Disney movies include all kinds of moments, including sad ones, such as deaths of parents.

But because there are so many heartbreaking moments in Disney films, I decided to selected just my top 5 picks of which break my heart the most.

Note that these only include the original films – no live-action remakes.

5: When Baby Hercules is turned mortal – Hercules

Under Hades’s order, Pain and Panic kidnap the infant Hercules from Mount Olympus and give him a potion that turns him mortal. This, unfortunately, means that Zeus and Hera can’t take him back.

This scene is heartbreaking because it shows a child having to be separated from his loving parents. On the bright side, Hercules gets adopted by a caring couple. But he grows up unpopular and misunderstood due to his mysterious strength.

4: Bambi’s mom’s death – Bambi

While Bambi and his mother are looking for food in the meadow, hunters shoot the mom. Bambi can’t find her. But the deer king of the forest tells him that she cannot be with him anymore. He also reveals himself to be Bambi’s father.

Of course, because Bambi deals with a death of a parent, the moment is going to be sad. In older versions, the film showed Bambi’s mom’s dead body. But recent versions cut that.

3: Mufasa’s death – The Lion King

After saving Simba from the stampede, Mufasa gets stuck hanging from a cliff. But Scar knocks him down, thus kills him. Simba finds his dead father and dissolves into tears. If that’s not bad enough, Scar blames Simba for his dad’s death and he believes it.

The music and tone also add to making this scene even more sad. Poor Simba even grows up believing that it was his fault that his father died.

2: When Cinderella’s stepsisters destroy her dress – Cinderella

After the mice sew her a dress for the prince’s ball, Cinderella’s stepsisters destroy it while she is wearing it. And violently. The poor girl then ends up in tears until after the fairy godmother arrives.

Although Cinderella gets a new gown for the ball thanks to the fairy godmother, the scene where her first one was destroyed is hard to watch. It shows how mean her stepfamily could be.

1: When King Triton destroys Ariel’s grotto – The Little Mermaid

After Flounder surprises Ariel with a statue of Eric inside her collection, King Triton finds her, furious. He and Ariel get into a fight about humans until he angrily destroys her entire collection, which leaves her devastated.

This scene shows how cruel and mean King Triton can be. I find destroying your child’s collection that they’ve worked on for a long time to be the equivalent to setting someone’s house on fire. Someone in a YouTube video even said that King Triton might as well get in trouble with MerCPS for this (which I doubt exists in The Little Mermaid, but you get the idea).

I consider this scene to be the most painful one out of all the others in Disney films.

Conclusion

Disney has made lots of heartbreaking scenes and will continue to in their future movies. That is what adds conflict to their stories.

What do you think of my picks? Let me know in the comments if you’d like.