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10 Darkest Disney Movies
Disney has delivered some of the most iconic, uplifting, and family-friendly movies of all time. Although the studio has developed a reputation for producing light family entertainment, there are some startlingly unsettling moments in some of its releases. After the release of 2023’s The Little Mermaid and with the upcoming release of The Haunted Mansion, it’s a good time to revisit some of Disney’s darkest offerings.
Disney flicks like Bambi,101 Dalmatians, and Child of Glass feature a much more bleak story than the studio’s other projects. Disney’s extensive catalog features movies that don’t shy away from dark and tragic storylines, horrific villains, and disturbing imagery.
10 Bambi
One of Disney’s earliest offerings is also one of its most grim. 1942’s Bambi received mixed reviews upon its first release for its dark plot, as the adorable titular deer suffers a horrific tragedy.
Throughout Bambi, a vicious hunter attempts to brutally murder the deer and his animal friends for sport. Perhaps the most shocking moment comes in Bambi’s second act when the hunter succeeds in shooting Bambi’s mother. It’s utterly heartbreaking to witness and reflects how cruel humanity can be toward the natural world. Toward the film’s end, the hunter also shoots Bambi, but the young deer manages to survive.
9 Return To Oz
The Wizard of Oz is widely considered one of the most iconic movies of all time, so it’s no surprise that a sequel released many decades later. Return To Oz takes a more sinister approach to Dorothy’s adventures when the poor girl finds the nefarious Nome King has ravaged Oz.
Return To Oz is a brutal watch that begins with Dorothy being released from a psychiatric hospital following the first film’s events. Return To Oz also features the most disturbing imagery ever seen in a Disney movie, as Dorothy encounters a room full of decapitated heads.
8 Don’t Look Under The Bed
Disney has rarely ventured into the horror genre, as the studio usually prefers to rely on wondrous fantasies and fairytales. However, the company did explore a more horrific storyline with the 1999 film Don’t Look Under The Bed. This film follows the young high-school student Frances McCausland when the Boogeyman begins menacing her town.
Don’t Look Under The Bed’s spooky plot brings plenty of scares and dark concepts. The Boogeyman kidnaps children during blackouts, and the film takes a Nightmare on Elm Street-turn when the kids visit the unnerving Boogeyworld Dimension. Don’t Look Under The Bed may not terrify adults, but it’s still a dark Disney story.
7 Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise follows Captain Jack Sparrow on his weird and wonderful pirate adventures. However, this premise allows the movies to step into darker territory. At World’s End is particularly noteworthy in this regard when Jack and his crew engage in a final battle against Davy Jones, the Royal Navy, and the East India Trading Company.
At World’s End also begins with a disturbing scene where the nasty Lord Cutler Beckett hangs children and adults alike for supporting pirate life. The moviesees Jack and his crew discover a bunch of dead bodies floating in the waters of Davy Jones’ locker, creating one of the most disturbing sequences in a Disney movie to date.
6 Child Of Glass
Child of Glass’s 1978 release surprised audiences because of its morbid nature. This unusual film from Disney follows curious child Alexander Armsworth as he moves into a new home with his family. There, he meets the ghost of a young girl named Inez.
Inez’s backstory is tragic: a cruel pirate murdered her and her family dog. Perhaps the most distressing aspect of Child of Glass is the fact that Inez is forced to reenact her own murder every night if Alexander fails to solve a riddle. The implications of Child of Glass’s curse are horrific, as Inez must constantly relive the traumatic circumstances of her own death.
5 The Lion King (2019)
1994’s The Lion King is not only a beautiful piece of animation from Disney, but it also contains some of its most grim scenes. It’s the 2019 remake, however, that is the most challenging watch. Although it tells the same story about Simba’s path to becoming king, The Lion King’s realistic animals make the tragic scenes even more powerful.
2019’s The Lion King offers a realistic depiction of Mufasa’s death in the Elephant Graveyard at the hands of his cruel brother. It’s a tough sequence for animal lovers, made harder by the fact that the lion’s CGI corpse looks so real.
4 The Littlest Horse Thieves
Disney’s family-friendly films often tend to shy away from real-world issues, as the studio prefers to tell light-hearted and uplifting stories. A rare exception is the 1977 drama The Littlest Horse Thieves, which follows three young children who discover a plot to replace pit ponies with steam engines in 1909 Yorkshire.
The Littlest HorseThieves explores some particularly grim territory, especially when the greedy coal mine owner Lord Harrogate sends the ponies to be slaughtered. Although most of the ponies make it out alive, The Littlest Horse Thieves ends tragically, and one of the horses dies in a gigantic explosion. This film is sure to tug on the heartstrings of animal lovers worldwide.
3 101 Dalmatians
Although 101 Dalmatians features cute puppies and loving owners, it’s still one of Disney’s darkest movies. The animation follows the snobby fashion designer Cruella de Vil as she attempts to steal over 100 Dalmatians from the dogs’ kind owners Roger and Anita.
Cruella’s ambitions are utterly abhorrent, and 101 Dalmatians does not hold back on her cruelty. Cruella’s devious plan involves skinning the poor dogs to make fur coats. Cruella is prepared to go to extreme lengths to achieve her aims, and she even purposefully rams into the puppies’ transport van when her scheme is exposed.
2 Fantasia
Mickey Mouse has acted as the face of Disney for many years, and the character has since become iconic. Mickey received his feature debut in 1940’s Fantasia. This anthology film brings together some of Disney’s darkest ideas, as Mickey becomes a sorcerer and quickly loses control of his magical abilities.
Perhaps the most unnerving sequence in Fantasia is “Night on Bald Mountain.” This short segment in the cinematic release sees the mighty devil Chernabog awaken and summon various evil spirits from their graves. Fantasia’s “Bald Mountain” sequence contains some horrific imagery, which is likely to spook audiences of all ages.
1 Pinocchio
1940’s Pinocchio may initially appear a harmless tale for families, but it also contains some of Disney’s most troubling ideas. Its narrative follows the wooden boy named Pinocchio, who comes to life after Geppetto wishes for a child of his own, and goes to some very dark places.
Disney’s Pinocchio is at its most grotesque when Pinocchio finds himself at Pleasure Island with some unruly kids. The brutal Coachman turns the naughty children into donkeys and lures them into a false sense of security by allowing them to drink and smoke underage. Pinocchio doubles down on this harsh injustice by showing the Coachman’s selfish greed, as he sells the donkeys to circuses and salt mines.
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