The Most Terrifying Children's Movies of All Time

Consider thyself warned of the impending terrors to be had

The following is a list of terror so overwhelming that should you ever be fooled into thinking that you have read it and still not been whelmed, you would be sadly mistaken. Kid’s movies are often sugar-coated hour and a half toy commercials. They are bright and flashy ordeals, designed to hold the attention of even the most ADD stricken of children. There have been, in my lifetime, a few films that decided to forgo such a plan and take their films in a more…. Disturbing direction. Here I have listed these darkest of films that are each one filled to the brim with terror. I have handpicked the most ghoulish moments so that you may remember the terror you too once felt, or at the very least taste some of my fear.

Who framed Roger Rabbit?

Judge Doom melts a shoe. One of the key plot devices powering WFRR was ‘dip’, a hellish substance that would melt any cartoon character unfortunate enough to come into contact with it. As unthinkable as it was, the implications behind this substance were devastating. Could the immortal Bugs Bunny be reduced to nothingness by such a thing? Could the Real Ghostbusters’ weapons zap through it, or would their animated streams fall victim to the dips power? Could even a juggernaut like Optimus Prime stand up against it? We were left with but a few moments to ponder these life changing thoughts before Judge Doom chose to show just how deadly the dip could be. He finds a shoe, a cartoon shoe, the cartoon equivalent of a squirrel, a shoe that, though devoid of high though, still clearly had thoughts and emotions. He takes said shoe and lowers him into the dip, the shoe’s terror clearly shining through his dopey eyes. In but a few moments, the only thing left of the shoe is our memory of it. Because of this scene I am, to this day, overprotective of all my footwear.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

The tunnel scene. There were a few scary moments here and there, mostly involving the films semi-antagonist, Arthur Slugworth. The icing on the cake is a scene taking place after everyone has gathered in ol’ Wonka’s factory and they decide to take a lil joyride to their next destination. They strap in on the boat, unaware of the terror about to befall them. For what seems like forever we, the audience, are bombarded with surreal imagery of Slugworth’s menacing leer and chicken decapitations, with Wonka all the while singing ever more frantically. Eventually the scene lets up and things are peachy again, but still… the damage is done.

All Dogs Go to Heaven

Charlie drowns. My memory of All Dogs Go to Heaven is a haze filled with angel dogs, demon dogs, and regular dogs. I vaguely recall there being a fat, scary creature, possibly an alligator. I digress; Our hero, Charlie, dies towards the beginning of the film, which is bad enough. He is granted a return to Earth, but with some very specific guidelines, the most specific of which is a clock he must keep near to him as it marks his time on Earth. Throughout the film Charlie meets a kid, they become pals, blah blah blah. Charlie has some scary ass nightmares about some demons, and during the climax of the film saves the kid from some fiery water or something, but he himself drowns in the process. Seeing a dog drown in a movie was just too much for my little kid brain to handle. I had to watch the Ninja Turtles movie like five times in a row in order to calm down after that hellish ordeal.

The Neverending Story

The whole friggin’ movie. The neverending story was chock full of scary crap. Honestly, that thing wasn’t a ‘fantasy’ movie. It was flat out gothic horror. There’s the Swamp of Sorrows, where our man Atreyu’s trusty horse succumbs to the sadness and gets sucked into the swamp. There’s a scene where Atreyu has to make it past two deadly stone guardians, and to put the D in Deadly the film shows a knight haphazardly trying to make it past the two and the guardians promptly fry his metal butt right back to the stone age. The thing that really does it for me, though, is The Nothing, this sinister wolf-beast and the film’s antagonist. I remember this beast as a combination of teeth, eyes, blood, and darkness. A creature not so much born, but borne. With an E. For extra scariness.

So there you have it. Terrifying kids movies. Don’t watch these films out of morbid curiosity. Don’t watch these films. Don’t talk about them. Don’t even think about them. And for the love of God don’t let your kids watch them, lest they end up gibbering, quivering masses of fear and flesh.

You have been warned.