Don’t cry because it’s over, cry because it happened!
A look back into our childhoods scariest moments.
You’d like to think children’s movies are filmed with the intent to entertain and inspire young audiences, not cause a crying fit and make innocent little brains move back into their parents’ bedrooms at age 12. Let’s step into the shadows of children's movies, where the bright colours and playful antics often conceal something darker. Spoilers ahead!
Where The Wild Things Are opera, 1986. Source: Roland Gerrits via Mr.Nostalgic / Wikimedia Commons.
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
This film felt more like an eerie fever dream than a kid’s movie. And funnily enough, it wasn’t designed for children. Instead, it’s just about them, according to the filmmakers. Max’s parents are divorced, his sister doesn’t want a bar of him, and he’s fighting with his mother. And where does he go?
To an island with a bunch of big, scary-looking “wild things”. Max faces dark threats from the monsters, including being eaten, with one monster's erratic, paranoid nature adding to the tension. When the author of dismissed suggestions that parents might think this film is too scary, he said he would tell them to “go to hell”. How delightful!
Drop Dead Fred (1991)
Now, this one is niche, but unforgettable. The imaginary friend Fred’s slapstick style of comedy was intriguing to the young eye, and quite frankly, it was naughty and funny. The mischief he caused when Elizabeth was a child and an adult embodied the kind of silliness we all aspire to have in our childhood.
But while marketed as a children’s comedy, the film explores mental illness and the use of an imaginary friend to cope with childhood trauma. Lizzie experiences a series of traumatic events, including catching her husband cheating on her, losing her job, and moving back in with her emotionally abusive mother. Very intense for young children, but at least Fred is funny, right?
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
What was delightful, colourful chaos as a seven-year-old became a whimsical nightmare to the mature eye. Now, I wouldn’t say this film completely falls into the “dark” category, but it’s just completely strange. Despite advertised as a children’s movie, this movie tries way hard to appeal to adults who are likely to hate the oversaturation of poor jokes.
The Cat in the Hat contains an excessive amount of blatant racism and offensive jokes, incredibly sexual undertones, constant aggression, threats of death and injury, and even more racism. Safe to say this is a shameful adaptation of Dr Seuss’ original story, and it’s just unnecessarily shit.
Source: Jasperdo / Flickr.
Coraline (2009)
This one genuinely reinforced my fears of moving into a new house, especially an old, slightly quirkier one. There’s something inherently creepy about stop-motion films, and with the storyline following suit, it’s rather difficult for children to gloss over the scary stuff when the animation itself is so spooky.
Coraline experiences a deep sense of neglect from her parents, who both seem to be dealing with financial struggles as well as depression. The whole tone of the film is sad and eerie until her new world appears. At first, it’s a child’s dream, until those damn needles and buttons come out and the mother goes crazy.
Coraline delves into manipulation, isolation, and the longing for something better, which for many kids is a sad reality of childhood. This film definitely led some kids to become horror junkies, and rightfully so, but the rest were left traumatised.
The NeverEnding Story (1984)
Despite its fever-dream approach, this is not a “feel-good” film. While dealing with the grief of losing his mother at a young age, a lack of empathy in three school bullies makes it even harder for Bastian to battle the loneliness. His immersion in the world of the book brings its own darkness as he tries prevent their world disappearing into a void of “The Nothing”.
And if it wasn’t dark enough, the poor boy watched his beloved horse slowly drown to death in the “Swamps of Sadness”. Not to mention the strange – and somewhat seedy – dog-dragon just being downright scary, his father being so hard on him, and the fact no one even noticed he was missing. Probably easier to watch with a naïve young mind.
My Girl (1991)
Following the same devastating fate as Bridge to Terabithia, My Girl deals with the most pure and wholesome friendship between two children, until it comes to an end. Watching 11-year-old Vada grieve the loss of her best friend and “blood brother” Thomas J was truly agonising to watch.
Sobbing, she yells, “He can’t see without his glasses! Where are his glasses?” Among other tragedies, like the death of her mother and the fact her schoolteacher doesn’t love her back – strange, I know – the death of her best friend was just the awful icing on the cake to a very dark tale. Of course, the ending somehow managed to be wholesome, but damn, watching her sob was a sore sight, and caused a little too much heartache to amend.