20 90s Movie Scenes That Traumatized Us All

What else could've been at number one?

50 years after traumatizing an entire generation with the death of Bambi's mother, Disney were back at it again in their 1994 masterpiece, The Lion King. Here, they killed the loveable king Mufasa (James Earl Jones) in the most upsetting possible way. His own brother, Scar (Jeremy Irons). throws Mufasa into a stampede of wildebeest and then manipulates Mufasa's son, Simba (Johnathan Taylor Thomas), into thinking it was his fault. 

It's an achingly tragic sequence that, like a bowl of diced onions, made entire cinemas cry the world over, especially kids. For many of them, this was probably the saddest movie moment they'd yet seen. It is hard to even think of Simba desperately trying to wake his father up without getting emotional.

A huge thematic concept in The Lion King is the circle of life, and the film's creators deserve kudos for being so willing to show the dark aspects of that circle in such a bracing manner. In the end, Simba does learn the truth and he does regain his throne, so audiences were likely to cry again, this time happy tears, as the circle of life returns to a place of peace. Life is full of ups and downs, and this movie did a fantastic job of conveying that to kids while also giving them a beautifully uplifting and exciting story full of iconic songs. 

So yes, Mufasa's death traumatized everyone... but we wouldn't have it any other way.