10 Disney movies with an unexpected dark side

With the launch of Disney+ comes the realization that just about every Disney movie has a dark side. Here’s a list of the darkest Disney’s got.

The launch of Disney+ has us all wrapped up in enough content for months of entertainment. The fact that it came right before the holiday season is even better. Disney obviously planned this and honestly, who isn’t going to subscribe to their childhood for $7 a month.

Throughout Disney’s long history, it hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows. The more you look back on the Mouse House classics, the more you pick up on a theme: these movies were dark. Sometimes unnecessarily so. Don’t believe me? Read through this list and dig up all the scars from your childhood.

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Since just about every Disney movie has some aspect of darkness to it, we’ll leave out the intentionally dark movies to keep the list a little more interesting. Everyone knows The Nightmare Before Christmas, Alice in Wonderland and anything else ever involving Tim Burton were designed to be that way. Then there are the obvious choices such as Maleficent, centered on “evil” characters, which are also too easy to list here. This list outlines that underlying Disney darkness that cuts a bit deeper.

10. The Lion King

Uncle murders brother, sends nephew off to die. Uncle rules kingdom with an iron fist until nephew comes back and murders uncle. The entire premise of The Lion King is pretty dark.

Most of the plot probably went down this way to stay true to how lions act in nature, but it’s jarring once you see it all laid out. Why didn’t Simba’s mother try to find him? Good on Timon and Pumbaa for stepping up and raising him because it’s clear his own mother didn’t care to. The hyena army was pretty spooky as well — their darkest moment coming when they tore Scar to pieces.

Last but not least, Simba and Nala are most likely related.

9. Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 wouldn’t be on this list if not for one scene in the movie that is about as deeply disturbing a scene as the darkest of Disney’s creations: the trash compactor/incinerator scene.

OH MY GOD, WHY?

This grueling watch was as gut-wrenching as any movie scene out there. Put simply: it’s very hard to watch. The ever-so-positive Buzz Lightyear giving up and trying to comfort his friends in their final moment together sends a lump to your throat so fast you’d think you were watching your childhood memories burn along with them.

8. Dumbo

It took us all a little too long to realize that the circus was bad. Capturing exotic animals, locking them in cages and forcing them to perform in front of crowds every night is not exactly the most humane path to be taking. Dumbo has also received a content warning on Disney+.

Dumbo is one of Disney’s older films, originally dating back to 1941. In it, Dumbo is relentlessly mocked for being “dumb” and having large ears. He’s taken away from his mother, who is caged for protecting him. He finds out he can use his ears to fly, which ends up making the circus a ton of money.

To this day, we still call him Dumbo, too, which was the name given to him by the bullies. Imagine if the movie was called Dumbo but the main character was nicknamed “stupid idiot elephant.” I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t refer to him as that.

The “happy ending” here is that Dumbo and his mom get their own circus car. Overall, everyone is still suffering. Having the nicest cell in prison is great, but you’re still in prison.

7. Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Perhaps a lesser-known movie compared to the others on this list, but make no mistake, Atlantis belongs here. Atlantis opens with the death of thousands of people. If that isn’t enough, the rest of the movie is an analogy for nuclear war destroying the world.

As it turns out, replacing musical numbers with an overlying anti-capitalism theme doesn’t exactly brighten up the movie at all.

6. Old Yeller

I mean…

5. Beauty and the Beast

Okay. A lot to unpack with this Disney classic. First of all, bestiality is super illegal in most of the world and definitely should not be celebrated. This is a “love story” in the same way Room is a love story. I’m sorry, but you can’t just steal and imprison people until they accept you.

Gaston is a walking nightmare and his misogynistic advances come off super predatory, but he’s nowhere near as bad as the Beast. Beast imprisons Maurice, Belle’s father, then uses him in a deal to entrap her. He then keeps her around until she “falls in love” with him. If you were in a castle far away from all other humans with a 7-foot-tall monster and a dancing candle, you’d do whatever it took to get out of there too. Belle “fell in love” without really having a say, which is pretty dark.

