Image Credit: Everett CollectionThis past weekend, I found myself watching An American Tail at 2 a.m. No, I wasn’t cruising for a nice bout of depression (“Somewhere Out There,” anyone?); I simply felt like falling in love with it all over again. It was one of those random movie cravings. You know the kind.
But before I pressed play, I told myself I’d fast-forward through the especially tear-inducing parts so as not to be the person who weeps by themselves in the middle of the night. So I didn’t watch when Fievel got separated from his family, and I didn’t watch the part where a pair of bullies gave the lonely little mouse a bed of straw to sleep on. They were obviously sad parts, and I’m not into cartoon self-flagellation. (Confession: I still haven’t worked up the courage to watch Up.) Then, I was caught off-guard when I found myself weeping during the happy ending (of all things!). There was something about watching disheveled Fievel follow the sound of his papa’s voice to reunite with his family that just had me bawling.
I immediately recognized the cheesiness of the situation, but I couldn’t help it. I hadn’t anticipated being moved by a predictable happy ending. Maybe the cynical, grown-up in me thought I was beyond it. Apparently I’m not. Sometimes, you can’t help but be moved by cartoon corniness.
We all cried during Toy Story 3, during that heartbreaking Peanuts episode, during that dog episode of Futurama, and during every Pixar movie. But what I want to know, PopWatchers, is which really cheesy cartoon moments get you every time?
On Twitter: @EWSandraG
In “Fox and the Hound,” not one of Disney’s most memorable movies, when the old woman tearfully takes the fox she has cared for since birth out to the woods — and LEAVES HIM THERE while a sad song plays and the fox looks totally confused as to why she’s doing it. It’s just too much to take.
Totally agree. The Fox and the Hound has got to be the most gut wrenching cartoon of all time.
My dad gave me the fox and the hound for my 6th birthday, and I never watched it again (I’m 21). Saddest movie ever.
The Lion King. Simba curling up under his dead father’s paw crying, begging him to wake up, only to be told by his evil uncle that it was all his fault. How do you not cry at that??
I always cry when they say to each other “We’ll be friends forever.” I gets me every time. I also still can’t watch Bambi without feeling depressed.
Hear hear regarding the Lion King comment. I cry every time Simba realizes that his father isn’t going to answer him. It’s so sad!
I hate Fox and the Hound because it is so heart-wrenching.
oh god. i cry my eyes out everytime!!! when i was little, i even cried when the mean dog falls off the train bridge….
I was just telling someone the other day how depressing The Fox and the Hound is. Their friendship started so innocent and pure and it sucks that it couldn’t last.
What about the voice over at the end? “We’ll be friends forever won’t we? Yeah, forever.”
My sister & I still talk about how sad that movie is.
thank god someone put this first! this movie is WRENCHING.
I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it! Definitely, the Fox and the Hound.
I don’t think I ever saw this movie until I was a teenager, but as a kid I had a book-on-tape version that had the same voiceover of the young Tod & Copper saying they’d be friends forever. Bawled every single time I listened to it. A little teary right now just thinkiing about it.
Yes, that voice-over at the end of Fox and the Hound is maybe the saddest thing I’ve ever experienced in a movie, cartoon or otherwise.
Seriously. Haven’t watched it in years and I don’t remember anything about it except how said I got after seeing it
I was afraid to watch it as a kid because of that record book. I knew I’d cry like a baby. And when I finally saw the movie as an adult, I sobbed.
I am crying now.
i’m getting chills and a lump in my throat right now just thinking about it.
Yes, oh god. One of my favorite Disney movies. Thank goodness it has enough cute parts to balance out the sad.
My dad took my sister and I to see Fox & the Hound and both of us were crying afterwards. He felt so bad that he took us for ice cream afterwards. It still gets me- years later I was on vacation at WDW with my future in-laws and it was playing at the McDonald’s there and I started tearing up. Now that I have kids, I just can’t bring myself to buy it for them.
I cried for days after Fox and the Hound when I was little. I am scarred forever.
I literally cannot watch that movie because of what it does to me. It has been this way since I was 8.
