5. Bing Bong's Sacrifice - Inside Out
Pixar has an impressive history of making grown adults sob like they were children who'd just skinned their knees on the playground (and those knees just so happened to be attached to their heart). They did it with Toy Story 3. They did it with Up. But boy did they outdo themselves with Inside Out. The details of what happens here sound far too silly to lend any emotional weight to the scene, so I'll simplify it as much as possible and omit most of the goofy names for dramatic effect. A young girl, Riley, has given each of her basic emotions - Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger, and Disgust - a "real life" characterisation. These five characters from her consciousness are responsible for creating her core memories, and Joy is obviously the most important character in creating a happy life for the girl. There's also an imaginary friend that Riley discarded some years ago who desperately wants to see her again. A large portion of the movie is his epic struggle to do so. Two emotions, Joy and Sadness, try to help him do so. But just as it looks like this former imaginary friend might be getting close to reconnecting, he's forced to sacrifice himself to save Joy. All he ever wanted was to get back by Riley's side. That possibility disappears for good as the audience watches him literally vanish into nothing, with circumstances causing him to remain, forever, a forgotten memory. Some might say that this imaginary friend is the true emotional core of Inside Out. But admitting that would just make the scene even harder to take. Honestly, I can't think about this anymore because my keyboard isn't insured for water damage.