21 Seemingly Innocent Childhood Movies That Left People Traumatized
Vote up the most traumatizing movies.
We all had movies we loved as children, but we also had the ones that induced nightmares like no other. U/ladanyilatz asked the Reddit community, "What ‘child-friendly’ movie left you traumatized?" People shared the films that led to nights of no sleep.
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- Dumbo
From Redditor u/Nik-ki:
My baby cousin (about 2 at the time, I was 12) was messing with the remote and put it on randomly. Landed right at the scene when Dumbo gets drunk and starts hallucinating. Within moments we were both crying and I turned it off. Proceeded to cuddle until we both felt better.
Still haven't seen that movie in full, 14 years later, and I never will, don't believe she has either.
From Redditor u/anonmymouse:
This is mine too but that's not anywhere near the worst part… all the stuff that happens at the beginning with Dumbo's mom… and when she's in the cage and they're saying goodbye and she's rocking him with her trunk. That sh*t would still make me bawl my eyes out today, guaranteed.
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- Where the Red Fern Grows
From Redditor u/Pragmatist203:
Read the book in seventh grade. Dog innards all twisted up in the briars is something that's hard to forget even 30 years on.
From Redditor u/doggofurever:
I sob horribly every time I read it. (I'm 49, and it still makes me cry.)
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From Redditor u/unlovelyladybartleby:
I had screaming nightmares into my 20s and finally realized they were about Watership Down.
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From Redditor u/HomemRural:
Couldn't watch it without crying as a kid.
From Redditor u/RoseThorn82:
I can't watch it without crying as an adult. 😭😭
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From Redditor u/kwikasf*cky:
This! Those button eyes had me scared and the spider scene when they’re climbing out of that web.
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- The Land Before Time
From Redditor u/Asdjeia:
The first Land Before Time movie is a lot darker and sadder than the sequels that followed.
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'The Land Before Time' Sequel That Insinuates Dinosaurs Actually Come From SpaceSee all
- 1The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire11 Votes
- 2The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends7 Votes
- 3The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers6 Votes
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From Redditor u/thatgirlatno13:
I was looking for this comment.
Those donkeys never got turned back into kids.
— Just Plain Mike (@noncanadianguy) November 11, 2022
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From Redditor u/corporateb*tch19:
Came here to say this. Seriously, they billed it as such a wonderful fantasy movie and it's just, “Hey kid, imagine if the person you cared about the most died. Isn't that fun? Your parents paid for you to cry!”
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From Redditor u/cocoapuff1721:
The "You can never come back" scene gave me nightmares.
From Redditor u/Pinkfish_411:
That movie has everything you could ever want in a kids' movie: organized crime, gambling, drunkenness and smoking, murder, child trafficking, demons dragging souls to hell, drag queen alligators... they don't make 'em like that anymore.
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- The Secret of NIMH
From Redditor u/zingular1232:
That scene where that rat villain died and another rat died traumatized me.
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11From Redditor u/ Amazing_Librarian805:
I was five and got as far as the part when E.T. pops out of the bushes at the kid. Scared the sh*t out of me.
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- The Neverending Story
From Redditor u/PoolMagazine:
The NeverEnding Story where Artax drowned in the Swamp of Sadness.
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Anyone else remember “The Last Unicorn” pic.twitter.com/4j6aNCbQIc
— leona (Taylor’s version) (@leonanaan) November 12, 2022Loading tweet...Terrifying?featured
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From Redditor u/DreamForever626:
I watched it once when I was 7 and cried for hours. My parents had to take me to Toys R Us in an effort to lighten my mood.
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- The Brave Little Toaster
From Redditor u/Allenrw3:
That part of The Brave Little Toaster where the A/C window unit dies a fiery death.
From Redditor u/Tezypezy:
The Brave Little Toaster goes way harder than any modern cartoon ever would. It's kind of a downer movie. Well, not really, but like, it's not a "happy, adventurous" cartoon journey. It's a discomforting, morbid kind of travel story. These kitchen appliances are suffocating in quicksand-mud-whatever or getting their innards pulled out by humans. Not to mention the human that almost gets crushed at the end. And then the toaster that actually gets crushed. Does anyone know if this was John Lasseter's doing, or if the original book was also that dark?
From Redditor u/pau7les:
The sinkhole was the part that gave me nightmares. Kirby in denial and Blanky’s last words “I’m not scared”; holy sh*t that scene gave me nightmares.
I’m scared, Blanky! I’m real f*ckin scared.
Literally even the happy parts in the movie are terrifying.
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- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
From Redditor u/HaifaLutin:
The boat scene.
From Redditor u/ConnieMcFalcon:
After that kid was being sucked into a tube covered in chocolate I couldn't keep watching.
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The Best Roald Dahl BooksSee all- 1Charlie and the Chocolate Factory214 Votes
- 2Matilda215 Votes
- 3The BFG185 Votes
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From Redditor u/Uncle_Gru:
When I was younger and that movie was on, the house coming to life was so f*ckin' scary for me, especially considering I was INSIDE A HOUSE.
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- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
From Redditor u/dark_scribe_:
The end where they're melting the cartoons had me crying as a child.
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- The Prince of Egypt
From Redditor u/canter22:
Watched it in Catholic school with no explanation during Eastertime. Thought God was going to kill my brother every night.
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- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
From Redditor u/glittermassacre:
The Honey I Shrunk… movies. they freaked me out beyond reason. Probably part of the reason I'm still scared of giants.
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Scooby-Doo
— Maddy 🐷 (@Michikens) November 12, 2022
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