Pretty much any Disney movie has scarred me for life except for The Little Mermaid. Beauty and the Beast, still terrified, Fox and the Hound, still traumatized by all the dogs getting hurt, Bambi, Dumbo. I am starting to feel the same way about Pixar. Their movies are all so tragic lately, I mean I was a MESS when I saw Toy Story 3.
I can remember being a child and sobbing when Todd came back to save Copper from the bear even after Copper had turned on him. He was such a great friend. It’s hard not to tear-up thinking about it.
what?! when ursula gets all huge at the end? i dont remember how old i was at the time, but that scared the CRAP out of me. actually, everything about ursula is terrifying. “poor unfortunate souls…” totally evil, and she has made me hate octopus forever.
Oh my Lord, what about All Dogs Go To Heaven, you know the first one that wasn’t voiced by hooker addicted Charlie Sheen. When Charlie (the dog, not the actor although similarities are bountiful) gives his life to save Anne Marie and comes to visit her in the night to say farewell…Oi!! Or, the first Land Before Time when Little Foot’s mother dies…I lose it! Childhood movies were really quite emotionally scarring now that I think about it.
Uuuuuuugh, when Little Foot tells his mother, “Yes you can, get up!” and then she dies? Done.
Totally agree with you on the Land Before Time. I bawl like a baby when Littlefoot’s mom dies!
I thought of Land Before Time when he loses his mother. My brother and I both cried when we saw when we were just little and now that I have lost my mom I can’t bring myself to watch it anymore. I cry just thinking about it.
Ugh! The Land Before Time, such a sad movie over all!
When Littlefoot’s mother died was the first time I ever cried during a movie. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Oh my god, Land Before Time, yes! so sad!
Holy moly, YES! The Land Before Time; ga. Wailed like a little baby. Even owned to so if I needed a good cry, one was easy to be had. Also yes to the dog episode of Futurama (Jurassic BarkI think it was called). The ending was based on the story of Hachiko. That story (movie, book, real life story; all of it) is a MAJOR tearjerker; just not animated).
I loved All Dogs Go To Heaven Too. Didn’t know it was Sheen though.
All Dogs Go To Heaven, definitely! I remember crying so hard when I saw that as a child.
And it was mentioned in the article, but the dog episode of Futurama is really heartwrenching and deserves a better mention. I cried the first time I saw it, but when I rewatched it a few months ago, I just laid in the floor, sobbing against my dog for 20 minutes afterward. She thought I was nuts.
Also the episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender titled Tales of Ba Sing Se. When Uncle Iroh goes on top of the hill to sing the song in memory of his dead son…*tear*. Also in the final episode when Toph and Sokka are hanging from the airships before Suki comes to get them. I know they’re going to be saved, but it still breaks my heart.
First movie I thought of was Land Before Time. I actually still have a deep seated hatred for this film simply because of how sad I found it as a child. Apparently, I didn’t think that kid’s movies should be that sad.
All Dogs Go To Heaven and Land Before Time.
Oh my gosh, people don’t believe me about how sad it is. I love that movie but haven’t watched for years.
That scene from F&H is what immediately came to mind. I get misty just thinking about it!
The Fox and the Hound… most definitely. Although the scene with the farmer lowering his shotgun after Copper protects Tod is the one that gets me.
So this. I love Fox and the Hound.
That scene when she’s driving Todd to the forest and just looking at him and remembering and we all know what’s coming but Todd doesn’t – he’s just so happy and smiling! AH! Gets me every time!
That movie ends me. Oh god. I could cry just thinking about it.
I only watch that movie until they stop being pups. When they grow up, I shut it off. My heart cannot take it.
thats the first one that came to my mind too
I haven’t seen fox and the hound in years and years but I still get all teary-eyed just thinking about it.
So glad this one was brought up. I cry my way through this one everytime. My dad can’t watch it because he says it messes with his manly image cause he bawls like a baby.
Absolutely. When she leaves the fox out in the woods. Wow, I seriously could start crying just thinking about that scene.
Absolutely agree about F&H, I still vividly remember that being the first movie I ever cried watching. The other Disney tearjerker scene for me is when Mufasa dies in the Lion King..that was fairly traumatic as well.
