To this day, the only movie that has directly given me nightmares is Watership Down. I saw it when I was 7 or 8, and I’m sure that my parents had only the best of intentions. Yes, it was based on a serious book about societal conflict, but it was also an animated movie about rabbits … some of whom happened to be absolutely terrifying, with their ragged appearance, red eyes, and evil intentions.
You can argue that Watership Down isn’t really a little kids’ movie?and I would be the first to agree. But what about movies that are targeted at kids and families and seem innocent enough at first glance" Some have scary scenes that seem to come out of nowhere — or just happen to push the wrong buttons for certain kids. An informal survey of our readers, editors, and friends turned up these prime examples (Warning: possible spoilers!) of scary scenes they didn’t necessarily see coming:
Annie: The climactic moments in which Annie flees from her captors by climbing up a raised railway drawbridge is the kind of peril that can leave young children cowering.
Bambi: As with the monkeys in The Wizard of Oz (see below), the scene in which Bambi’s mother is killed remains one of the most well-known examples of potentially upsetting scenes for kids.
Beauty and the Beast: From the angry mob storming Beast’s castle to the rooftop battle in the rain, there’s plenty here to keep kids on edge.
Brave: Pixar’s mother-daughter tale is ...