10 Most Gruesome Deaths From Kids' Movies
Why does Watership Down have a bigger kill count than most horror films?
Settling down to watch a children's film, one would expect light-hearted laughs, gorgeous visuals, and an undemanding plot.
Whether it be a delightful Disney flick, a perfect Pixar film, or a daring DreamWorks movie, audiences generally know what they're getting when they sit down to watch a family-friendly feature.
However, some children's movies are more frightening than fun, containing serious themes, terrifying animation, and unexpectedly dark moments. Especially devastating are those otherwise light and fun kids films which feature the onscreen deaths of their protagonists, villains, or supporting characters.
While most children's films handle death tactfully, often portraying the event offscreen, others delve straight in, traumatizing their young audiences with unexpectedly bloody, gory, or horrifying death scenes.
From Tarzan to Watership Down, here are the most gruesome deaths ever featured in children's films.
10. Ursula Is Impaled - The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is a critically acclaimed Disney animation centred on the adventures of Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson), the titular mermaid who desperately seeks to escape her life in the ocean and instead live amongst humans. Ariel is particularly fascinated by Prince Eric (CD Barnes), a handsome prince whose life she saves at the beginning of the film.
Ursula (Pat Carroll) is a terrifying sea witch who grants Ariel her wish to live on land. Ursula agrees to temporarily transform Ariel into a human in exchange for the latter's beautiful singing voice.
Ursula later uses Ariel's voice to entice and nearly entrap Prince Eric, transforming into the beautiful Vanessa so as to convince Eric to marry her. Eventually, however, the enchantment is broken and, on what was meant to be their wedding day, Vanessa reverts to her true self.
Mermaids and humans alike work together in attempt to destroy the evil Ursula, and the sea witch is eventually killed in an extraordinarily brutal fashion.
Eric steers a ship towards Ursula and is ultimately able to impale her with its bowsprit. To add insult to injury, the witch is then struck by lightning, and collapses into the ocean. This is one shocking (sorry!) death which is hard to forget.