I got that movie for my kids and the three of us were crying. That movie gets me every time.
I have seen the Fox & Hound at least 100 times since that is the only movie my young daughters wanted to watch for like 3 months. That got to me almost everytime.
I totally agree. The Fox and the Hound is one of the saddest movies. My older sister got it for me in 4th grade and I’ve never watched it again (I’m almost 26). It’s SO sad.
I can’t even watch that movie anymore. Just knowing that’s going to happen makes me start crying.
Oh god, I’d have to leave the room for that part of Fox in the Hound. The part in Lion King when Mufasa dies and Simba begs him to wake up was a tear jerker too.
Similar scene in Air Bud when the boy leaves Buddy on the island crying …and then Buddy triumphantly comes back! Crying for both sad and happy parts!
My roommate and I just popped my VHS copy of Fox and the Hound in over the summer. We were both weeping uncontrollably during that part. So heartbreaking.
Yeah, I can’t watch Fox and the Hound because of that scene.
Thanks for bringing up the only movie besides Toy Story that made me cry like a baby
Oh god me too! I watched it when I was about 19/20 and my mom came into the room and asked why I was crying. And all I could sob was “why can’t they be friends?!?”. Kills. Me.
I can’t watch “The Fox and the Hound” with any objectivity whatsoever, as it was the first animated film I saw after my dad died and my opinion of it is forever colored by my life circumstances at the time. So maybe I’m a bit of a heel, but I’m kind of glad that others can’t see it without crying.
Pinky and the Brain – The Christmas Episod when Pinky gives the Brain the whole world.
And (it’s not a cheesy cartoon) the end of Beauty and the Beast when you think the Beast has died and Belle finally tells him that she loves him…
Beauty and the Beast ALWAYS makes me cry at the end. It is so amazing, because every time you watch the movie, you do not know if he will become a prince again.
Agreed on P&B and B&B, but especially Pinky finally getting Brain his hearts desire (yes, it was a keychain, but don’t people always say it’s the thought that counts?)
Go Catherine. That is the one that came to mind for me. That tear from Belle’s eye and then “I love you” just barely escaping from her mouth. Yikes it’s happening.
Beauty and the Beast ALWAYS makes me cry at that part, and I’ve seen it an embarrassing amount of times.
I always tear up at the end of B and B when Chip turns human and comes running to Mrs. Potts. I have no idea why but it gets to me every time.
Yes, Beauty and the Beast. But watch UP. Yes, you’ll cry, but you’ll also know what it means when people say “Squirrel!”
The “I Will Go Sailing No More” scene in “Toy Story.”
I love how Buzz is feeling depressed after watching the TV commercial for the Buzz Lightyear toy (“You are a toy, you can’t fly!”), briefly gets inspired and convinces himself that he can, hangs in the air for a moment (in a beautiful shot)…and then unceremoniously crashes on the steps and loses an arm.
Gets me every time.
That’s a great scene, and I love that song. One of Randy Newman’s best.
I got made fun of so bad during this part because I cried in the theater. It also didn’t help that I was on a double date.
So heartbreaking!!! The music was a fabulous choice to pull at your heartstrings.
YES! I knew I wasn’t the only one! Just seeing him laying there with a broken arm… still gets me… Elia was right, the music was a great choice for the scene.
Just thinking about that song is making me teary. I’m such a baby.
On that note, the “when she loved me” in Toy Story 2. I actually pulled all of my old toys out from under the bed and put them on a shelf after that part. (I was 15) Damn you sarah mclachlan and your heartwrenching songs!
At the end of The Little Mermaid when Ariel and Eric get married. Ariel’s dad rises out of the water and they hug each other. I think that was the first time I ever cried watching a cartoon. I was about 6 or 7.
Agreed! That was the one I was going to write.
I totally agree! It’s the triumphant music that closes that scene that just delivers the emotion so much more. I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
Me too! That was what I was going to say! Glad I am not the only one…
This was my first thought, too! When she says, “I love you, Daddy”, I lose it!
Um, I started to mist up just reading the “I love you, Daddy” in your comment. Parent-child love destroys my tear ducts.
