Since the very moment we were born (in fact, about 9 months prior to this) we all were cursed with the inevitability that one day we would all die. However, we don’t realize this truth right away. I can’t say for certain when the first moment was that I realized that I would definitely one day die, but the finality of it all probably hit me sometime around the age of 5… I don’t know, I’m guessing.
No one really has a conversation to you about this subject, in fact, when you are younger it is all kind of glossed over, and whether you have atheist parents or not they will probably all tell you until they believe you are old enough to deal with the subject (lets face it, who really is ever old enough) that when you die you will go away and live in a glorious fantasy land where all your dreams come true… or something along those lines.
Thank god for Disney movies then. Disney movies are some of the earliest encounters most children will have with death (well, if you live in the Western world any way) and in a sense all prepare us for the harsh truths of our future. I bet many children have come out of the cinema with their parents and asked them for example… “What happened to Nemo’s mom?” much to the parents annoyance. But Disney movies do a great service to children… they gently prepare us with humorous talking animals and beautiful multicolored animations for a subject too horrifying to ever truly understand.
The following list collects my personal 10 greatest Disney (or Disney/Pixar) death scenes… many of which helped me as a child come to terms with death, but many are just so very emotional that they may have in fact made me even more scared of death as an adult. I am sure many of your favorites are not included on this list, but feel free to add to this in the comments section at the end…
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11 Comments
The Iron Giants sacrifice to save the town. (Maybe not death but close)
Thanks. But not only is that not a death but it also isn’t a Disney film (Warner Bros.). It can get confusing if you don’t know films all that well to know the differences between the various animation studios. Appreciate the suggestion anyway.
The Lion King was not loosly based on Macbeth, it’s Hamlet. Get your Shakespeare right.
Ooops. Well, obviously I meant to say Hamlet… I am fully aware of Shakespeare plays and obviously I knew it was Hamlet. I have been known to get the names mixed up before though. If I could change it I would.
Actually the Lion King is based on both Hamlet and MacBeth.
Clayton in Tarzan??? A hanging in a Disney movie, what’s more morbid than that?
It’s a great Disney death I will give you that… but Tarzan was never one of my favorite Disney movies. Thanks for the suggestion though… this is obviously only my favorite Disney deaths. Thank you for reading.
Well, although I agree with most of these scenes, i would add Governor Ratcliffe’s death in Pocahontas
fyi, The Lion King is loosely based off of Hamlet, not Macbeth
and regarding Finding Nemo vs Up’s opening scenes…I think the fact that you forgot about Finding Nemo kind of says something, doesn’t it?
I know about the Hamlet thing- I completely meant to say Hamlet (but I always get the names, not the plays, mixed up).
As for Finding Nemo vs UP… I think the only reason I remembered UP over Finding Nemo is because UP is more recent and I’ve seen it more recently.
I would suggest the murder of Pocahontas’s fiance Kocoum to be on this list. I mean he was shot to death so I think that is pretty influential, just my opinion.