Everyone here is on drugs. Multiple extended musical numbers with dancing cutlery, teapots, clocks and candles. That’s not fun, that’s acid.

Admittedly, I didn’t fully comprehend Beauty and the Beast.

4. The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron was based on a very good series of books written by Lloyd Alexander called The Chronicles of Prydain. The Disney version was very loosely based on the first two books in the series but didn’t follow them strictly outside of names and places.

This movie came when Disney was in a bit of a dark place (we’ve all been there) in the 1980s. The zombie-like creatures from the movie helped push the film to Disney’s first PG rating (spooky). The books were incredible, but the movie was a handful of minor parts pulled from all five books and mashed together in an attempt to make a darker Disney movie. The result ended up losing them a lot of money.

Still, what could have been a great series of movies (there’s still time), is one of the darker movies in the Disney world. Cauldron belongs on this list and if when they live-action reboot it properly for Disney+, I’ll be the first in line to see it.

3. Bambi 

WHY DID THEY HAVE TO KILL THE MOTHER?!

Seriously. That scene emotionally scarred every child, vilified every hunter and broke every heart in America. There was no need to show it, either. Bambi could have been separated from his mother for no apparent reason, or, at least, the shooting could have been implied without the harrowing scene. But no, thanks for the memories, Disney. Here it is again if you’re some kind of monster who loves suffering (I’m so sorry).

2. The Fox and the Hound

Let’s take two extremely lovable characters and make them best friends! Later, we’ll make them fight to the death. Wow. F*** you, Disney.

1. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

When it comes to awful, dark and evil themes, Hunchback takes the cake. This is a deeper darkness that Disney rarely waded into. Themes, gargoyles and hunchback aside, this movie was dark because it had one of the most emotionally psychopathic characters in Disney history: Frollo.

Claude Frollo hates gypsies and wants their entire race wiped out, yet he is also in love with Esmerelda, a gypsy woman. He loves her to the point of obsession, and how he acts through this is darker than any Disney movie should ever be. Here’s a brief timeline on Frollo through the film:

Frollo and his soldiers capture a gypsy caravan and Frollo himself murders a mother for fleeing. Before he murders her deformed child as well, he is convinced to keep him. He does so, only in fear of God, and names him Quasimodo. Because of his deformity, Frollo convinces Quasimodo that the entire world would hate him if he were to ever set foot outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

20 years later, Frollo tasks with his newly appointed Captain of the Guard, Phoebus, about eradicating all of Paris’ gypsies. He then falls in lust with Esmerelda, a gypsy. Frollo curses her to the Virgin Mary for putting a spell on him (of course, it can’t just be that she’s pretty) and ends up landing on, “She will be mine or she will burn.” That’s healthy.

Here’s but one extremely uncomfortable example of Frollo’s actions:

After Esmerelda escapes, Frollo starts a manhunt for Esmerelda, killing, bribing and burning gypsies to Phoebus’ breaking point. Phoebus knows right from wrong, so Frollo sentences him to death. Esmerelda escapes, again, with the help of Quasimodo, so Frollo tricks Quasimodo into telling him Esmerelda’s whereabouts then threatens to burn her at the stake unless she succumbs to his desires. This is a Disney movie.

When Esmerelda refuses (hard to blame her, it was not the most romantic proposal), Frollo was ready to execute her. Quasi saves her, so Frollo chases them back to Notre Dame, tells Quasi about murdering his mother and then tries to kill them both again. Thankfully, he dies a horrible death soon after. Once again, this is the company that brings joy and happiness to the world, creating the most psychopathic, misogynistic, genocidal murderer in animated movie history.

Frollo’s character in the 1996 Disney adaptation was based on Ralph Fiennes’ performance as concentration camp commandant Amon Goth in Schindler’s List. If that isn’t dark enough for you, well, no. It is dark enough for you.

Disney+ grants us all access to a massive library of Disney classics, many of which our children will soon be watching for the first time. Prepare for some intense conversations, though, as a lot of these movies are a lot darker than we remember them to be.