10 Dark Moments In Disney Animated Films
The Magic Kingdom and it's colourful characters have really dabbled in the darkness.
The Happiest Place on Earth has entertained and delighted the world for well over a century now through almost every medium imaginable. However, it must be said that these wonderful movies occasionally decide to ambush viewers with some of the darkest scenes in the history of cinema.
From a cinematic standpoint, it makes sense to include these heavier moments to make the bright seem brighter by comparison, but there have been some questionable scenes included by Disney, especially when you consider the fact that their prime market is children. Nonetheless, they have each employed some ghastly imagery and some distressing undertones - all of which are easily repressed until you scratch the surface once more.
Murder, torture, slavery, and even suicide have made appearances in the colourful cartoons that decorate our lives with whimsy, morality, and adventure. It's not exactly the most wholesome content possible, but it does serve to give real consequence to the actions of our beloved heroes, even if their cause was noble.
With the introduction aside, let's take a look at some of the darkest moments in Disney's animated movies.
10. Cat Food - The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
This lovely amble into the mystery genre received generally positive reviews from everyone, but it unfortunately fell into obscurity - which is extremely bizarre, because it was the film that lead to the Disney Renaissance.
And hard to forget, since it boasts the legendary vocal talent of Vincent Price as the charismatic and psychopathic villain Professor Ratigan, an obvious parallel to Sherlock Holmes' Dr. Moriarty.
He gets a wonderfully theatrical tune in which he and his underlings stroke his ego, in easily one of the most sinister villain songs ever, proclaiming that he drowned widows and orphans. This monstrous rodent truly revels in how evil he is, which truly comes across in Price's delivery. You can tell he really loved this role.
However, the particular darkness in this scene appears when his intoxicated follower, Bartholomew, refers to him as "the world's greatest rat", to which the professor responds by throwing him out of the lair, and ringing a little bell. This proved to be Bartholomew's death knell, as a huge cat named Felicia waddles its way and slowly devours the still unaware mouse, as he sings his praise of Ratigan.