When thinking of animated children's movies, the same few traits usually come to mind: family-friendly, light-hearted, fun... Audiences expect to watch these movies, have a few laughs, and then get the happily-ever-after at the end. But sometimes, these films tug at their heartstrings and force them to reach for that box of tissues, like with Bambi, The Lion King, and that soul-crushing montage in Up. Other times, an animated children's film can be absolutely terrifying.
These movies toy with children's fears and, in some cases, bring their nightmares to life. When thinking about these films years later, they still remember the monster that haunted their dreams or the scene that rattled their nerves. Even as adults, they may still find those moments jarring, making them wonder if these movies are appropriate for young viewers. Without further ado, here are ten animated children's films that are still scaring viewers years later.
Updated on December 20th, 2023, by Samuel Cormier: If you also remember animated movies from your childhood that scared you for years, then you will be happy to know this article has been updated with more content.
10 Fantasia (1940)
Fantasia
- Release Date
- November 13, 1940
- Director
- James Algar , Samuel Armstrong , Ford Beebe , Norman Ferguson , Jim Handley , T. Hee
- Cast
- Leopold Stokowski , Deems Taylor , Julietta Novis , Corey Burton , Walt Disney , James MacDonald
- Rating
- G
- Runtime
- 120
Walt Disney's experimental film Fantasia consists ofanimated segments that are synchronized with classical music. When people think about this film,they usually recall one of two scenes. The first is The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which shows Disney's flagship character Mickey Mouse donning the iconic sorcerer's hat. The other segment, however, is much less fun and light-hearted. It's Night on Bald Mountain, which features the demonic Chernabog.
What Makes It Scary
As Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain booms sinisterly in the background, Chernabog opens his great wings to reveal himself to the audience. This Satan-like creature is evil incarnate. He grins wickedly as he tosses helpless souls into the flames below him. Although Chernabog's appearance is short, he's become legendary in Disney lore. He's been haunting Fantasia fans since 1940 — and may one day be haunting us in a live adaptation of Night on Bald Mountain. Stream on Disney+.
9 Monster House (2006)
In Monster House, three tweens decide to investigate the mystery behind an abandoned house across the street. Objects seem to disappear when they approach it, and it overall just seems... alive. What better day to confront the building than Halloween night?
What Makes It Scary
Monster House toys with children's overactive imagination. It does not matter whether what they see is real, and the connections they make reasonable; they tend to feed into their own delusions. While this film is made to be spooks for kids (no unexpected mountain-tall devil like in Fantasia), the film is nonetheless scary: the house gaining consciousness and attempting to swallow children whole is a haunting image. To this day, those who have seen this film do not walk past an abandoned home carefree. Rent on Apple TV, Prime, and Vudu.
8 All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
All Dogs Go to Heaven is an animated classic that most people forget about. For a children's movie, it features many dark, grown-up concepts. In the very beginning, a street-smart, hustling dog named Charlie is killed during a gambling operation by his partner in crime Carface (a fun play on Scarface). Charlie is sent to Heaven, where he cheats death by stealing a magic watch — and is told that the next time he dies, he'll be going straight to Hell. Woof.
What Makes It Scary
At one point in the film, after taking advantage of a homeless orphan who can speak to animals, Charlie has a nightmare where he visits Hell, and it's as terrifying as one would expect. Charlie is surrounded by lava and frightening, demonic figures. They chase him around Hell, roaring and snarling. It's a scene that would be expected in Dante's Inferno, certainly not from an animated children's movie. Stream on Roku and MGM.
7 Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland is one of the greatest animated films that most people have never heard of. It's based on a 1905 comic strip, which was loosely adapted into Netflix's 2022 film Slumberland. But this live adaptation has nothing on the animated movie. Little Nemo is a fantastical journey of a young boy named Nemo (which means "nobody" in Latin), who weaves in and out dreams inspired by his daily life. Nemo and his flying squirrel pal Icarus find themselves in Slumberland, a wondrous and dreamy world where you can jump on clouds and hang out with a princess.
What Makes It Scary
Things take a turn for the worse when Nemo unleashes an actual nightmare into Slumberland. A conscious, blue-black sludge that kidnaps the king, takes over Slumberland, and turns it into Nightmare Land. It's a creepy, barren place that Nemo and Icarus are forced to brave. At the heart of this frightening world lies the Nightmare King, an enormous and demonic figure that's reminiscent of Chernabog. The Nightmare King really is like something out of a nightmare — and does his best to squash Nemo into a pulp. Stream on Prime and Roku.
6 9 (2009)
9 takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where a little ragdoll, the titular 9, seems to be the only survivor. He soon finds others like him, who warn him of sentient machines that want them all dead. While they believe that hiding is the best solution, 9 decides that attacking them represents their best chance to save themselves — and the world itself.
What Makes It Scary
The film has a dark, gloomy, green and brown mood that runs throughout. The design of the main characters is frankly creepy, made of burlap and wearing goggles — although their friendly personalities save them on that front. The villains, however, are each scarier than the last. Most of the minions are based on animals: cats, bats, spiders, and fleas; but they are made into thoughtless, red-eyed, angular robots which are just terrifying. The Seamstress is a horrifying machine, vaguely shaped like a six-handed scorpion, and adorned with a broken dollhead in the center of a mouth-like cocoon. Finally, the main villain is called B.R.A.I.N., a very intelligent robot whose design somewhat resembles HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey — except extremely fast, and dotted with gigantic claws. The steampunk aesthetic of this movie makes it a great watch but certainly does not participate in making it less scary. Rent on Apple TV and Vudu.
