MovieChat Forums > The Black Cauldron (1985) Discussion > Know any dark cartoon movies besides thi...

Know any dark cartoon movies besides this?




Some of us know that this is one of the darkest animated flicks ever, but what other dark animated flicks come to mind?

My choices would be:

"Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs".
"Fire and Ice".
"The Hunchback of Norte Dame".
"Pinocchio and The Emperor of the Night". (Anyone remembers this one? Scary as hell animated flick and quite dark that it scared the living crap out of me when i was little)
"Sleeping Beauty".
"The Last Unicorn".
"The Secret of NIMH".
"Princess Mononoke".


"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb"-Batman.

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The only ones I'd agree with on your list would be Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, The Last Unicorn, and The Secret of NIMH. They all seem to have a darker quality than the others do.

Don't forget to add Watership Down to your list too.

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Any ralph bakshi movie . check them out.

check out coonskin. LOL

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What about Nightmare Before Christmas? Does that count as animated, or do you mean cel animated? Did someone already put "the Last Unicorn"?

Some others (dunno if they've already been put on here)
- Sleeping Beauty - the bit where Maleficent's head appears in the fireplace and the music plays in this freaky tune, ya that was pretty dark
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - If you've seen the black and white pencil tests of her running through the forest, that was FREAKY!
- Princess Mononoke - God, that whole film was just plain scary
- ooh! Beauty and the Beast - I thought the scene where they go through the forest is pretty creepy

Anything else.. oh! one of the sequences from Fantasia 2000 (are Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 the same thing? hmm... gotta find that out), I think it was called the "Fire Bird Sequence" or something, that was somewhat scary. And the scene in the Little Mermaid in Ursula's lair, with all the creepy little shrunken mermaid... things. Never liked those, they gave me nightmares.

For it is plain, as anyone can see, we're simply meant to be

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"The Triplets of Belleville", I don't think it was meant to be, but it's just eerie.

Alot of Hayao Miazaki's films could fit into that genra, Princess Mononoke was mentioned, "Spirited away" and "Howl's moving castle" are good too.

"Vampire Hunter D" is about as dark, dank and bloody as cartoons get. Actually, if you just look up some of the more serious Japanese animation, you'll find alot of stuff like that.

Also, "Watership Down"

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[deleted]

I still can't watch Watership Down now! Scared me as a little kid. Don't forget Animal Farm.

Wisdom outweighs any wealth-Sophocles

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"And the scene in the Little Mermaid in Ursula's lair, with all the creepy little shrunken mermaid... things. Never liked those, they gave me nightmares."

Just think of them as old ladies tights.... or stockings. Then you won't be scared!! Hehe.

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Unico and the Land of Magic.

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I havn't seen Plague Dogs yet, but I hear it is pretty dark.
And what about Pinocchio (the Disney version)? There are bad guys everywhere, and they all get away with it. Small boys are turned into donkeys and then sold as slaves. I would say that's very dark, and something we would never see in a modern Disney movie.

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yeah any ralph bakshi cartoon

especially LOTR, Fire and Ice, Wizards was also excellent


Don Bluth movies are awesome also, check out Titan AE

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yeah any ralph bakshi cartoon

especially LOTR, Fire and Ice, Wizards was also excellent


Don Bluth movies are awesome also, check out Titan AE


Try Ralph Bakshi's "American Pop," where the film's final anti hero was a good kid corrupted by his father to sell drugs and he is the only one to succeed in the music buisness by threatening to cut off the record excutives from their supply of drugs unless they listen to his demo. That is black as black can get. Especially since, the rest of the people in the film get used, involved in the Mafia, shot in wartime, are addicts, burnouts, wh*res, and a mother gets burned to death. Real kiddie stuff - not.

Also the japanese anime masterpiece "Akira" is not exactly on the light side itself.


Here Comes Harry!
Angus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

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I'd agree with the Hunchback of Notre Dame...I only saw bits and pieces floating around on YouTube, but what I did see made me raise an eyebrow and wonder just how in the world I missed it :P

Ich bin eine Nichtraucher.

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I actually saw Pinocchio And The Emperor Of The Night in the theater. Rad film. Pinocchio goes to a fauxian hell

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The Flight of Dragons.

