12 Horrific Movie Animal Deaths You Haven't Recovered From

11. The NeverEnding Story - Artax

Poor Artax and what a way to go: drowned in a swamp of utter sadness. Which sort of begs the question of what horses can actually get depressed about. Lack of sugar cubes? Over-use of whips? Unlike the books, Artax can't speak to Atreyu in the film, which is kind of a good thing; imagine hearing him screaming his last words before drowning in that mud? No thank you. Artax serves his purpose up until a certain point as he represents Atreyu's past and he has to die so he can move forward and achieve the mission by himself. Which means precisely nothing to your tear ducts when the poor horse is being swallowed by that puddle. Admittedly, it is short lived as he comes back at the end of the story, but it's still a ridiculously traumatic sequence in a kids' film.