3. Tarzan
For the most part Tarzan is just your average Disney movie. Weve got a protagonist (Tarzan), weve got their love interest (Jane) and weve got a villain (Clayton). As per the Disney formula, theres laughter, fun, the occasional bit of peril and a soundtrack by Phil Collins. The storyline is perfectly functional, with Tarzan having to choose between the gorillas who adopted him or the humans who are technically his own species and more specifically, Jane. Claytons plan involves getting Tarzan to divulge the location of his gorilla family so he can capture them and take them back to London, as befitting his status as an uproariously British hunter. But thats fine, weve heard plenty worse motivations and all films need the villain to do something heinous. But as all kids know, bad guys eventually get their comeuppance, and so it usually proves. Theyre either punished for their crimes (think Lotso being strapped to the front of a garbage truck in Toy Story 3) or suddenly killed off-screen (think Shan Yu being shot into an exploding firework hut in Mulan). Then theres Clayton. We see him get hanged.
Im sorry, what? Thats one of the most traumatic death scenes Ive ever seen! Why couldnt he just fall to his death like a regular villain? What makes it worse is that we see his silhouette later. Its quite absurd just how graphic this death is, and how traumatic to children it was a hanging isnt a pleasant thing for anyone but here it is, just casually placed into a Disney film. Its a very disturbing scene, kind of like a halfway house between Disney and true, horrific stuff. It's only when you rewatch this as an adult that you notice just how utterly grim and unsuited to kids this death scene actually was.