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WARNING! SPOILERS


Felidae-One of the most sick, macabre films I've ever seen. About a cat detctive trying to solve murders.

The Plague Dogs-Incredibly dark and depressing. Has some bit of bloody content.

Once Upon a Forest-A truck spewing gases and poisoning animals. Enough said.

Watership Down-Depressing and surreal film about rabbits. The book is superb.

Animals of Farthing Wood-Pretty strong content. With the animals being picked off almost every episode. Especially the one with the butcherbirds and the mice.

Sleeping Beauty-Another dark film with possibly, THE most badass villain
to ever be seen in Disney history.

And what about the good men?! Pascal, or Claudandus or Felidae or whatever you're called!

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Heavy Metal.

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"Just think of them as old ladies tights.... or stockings. Then you won't be scared!! Hehe." ROFL

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What about the movies 300 and Beowolf? Don't these count as animated movies now? As Disney and Dreamworks move more and more to computer animation films like The Black Cauldron will become things of the past like black and white movies. Even Sin City and other films combining animation and live action will be far more popular than the great animation of the classics. In fact Japanese movies are the only ones not moving toward the computer style. If Japan starts doing anime Fast and the Furious like Cars that might be the end of the great tradition. I wouldn't know what to make of Spirited Away done like Cars or Shrek.

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"What about the movies 300 and Beowolf? Don't these count as animated movies now? As Disney and Dreamworks move more and more to computer animation films like The Black Cauldron will become things of the past like black and white movies. Even Sin City and other films combining animation and live action will be far more popular than the great animation of the classics. In fact Japanese movies are the only ones not moving toward the computer style. If Japan starts doing anime Fast and the Furious like Cars that might be the end of the great tradition. I wouldn't know what to make of Spirited Away done like Cars or Shrek."

Sin City and 300 have live action elements rendering them anything but animation. Claiming them as animated features is just plain out bizarre and stupid.

How can you compare Sin City with "great animation of the classics"? That makes no sense, they are two completely different things! Animation and live action have always coexisted, and never before has the popularity of, let's say, Star Wars to extinguish the popularity of animation. They can not be compared. And also, animation elements have always been a part of movie making from hand puppets to background matte paintings.

And also what you are saying about the Japanese makes no earthly sense to me. Final Fantasy: The Advent Children was done "like Cars or Shrek", if what you meant by that was that it utilized the possibilities of 3D animation. Everything about you're post has little to none of intelligence.

By the way, I also love and adore traditional animation and do wish to perserve it, and think it as a more living, artistic and beuatiful way of making animation. I also love stop motion and puppet animation. Still, I do not wish to look at these things with only one eye open; I recognize the genious of Shrek-films and also most of the first Pixar films and see that their mood could never been achieved by any other methods.

So basically I agree with what you are saying, but you should always think your message through. You can't just go rampaging about things you do not bother check out, or have no clue what-so-ever and make insane, hypocritical jumps between things (Oh my Gods, Star Wars has hand puppet, that makes it a puppet animation movie!!!!).

I do think that traditional animation needs to make a new "brake-through", though. People are too overwhelmed of the new technology and forget about the artistic side of things.

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Wizards, anyone?

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mouse and his child and All Dogs go to heaven have some dark content in it..

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yea NIMH and all dogs go to heaven are kinda dark
some other movies that had some dark parts that i used to watch as a kid were:

rock-a-doodle
little nemo
great mouse detective
princess and the goblin
troll in central park
we're back
once upon a forest

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-THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER. It is far more disturbing than its jaunty title and cheery cover art would lead you to believe. Probably more than any other cartoon, this one TRAUMATIZED me as a kid.
-We're Back, definitely. The scene where the guy gets like, eaten by his ravens? Or even just when the dinosaurs turn mean and that whole evil circus show at the end (I feel like I remember some lady screaming in fright, and her hair came out! So creepy!!!)
-Snow White, the transformation scene.
-Hunchback of Notre Dame; where else in a Disney movie do you see sexual frustration played out to such an extent?

I would say "Princess Mononoke," but since that was PG-13 and I didn't see it as a kid, I don't know if I would call it as dark. Well, I mean it's dark I guess, but not in the way these others are.