ARRRGH! The “I love you, Daddy…” KILLS ME!
“I’m sure going to miss her….”
Oh, Little Mermaid. I’m officially crying reading all the comments to the scene of the “I love you, Daddy.” Obviously, the scene itself leaves me a mess.
I was just thinking about it. My dad died and our relationship wasn’t great.I instantly well up at that scene.
Yes! He waves his staff and the rainbow appears!! *tear*
THANK YOU! Lord, I’m a sap…
Yes, I am close to my Dad. And we have arguments just like Ariel and King Triton. And when she leans over the ship and comes up out of the water and she whispers ” I love you Daddy” as he knows he is leaving her. Its heart-wrenching. Then she blows him a kiss and Eric bows to him in respect. Then the beautiful rainbow. I think a mix of nostalgia and sad/happy make me cry.
The Little Mermaid…yes! But the part that gets me is her heartbreak after the excitement of hearing he’s getting married…just not to her.
When Dumbo goes to visit his mother while she’s locked up, and that “Baby Mine” song plays…gets me EVERY time! I want to cry just thinking about it now!
ok i just watched that on youtube, and now i am crying. at my desk.
Oh man, me too
I cry all the way through Dumbo. That movie is CLASSIC!
Me,too! Definitely my biggest tear jerker cartoon moment. When I was pregnant with my first child, I began singing that lullaby to my belly, and four and half years later, he still asks for me to sing him his ‘special lullaby’ when he’s feeling particularly low…! Tearing up, now….
YES – nothing makes me cry my eyes out like “Baby Mine” in Dumbo. Heartbreaking.
I bawl like a baby every time I see this scene. Man, I can’t believe it. I’m tearing up right now at work. I’m such a sap!
I cry just thinking about that song!
Dumbo! My fave Disney flick. This scene makes me bawl. Good call.
That’s the moment that came to mind…so freaking sad…great I’m crying now. WWWAAAHHHH
Agreed!! I think Johnson and Johnson did a baby commercial years ago with that song and I would cry then!! Beautiful Movie!!
How many time times have I seen Dumbo? I’ve lost count it’s been so many. How often have I cried at the “Baby Mine” scene? Each and every time.
“Baby Mine” – I can’t help tearing up when that sequence plays (and especially when Dumbo’s mom lets him use her trunk as a swing).
Same here!
Oh that is the sweetest song, and so so sad she was protecting him and got locked up. I love ” Baby Mine”
OMG!!! I lose it every time
That was the first movie I cried during and I still cry every time. Now I have a son and that is our movie. I cuddle with him when that part comes on. So what if he’s 14 now…it’s our mother/son movie.
THIS. It didn’t make me cry before I had a child, but since, I turn into a blubbering mess.
Absolutely. Baby Mine – that scene turns me into a pool of tears everytime.
I was looking for this on here, this part gets me EVERY TIME!
Yes, this. Oy! Can’t watch.
Because if tis damn movie any time i hear baby mine i cry. I bawl when i hear the bette verison from the beaches movie. Dumbo kills me every time
Omg, 100% this.
YES! I tear up just thinking about it.
Dumbo hurts my heart so much. That Baby Mine scene kills me, but also the scene with the big eared kid making fun of Dumbo and he has this big fat tear roll down his cheek. So awful! I cry all the way through that movie!
Me, too! I could cry now just thinking about it. :’}
Oh God, I forgot about the Dumbo scene. A few years ago me and my sister and my cousins were all watching TV (we were all between 10-15 at the time) and that scene came on for some reason. The three youngest ones started crying and the older ones left the room. It was pretty bad…such a good scene though!
Oh that Dumbo scene has me in tears every time!
Saddest cartoon moment ever.
I feel like crying when i go the circus because it reminds me of Dumbo
Absolutely!!! I am tearing up just thinking of it. I can’t watch Dumbo, I just can’t take it.