5 Pinocchio (1940)
Pinocchio
- Release Date
- February 23, 1940
- Director
- Hamilton Luske , Ben Sharpsteen
- Cast
- Mel Blanc , Don Brodie , Walter Catlett , Marion Darlington , Frankie Darro , Cliff Edwards
- Rating
- G
- Runtime
- 88
There have been many adaptations of Carlo Collodi's fantastical story, The Adventures of Pinocchio, over the years. But Walt Disney's animated classic, titled simply Pinocchio, remains the best of the bunch. It has that rare and coveted score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely regarded as one of the greatest animated movies ever. It's also one of the darkest. During Pinocchio's journey to become a real boy, he and other mischievous little boys are whisked off to Pleasure Island, which is basically a dark version of Disney World without rules and adults. Pinocchio, his buddy Lampwick, and the other boys immerse themselves in the vices of Pleasure Island, smoking cigars and drinking beer. These are scenes that Disney would never include in a film today. Literally. 2022's soulless, live adaptation of Pinocchio cut out those vices, making the "bad" kids seem much more wholesome than in the original film.
What Makes It Scary
Pinocchio and the boys are brought to Pleasure Island by the mysterious Coachman. We never learn who this character is, though fans like to speculate that he's the Devil. The Coachman briefly transforms into a demonic-looking figure, and he has shadowy figures working for him at Pleasure Island. But things really get terrifying when the boys suddenly turn into donkeys. Despite Lampwick's horrible personality, watching him transform into a donkey, screaming helplessly for his mother, is the stuff of nightmares. Then, when realizing that all the donkeys at Pleasure Island, including those that get whipped by the Coachman, are really little boys — well, that's just more nightmare fuel. Stream on Disney+.
4 Toy Story (1995)
Toy Story
- Release Date
- October 30, 1995
- Rating
- G
- Runtime
- 81
Toy Story, Pixar's first feature-length movie, changed the scope of animation. It ushered in the age of 3D, computer animation and did away with the classic 2D style. With this new art form came new animated horrors. In Toy Story, everything starts out fine and dandy for Woody, Buzz, and the other toys at their owner Andy's house — until they wind up in the possession of Andy's next-door neighbor, Sid.
What Makes It Scary
Sid is a vicious, mischievous kid who tortures and destroys toys for fun. Watching Woody and Buzz enter Sid's house is like stepping into The Shining. Sid's house was designed to resemble Stanley Kubrick's horror classic. On top of that, there are deformed and mutilated toys appearing out of the shadows, terrifying both Woody and the audience. But despite their sinister appearances, Sid's toys are actually nice and good-natured. Woody ultimately teams up with them to escape Sid's clutches. In doing so, they create one of the most horrifying sequences in animation. After watching this scene, you'll likely think twice about mistreating your belongings in the future. Stream on Disney+.
3 Coraline (2009)
Coraline
- Release Date
- February 5, 2009
- Director
- Henry Selick
- Rating
- PG
- Runtime
- 100
Coraline follows the story of a blue-haired, rainjacket-donned little girl who moves into a new house in the countryside. She soon learns the existence of a parallel world inhabited by her "other" mother, father, and all her strange neighbors. While at first she is enchanted by this new place where her parents spend time with her and everything is beautiful and whimsical, she quickly realizes that something is wrong, very wrong.
What Makes It Scary
Coraline is an animated horror movie that does not run short on nightmare fuel. First, the characters in the other world all have buttons for eyes, and the Other Mother gives Coraline her own pair alongside a needle and thread to sew on. There are ghost children who were killed by the Beldam and are trapped inside this house forever until Coraline finds their eyes. If that's somehow not spooky enough, the Other Mother, originally looking like a normal woman except for the buttons, eventually turns into the Beldam, a spider-like character with exaggerated facial features, skin like porcelain, and hands made of needles. Spiders, ghosts, needles, porcelain dolls — this movie hits all the boxes of things children and adults alike fear. Stream on Max.
2 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas shouldn't have worked as a children's movie. First of all, it was made with stop-motion animation which, while beautiful and impressive, has a creepy look in itself. Secondly, it's about a town of monsters who kidnap Santa Claus. Some of Halloween Town's civilians are gruesome and horrifying, like the chubby little boy who has his eyelids sewn shut. And let's not forget the film's antagonist, Oogie Boogie, who spends the entire movie trying to torture and murder Santa Claus.
What Makes It Scary
After kidnapping "Sandy Claws," protagonist Jack Skellington and the rest of Halloween Town hijack Christmas and try pulling off the holiday themselves. This culminates in the scariest part of the movie. The toys that Jack leaves for families on Christmas morning are murderous. They terrorize the children and chase them around the house. One of the film's most iconic and jarring shots is when two parents ask their son what Santa got him for Christmas, to which the little boy responds by silently pulling a shrunken head out of a box. Even Disney thought The Nightmare Before Christmas was too dark and frightening for children. The House of Mouse originally released the film through Touchstone Pictures, a film studio under the Disney umbrella. Stream on Disney+.
1 The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
Before there was Toy Story, there was The Brave Little Toaster. This animated classic breathed life into electric appliances, from whiny blankets to vacuum cleaners and vehicles. Here, a group of household items, led by Toaster, embark on a harrowing journey to reunite with their beloved master.
What Makes It Scary
For an animated children's film, The Brave Little Toaster has some really dark, horrifying moments. There's a terrifying dream sequence where a giant, demonic clown rises out of flames, leans toward us with a maniacal grin, and whispers to Toaster, "Run." Then there's the jolly shopkeeper who breaks down appliances for their parts — which, in Toaster and his friends' eyes, looks like nothing more than torture and death. But the scariest part of this film, hands down, is when the air conditioner has a mental breakdown. He screams and explodes with rage over being trapped in the wall. Experiencing this scene is like watching an AC unit actually commit suicide. Currently unavailable to stream.
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