"Just close your eyes...but keep your mind wide open."

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"Little Nemo"
Ohhhh wow :o hah, ive been wondering what this movie's called i remember seeing it when i was like 4 lol i had a flashback when i saw the little messenger girl in his room at the end, and the derigible, & i member alot of bright lights, and kids on a bed traveling into the night.

Its funny cuz i saw "Little Nemo:Adventures In Slumberland" as a reference & saw the trailer n decided to watch it on youtube :) horray lol. dork :p.

THANKS fiyagrlkd :D!!!! you've helped me complete my childhood memory haha xP.

And Thank-You to everyone :) we get to look up friggin awesome cool dark films :D whooohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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From one extreme to the other:

A Mouse and His Child: I haven't seen it in years but from what I remember it was a little dark, sorta in the vein of Secret of NIMH. Still kid friendly though. You can watch the whole movie on YouTube. Anyone else remember the dog food label that went to infinity?

Fritz the Cat: Basically a cat going to college, having sex and doing drugs. Rated X. It is worth watching once just to see what the fuss is about, but only once.

Pocahontas had a couple of dark parts if I remember right, but overall just more 90s Disney crap. Some good movies on this thread, I forgot about the Pinocchio one. Too bad The Black Cauldron wasn't more like Fire and Ice or The Last Unicorn (in terms of story/characters, yes I know F&I was rotoscope). It didn't even look very good, especially for a Disney film that took so long to make.

"You'll get nothing and like it!!"

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I saw a version of Jack and the Beanstalk years ago. Originally made by a japanese anime company,it TERRIFIED me as a child.
There was a witch called Madame Hecuba and she was the mother of the giant called Tulip.
It was really scary for young kids.

" the dreams of youth, are the regrets of maturity " - Legend

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[deleted]

Lord of the Rings - Has no one seen the old animated one?

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I'd say the Fox and the Hound is also dark by Disney standards. The Prince of Egypt is another great dark cartoon that I don't recall anyone else mentioning.

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It probably says something about me that most of these exceedingly dark animations were my favorites as a kid, and I still love the dark ones I come across in my adulthood that I hadn't seen (like Plague Dogs).

I do vaguely remember one that I saw when I was a kid, sometime in the mid-80s. I remember almost nothing about it except there were two foxes involved, and one of them dies at the end with his eyes open. I'm pretty sure it wasn't The Fox and the Hound, unless my mind as a child was more warped than I thought and I just thought some things up. Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?

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Wow another kid in the 80's, i was born in 1982 and remembers that time very well. I think that movie you mentioned if "Vux The Fox".

"Let Off some Steam Bennet"-Commando

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Probably The darkest one I've seen was Grave Of The Fireflies...

Qué yo no vuelva jamás a sentirme el dolor.

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Hell. Anything by Rankin and Bass and Ralph Bakshi are worth watching. By the way, I don't think some of the movies listed so far should really count. I mean "Dark Disney" is a genre in itself in my eyes, but you have to include live action Disney films such as Watcher in the Woods and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Snow White, Pochahontas, and other such garbage may have some dark elements to them in certain parts, yet they lack an overall feeling of watching something very out there for an animation film (ex: Felidae, The Plague Dogs, Secret of NIMH, Flight of Dragons, Wizards and so on...). Something that digs into your psyche and stays there for life. As for anime, I think that is a bit off topic. I like a lot of anime films, but I don't think that is the point of the discussion here.

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Wow I cant Believe Any one didnt mention

The Great Mouse Detective that is one of Disney's Darkest Animated features That Big Ben fight with Rattigan and Basil and Fidget the Bat wow I could name alot more but still The Great Mouse Detective is one not to be missed

I am the HNIC!

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I really can't fathom how much people underrated how evil as *beep* the Queen is in "Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs"
I mean, this crazy bitch actualy had a case to put Snow White's heart in! That's so metal and wicked. Then, she transforms into the creepiest witch ever to bestow a poisonous apple to Snow White. Why is it that most people can't see how completely crazy that is? Haha...I'm 26 and it still blows my mind. Malificent was badass, don't get me wrong. But I think the Queen is the most bad ass.

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