The “Baby Mine” scene makes me fall apart. The idea of keeping them apart–and Dumbo’s a BABY who needs his Mama….I cannot watch it. My others are Up, the Mufasa death scene, and I’m not brave enough to check out Toy Story III lol
omg that’s the one I was thinking about too–I watched it with my little granddaughter and she started crying because I was crying! She had a lullaby tape with “Baby Mine” on it and I had to fast forward thru that one in the car or I couldn’t see to drive…
Yes – totally! I can’t even watch Dumbo, between how mean they are to Dumbo and this scene, I’m a mess!
I was watching ‘Aladdin’ the other day and started tearing up at the ending, when he freed the Genie rather than wish himself a prince again. I’ve seen that movie many times and I don’t recall crying before, so I have no idea why that moment hit me that time.
The Iron Giant – when he flies towards the bomb, closes his eyes and says “Superman”, I bawl.
And maybe not so much anymore, but as a 12 year old boy watching Optimus Prime die in the original animated Transformers movie also had me gushing.
Oh, this one kills me too every time I see it. I just break down in sobs.
That’s mine, for sure. I refused to watch that movie for a long time but my husband finally convinced me to see it. That moment still makes me bawl like a little girl. So touching. One of my faves, for sure.
Oh my God, when Hogarth says “I love you” to the giant … every single time.
That’s mine. My wife laughs every time it comes up because her big athletic husband gets teary eyed over the danged robot…
‘Superman….’
Me too! I cry every time he says “Superman” – so heartbreaking!
Yes! I was absolutely a puddle in the theater. I am tearing up just thinking about it. Wonderful movie!!
I was looking through these comments to find this moment. I knew it had to be here. I love Pixar’s films, and I love some of the Disney films, but the Iron Giant is my favorite animated film of all time, and one of my favorites over-all. The “Superman” line destroys me every time.
This one, too. I’m pretty much gone by the time he says, “I fix.”
Definitely the Iron Giant!!! To Hogarth at the end: “I go. You stay. No following.”
This one absolutely kills me. Superman, indeed.
Okay, you just made me cry again. I love this movie, and that scene just kills me (in a good way.)
Yep, when the Iron Giant sacrifices himself and also with the reveal at the end – tears of happiness for the latter…
I was hoping someone would say the Iron Giant. I cry like a baby every dang time, even though I know the actual ending isn’t really sad at all, it’s hopeful.
Yes, this one got me too! And then I cried when the part started flying together again.
All I have to say is “Charlie, you can never come back…”
is that from All Dogs go to Heaven? That’s the first movie I can remember crying at
All Dog’s Go to Heaven kills me! It’s so wonderful and heartbreaking!
I want to second The Iron Giant…it’s one of my six-year-old son’s favorites, and I always wind up hugging on him as tears roll down my cheeks.
I also want to throw The Land Before Time into the ring…it’s the first animated movie I remember watching as a kid, and it still just kills me now as an adult.
The Land Before Time. Duhhhhh
Yup, when Littlefoot’s mom dies. That was the first thing I thought of.
I was not going to comment on this article. . . until Rob read my mind. Totally agree with you guys on this one. Land Before Time for the win!
All Dog’s Go to Heaven to Place.
That is the saddest scene ever. Littlefoot is so little & cute & it’s sooo sad….
Me too
Mother! Mother! Wake up! OMG, tearing up right now. When he thinks he sees her in his shadow on the wall…I cried harder than I did when Bambi’s mother died.
You guys suck! My son’s wondering why mommies crying.
I have to physically leave the room when this scene comes on, same with the Lion King, Mufasa’s death – I lose it
Definitely. Him looking for her in the shadow on the wall… gut-wrenching.
LBT was my first thought, although fox & the hound and dumbo are excellent contenders.
Giving it a little more thought, though I haven’t seen them in a long time, I distinctly remember bawling during the ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ animated tv shows. Maybe I haven’t watched them since because I know I’d just be a big puddle of tears if I watched them again.
Dot and the Kangaroo makes me cry like a baby at the end when the kangaroo hops away.
THIS!
OMG, yes! And the little girl is crying and keeps telling the kangaroo to come back.
I used to ball at the end of this movie!!
In Disney’s Robin Hood when Robin is fighting with Prince John and he gets thrown into the water around the castle, then all of John’s henchmen fire arrows into the water. The little child rabbit that is with Robin Hood thinks that he has died and then Little John and the rabbit start crying. It is such a real heart felt moment that is put into a children’s movie.
