modest Mussorgsky’s score, which conjures up a devil-like creature who summons evil spirits.</p>
<p><strong><em>Gremlins</em> (1984)</strong></p>
<p>Phoebe Cates might be most remembered by viewers of a certain age for a dream sequence in 1982’s<em> Fast Times at Ridgemont High</em>, but younger cinemagoers had a more traumatic experience at her hands two years later.</p>
<p>In the middle of all the gleeful mayhem and comedy frights of <em>Gremlins</em>, her Kate Beringer delivers a terrible tale of Christmas and Santa Claus that will test even the most fervent young believer’s resolve.</p>
<p><strong><em>The Lion King</em> (1994)</strong></p>
<p>In simplistic terms, this was Bambi for a new generation, unexpected death and all (although I still haven’t forgiven the women behind me at the cinema who spoiled it for everyone around her in order to pre-warn her child).</p>
<p>However, allied to a Shakespearian-esque drama, the offending sequence plays out so powerfully it’s hard to be moved to tears. It was also so good Pixar virtually repeated the trick in last year’s <em>The Good Dinosaur</em>.</p>
<p><strong><em>The Never Ending Story</em> (1984)</strong></p>
<p>A story about a decaying universe was never going to be tear-free (especially when its herald was a ferocious wolf), but few could have expected the moment that blindsided a generation of moviegoers.</p>
<p>Incredibly unleashed just before the intermission (when such things existed), our androgynous fictional hero Artreyu suddenly finds his horse Artex sinking in the swamps of sadness. Cue children fleeing from the auditorium. So indelible it even gained a mention in recent rom-com <em>How to Be Single</em>.</p>
<p><strong><em>The Secret of Nimh</em> (1982)</strong></p>
<p>Based on Robert C O’Brien’s novel, this tale of a field mouse’s search for the cure for his son takes her into the terrifying world of lab rats.</p>
<p>Bizarrely the lead character’s name had to be changed from Frisby to Brisby because of fears from the producers of copyright infringement action from the makers of the flying discs.</p>
<p><strong><em>Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs</em> (1937)</strong></p>
<p>Disney’s first full-length animated adventure proved they knew how to emotionally manipulate and scare an audience.</p>
<p>From the frightening woods to the heart-shaped box, the magic mirror and the Wicked Queen’s true form, there’s so many moments to leave the littlies with nightmares.</p>
<p><strong><em>Time Bandits</em> (1981)</strong></p>
<p>Nobody saw the end of this film coming.</p>
<p>Sure Terry Gilliam’s anarchic tale of a young boy who accidentally joins a band of dwarves as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal wasn’t scare free, but everything seemed to have played out happily - until that final, oven-destroying, childhood-scarring scene.</p>
<p><strong><em>Watership Down</em> (1978)</strong></p>
<p>I blame Art Garfunkel.</p>
<p>His hit tune Bright Eyes led us to believe (my parents included) that this animated adventure was suitable fare for a five-year-old.</p>
<p>However, what actually transpired was a dark, blood-soaked tale of life as a rabbit. Some scenes still send a shudder down my spine.</p>
<p><strong><em>Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory</em> (1971)</strong></p>
<p>While others will cite the earlier <em>Chitty Chitty Bang Bang</em> as far more compelling, this was the movie that scared those of my era onto the straight-and-narrow.</p>
<p>Some bits towards the end are confusing in the extreme (Wonka’s sudden changes of mood and heart), but there’s no doubting the power of scenes like Augustus Gloop being sucked up a chocolate pipe or Violet turning violet. All back by those proto-rapping Oompa Loompas with their cautionary lyrics.</p>
<p><em>Written by James Groot. First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>
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