2. Bambi's Mother - Bambi
The 1942 Disney film Bambi taught a whole generation of children about the harsh reality of death, and the scene of Bambis mother being shot by a hunter still resonates to this day. In the film, Bambi and his mother, who are happily grazing together, flee when a gunshot rings out, and perhaps the most depressing part of this death is the inevitability of the whole thing. Bambis mum knows shes doomed yelling at her young son to keep running, dont look back! and of course, she ultimately takes a bullet. Bambi eventually makes it to safety, but when he turns around, he find that his mother is gone, as he sadly wanders through the forest looking for her in scenes of heart-breaking poignancy. An interesting point of trivia there was originally intended to be a scene of Bambis mothers dead body lying in a pool of blood, which was mercifully cut out as it was thought to have been too dark though that doesnt make the death any less horrific by any means. Deaths in a childrens film are always powerful, and make us realise that death comes to us all, even when we are least expecting it, and that things can be snatched away from us in a moment.