I always get all choked up when the little rabbit says “Mommy,mommy,wait for me!”
Love Robin Hood:)
Oh where to begin: THE LAND BEFORE TIME, when Little Foot’s Mom dies, the FUTURAMA episode about Fry’s brother, THE LION KING when Mufasa dies, MONSTERS INC when Sully has to say goodbye to Boo…. There are many more, these just popped in my head right away.
The brother episode of Futurama is awesome. So well done, and “Don’t you forget about me” playing at the end just nails it. It’s right up there w/the dog episode.
Yes! The episode with Fry’s brother makes me cry even more than the dog episode.
Luck of the Frish! I cried so much and I felt so stupid because it’s Futurama! The dog episode was sad too.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the seven-leaf clover episode of Futurama. A bunch of those episodes are so amazingly good at wrenching my heart, it’s why Futurama is one of my favorite shows of all time.
Of course, I cry at every single Disney movie, and pretty much every happy moment in any movie, so I guess the bar is pretty low for me.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this episode of Futurama. This gem is one of the reasons it’s my all time fav show.
Of course, I cry at every single Disney and Pixar movie, and heck, every sappy moment in any movie, so I guess the bar is pretty low for me. Whatever, I still love this ep.
Yes, both of these episodes, and (for me) the last one when the show was cancelled, “The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings”. The end, when Fry loses the Devil’s hands (and his talent in the process) but Leela says, “I want to see how it ends,” and so he amateurishly finishes his opera about them ending up together – gets me every damn time. Even now, just thinking about it.
I can’t watch the dog episode of Futurama – I saw it once, I sobbed so hard — can’t bring myself to watch it again. Who says a cartoon cannot connect emotionally?
What makes that one so tragic is there’s no way to explain to her that he’s leaving.
The dog one is sadder to me, but that’s because it is based on a true story. A cop in Scotland had a puppy named Bobby. After the cop died, the dog spent every day for 14 years guarding his grave. Wiki Greyfriar’s Bobby.
OMG… Sully saying goodbye to Boo – I got teary just sitting here thinking about it… and then at the end… your smiling so big, but still crying. Pixar movies are great for that.
sorry *you’re*
Yes! And she opens the door and he’s not there. So freaking sad.
I cried lake a baby. I love Boo.
No matter how many times I see this movie, I still tear up a bit at this part! That, and the scene about 10 minutes into “Up”…
How about the Futurama episode called “The Sting”–about the Giant Space Bees? Leela thinks Frye’s been killed by a bee sting but keeps imagining seeing and hearing him everywhere (and he keeps imploring her to “Wake up”)… and then at the end of the episode you discover that Leela’s the one who actually got stung; she’s been in a coma the entire time, dreaming all of what happened. And Frye has been by her bedside the entire two weeks, telling her to “Wake up”. It’s a beaufitul little episode, full of so much heart…
YES. when sully says good-bye to boo? it’s just so sad!
Monsters Inc. When Sully knows he is not going to see the the little girl anymore and they shred her door. Then again at the end when Mike gives him the last piece of her door and his hands are all cut from putting it back together. That was awsome.
“Boo?”
-”Kitty!”
That moment always makes me cry!
Oh Lord, I can’t even think of that moment without wanting to sob.
Kitty! So cute and sad. I always wondered how much time had passed when he finally got back to her.
Oh, man, the “Kitty” part is heartbreaking. Pixar pretty much dominates the market on bittersweet endings. Disney movies are pretty tear-inducing, too. I still can’t sit through the “Baby Mine” scene in Dumbo without tearing up.
Okay, choked up now. Must stop reading this.
Best tear inducing moment from Pixar. Wait no… Wall E holding hands with Eve as she’s shut down. Wait no… The end of Toy Story 3 when Andy plays with his toys with the new little girl. Wait no…. It’s really Sully and Boo.
That scene gets my husband every time.
Boo and Sully…every time. My eyes are welling up now just thinking about it.
I’m tearing up just now thinking of that scene. But that’s a happy cry. I love it. So precious.