It's time to check out some DARK moments my favorite company. Disney!
When the biggest kid-friendly company in the world decides to do its darker moments,
they make it shocking but meaningful and stirring.
So, let's check out the Top 10 DARKEST Disney Moments!
We've got to do 10 this time.
And, just a note, but obviously there's some darker themes in this video.
But as always, keep it interesting and fun!
Anyway, on to the countdown!
Number 10:
Donald starving in "Mickey in The Beanstalk"
Holy Fudgesicles!
(Incomprehensible ducky language)
Look at the eyes of this duck!
This is a duck in desperation.
Pushed to the point of insanity
due to being starved of all basic nourishment until finally he snaps!
He turns on his friends!
grabs the ax and lurks closer to the innocent, kindly cow!
Donald: Nice ol' cow!
Mickey: Donald!
Donald: (insane yelling)
Seeing Donald driven to the point of breaking down is scathing enough,
but seeing him, literally, wield an ax to make some
"Cow Patty El' donaldo?" really left a lot of people uncomfortable.
It's a particularly dark Disney moment.
Number 9:
Aladdin Gets Concrete Boots
I've always found the concept of concrete boots very disturbing.
For those who don't remember, Aladdin is thrown to the bottom of the sea to drown while tied up.
It's the one scene in this movie that always creeped me out a little.
In fact, I actually had a nightmare once in this same scenario,
Except, well, I didn't have a genie to rescue me.
And then I turned into a banana...for some reason!
Anyway, that aside, the concept of forced drowning is horrible!
That feeling of isolation and complete powerlessness that comes from this scene always rubs me a little unpleasantly.
It's a brutal side of Arabic corruption.
I was surprised to see Disney touch on it in Aladdin.
Genie: Don't you scare me like that!
PhantomStrider: And for Number 8:
The Headless Horseman
Plodding along one night on his horse, Ichabod is minding his own business.
With devious plans to marry for the wealth of his bride.
Then out of nowhere an empty, shadowy figure looms over the horizon.
The Headless Horseman!
A vengeful, chaotic apparition hellbent on beheading the greedy Ichabod!
And, like most horrors, the bad guy wins...at least I think so...
Sometimes, fear comes down to what isn't revealed to us
because we will always scare ourselves far better than the movie will.
And all we're shown in the end is a flaming pumpkin and Ichabod's hat.
Was he beheaded by the Headless Horseman?
Did he escape and never return?
We'll never know, and sometimes that "unknown" is the creepiest horror of all!
Number 7:
The Hunter Scene From "Bambi"
Aw! The first spring grass emerging from the snow!
Everything here is so happy-chappy.
What could possibly go wrong?
(Suspenseful music)
Wait...what!?
Weren't we just in a happy scene?
Mother: Faster, Bambi!
(The GUNSHOT that ruined my childhood)
JEEBUS!
While that moment of gunfire is the most shocking part of the movie,
even Bambi's slow realization that his mother is gone is grueling to watch.
Bambi: Mother? Mother!
PhantomStrider: And his father breaking the news to him.
Father: Your mother can't be with you anymore
PhantomStrider: Even rewatching this scene now, I still find the six-year-old part of me cringing when I see it.
It's just a very distressing scene!
While I am glad to see Disney talking to kids about more difficult concepts like death,
it's not necessarily an easy pill for any child to swallow.
Mother: It's going to be alright. You'll see.
Bambi: Why'd you have to go?
Mother: Everything in the forest has its season.
Where one thing falls, another grows
(RIP my emotions!)
Number 6:
Mufasa's Fall
Simba: NOOOOOOOOOO!
PhantomStrider: Up to this point, Disney had never directly stated that someone was dead.
But here, there's no mistaking it.
Scar literally says, "Mufasa's death was a terrible tragedy."
Oh, you rotten liar! Who's actually buying this guy?
Simba: MURDERER!
PhantomStrider: Anyway, but in this scene we see Simba's fear, his sadness, and his confusion.
This difficult scene was probably handled with all the care and emotion it deserved.
And I think people appreciated that.
And afterwards, I loved the important message that Rafiki gives to Simba many years later.
Rafiki: He lives in you (great song)
Number 5:
The Burning Village From "Mulan"
So, here we have a nice, cheery military chantey about the men's future wives.
Then suddenly!
Oh...oh...oh, dear.
In what is essentially a Chinese war film,
it's pretty inevitable that Mulan ends up walking through the remains of a burned village.
And then, we're hit with the kicker.
That's right! Disney did dead children!
Again, it was handled with the grace and care it deserved.
But holy crapsickles!
This scene still jolted me when I saw it.
And we thought showing Mufasa's body was bad?
But again,
handle with grace and beautifully done.
And the graceful elegance of this movie is part of what I love about Mulan.
I think this is a great example of using a shocking scene artistically well.
It has emotion, grief, and sends a powerful message to the viewers.
Number 4:
The End of the Dinosaurs in "Fantasia"
Disney is "fairly" against existential horror in their films, but I feel this is their one exception.
This was the most gut-wrenching, unpleasant part of "Fantasia" I remember as a kid.
I would skip over it; it's horrible!
I mean, artistic and beautiful, but horrible!
After watching the T-Rex slowly mutilate some of these dinosaurs,
we follow it up by watching all the dinosaurs slowly die of thirst one by one!
In what I can only describe as a death march!
Followed by, well, the end of the world.
Jeebus!
Many people appreciated that Fantasia was the one time Disney's movies were aimed directly at adults.
And because of that,
We get powerful, chilling scenes, like watching the explosive end of the Jurassic Era!
And the 3rd Darkest Disney moment is...
The Chainsaw Scene from "Mickey Mouse: The Mad Doctor"
What can you say?
Watching Mickey Mouse beginning to be sawed in half is something no one was expecting!
In fact, this entire cartoon remains the creepiest Mickey cartoon of all time!
And is certainly among Disney's darkest moments!
Seriously, Disney?
Chainsaws, chimeras, and live surgery?!
And the 2nd Darkest Disney Moment is...
Pleasure Island from "Pinocchio"
Ah, Pinocchio.
The magical story of a puppet becoming a real boy with fairies, singing crickets,
poisoning children, child slavery, whipping, and incarceration! (Ya know, the usual!)
Wait, wait, what?!
I think most of us remember the scene where the coachman spiked the drinks of these children.
Stripping them of their humanity and throwing them in the slave mines forever!
Even watching Candlewick's slow transformation as he realizes he is rapidly losing all of his humanity!
Begging the help of Pinocchio as he helplessly becomes an animal.
Candlewick: Mama! Mama!
(Donkey noises)
Concepts like THIS freak me out way more than the Bambi scene!
Interestingly, many people comment that while this scene didn't scare them as children,
as adults, it is far more horrifying to watch than any other scene in the movie,
and I can definitely understand that.
I think I can owe being a tea-to-taller partially to creepy scenes like…THIS!
And, of course, before we get to Number 1,
let's do some Honorable Mentions!
Frollo's "Hellfire"
From the Gothic setting, to the torture and corrupt church, and the flaming city,
so much of Hunchback is dark!
And Frollo's "Hellfire" scene was no exception!
Dr. Facilier's Death Scene in "Princess and the Frog"
Clayton's death in "Tarzan"
I don't know if you've noticed, but you actually see Clayton's hanging body for a second.
It was a very dark moment.
The Horned King from "Black Cauldron"
God, I love some of the imagery of this movie!
The Dark Forest from "Snow White"
The first dark scene from the first Disney movie.
Chernabog from "Fantasia"
How could this guy NOT be mentioned? He's basically Satan!
If I hadn't already talked about him in "Darkest Cartoon Villains" he definitely would have made the list.
Anyway, here we go!
And the Number 1 Darkest Disney Moment is...
The Incineration Scene from "Toy Story 3"
Why is this scene the darkest?
Because this scene isn't just our heroes facing danger.
It Is even more sophisticated than that.
In this scene, we literally watch Woody, Buzz, and Jessie accept death.
And to me, anyway, that is a fascinating mixture of both tragic and beautiful.
(Don't cry)
Watching Woody, Buzz, our heroes for over 20 Years, both accepting and facing that dark abyss head-on
is something that I consider a very uncomfortable concept,
but simultaneously liberating and beautiful a the same time.
As I mentioned in the "Best Disney Movies",
the amount that is said with no dialogue in this scene is astounding.
Each of our heroes' uncertainty, fear, and acceptance flashes through each other's eyes in this scene without a single word.
Woody and Buzz have essentially fallen into Toy Hell! A deep flame threatens to incinerate them.
As they continue to fight to survive, they eventually just relent hopelessly, stop, and accept their fate.
(I said Don't Cry.)
In an act of EXTREMELY good fortune, they are saved.
But I was still left feeling unsettled afterwards.
All through the years, we've watched our Disney Heroes fight valiantly against annihilation,
but this is the one time we watch some of the most cherished Disney icons of all time accept death.
Jeebus!
It's unsettling, it's dark, and beautiful at the same time.
I consider Toy Story 3's Incineration Scene the Number 1 Darkest Disney Moment!
but, also beautiful.
These dark moments have been delivered to to us with intelligence and forethought over the years.
Because Disney knows that children need a little darkness.
They need to be thoughtfully shown some of the blacker perspectives of humanity
in order to be able to face them better when they grow up.
Did I miss a particularly dark Disney moment?
If you can think of one, feel free to leave it in the comments.
And, as always, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time!