As a 19 year old young man who was diagnosed with aspergers at 10 years of age it's no secret that I love animated movies especially the ones that break my heart such as Bambi or even the Fox and the hound which always breaks my heart when rewatching it especially the song best of friends.
But when it comes to sad animated movies there are barely any animated disney movies not even the Lion king that can top the level of darkness and sadness seen in Don Bluth's movies from the 80's such as An american tail or The secret of NiMH .
I didn't even cry once and I barely felt sad when Mufasa died in The lion king and the only movies or moments in Modern Pixar films where I felt like my heart was broken to the point where I felt like crying was with Up ,Finding Nemo,and the ending of Monster's inc.
The saddest and most depressing Don Bluth movie in my book though will always be the movie An american tail which I have seen multiple times yet it never fails to tug at my heartstrings for several reasons.
These are the reasons why I feel it's more emotional and sad than most disney or pixar films.
1. The atmosphere.
The atmosphere in this fenomenal movie is just flat out depressing and sad from the very moment you hear the intro melody by James Horner which never fails to send chills down my spine to the end credits with the song "Somewhere out there".
There is also a huge amount of oppressive realism to the environments that really creates that feeling of being a small fish in an oppressive sea which is incredibly fitting for the main Character who is but a Tiny lost mouse in a huge and oppressive world.
2. The music .
The music is melancholic for the most part and even though there are happy songs luckily they don't overshadow the rest of the film , in the scene with that sea Monster I was just as horrified as the main character which was only made even more effective because of the oppressive dark visuals and dramatic music.
Also when watching that scene with the song somewhere out there , I was on the verge of crying which is quite rare for me and the closest I got to that was from Tarzan in the beginning of the movie when baby Tarzan could be heard crying in the distance.
Also because like most aspies I have a sensitivity to sounds so the music and how I feel when listening to it is amplified even more which can manifest simply as goosebumps or feelings of emptiness and sadness that I have a hard time expressing especially when around other people and I usually express it through sighing or a sad look on my face but no crying.
3. The dark themes .
I am not going to go into too much detail about this but these are one of many things adult viewers may notice that a child may not notice such as the discrimination against immigrants , child labour , and in the beginning of the film the humans in the home village who I assume are Jewish like the main characters are persecuted by the soldiers of the Russian tsar because it takes place during the polgromes against the Jews during the 1800's.
Just the theme of the movie alone makes it dark especially for a family film which is a lone child being separated from his family and looking for them.
4. Scary scenes .
Just like in real life though this sadness is frequently also mixed with elements of fear and horror which is evident in several scenes such as the scene in the end of the movie with that Giant demonic looking mouse which was made even more scary because of it's revolutionary use of CGI/3D animation which was the first time it was used in an animated movie during an era when it was expensive and rarely used.
Do you agree with me on this and if not what do you think about this ?
But when it comes to sad animated movies there are barely any animated disney movies not even the Lion king that can top the level of darkness and sadness seen in Don Bluth's movies from the 80's such as An american tail or The secret of NiMH .
I didn't even cry once and I barely felt sad when Mufasa died in The lion king and the only movies or moments in Modern Pixar films where I felt like my heart was broken to the point where I felt like crying was with Up ,Finding Nemo,and the ending of Monster's inc.
The saddest and most depressing Don Bluth movie in my book though will always be the movie An american tail which I have seen multiple times yet it never fails to tug at my heartstrings for several reasons.
These are the reasons why I feel it's more emotional and sad than most disney or pixar films.
1. The atmosphere.
The atmosphere in this fenomenal movie is just flat out depressing and sad from the very moment you hear the intro melody by James Horner which never fails to send chills down my spine to the end credits with the song "Somewhere out there".
There is also a huge amount of oppressive realism to the environments that really creates that feeling of being a small fish in an oppressive sea which is incredibly fitting for the main Character who is but a Tiny lost mouse in a huge and oppressive world.
2. The music .
The music is melancholic for the most part and even though there are happy songs luckily they don't overshadow the rest of the film , in the scene with that sea Monster I was just as horrified as the main character which was only made even more effective because of the oppressive dark visuals and dramatic music.
Also when watching that scene with the song somewhere out there , I was on the verge of crying which is quite rare for me and the closest I got to that was from Tarzan in the beginning of the movie when baby Tarzan could be heard crying in the distance.
Also because like most aspies I have a sensitivity to sounds so the music and how I feel when listening to it is amplified even more which can manifest simply as goosebumps or feelings of emptiness and sadness that I have a hard time expressing especially when around other people and I usually express it through sighing or a sad look on my face but no crying.
3. The dark themes .
I am not going to go into too much detail about this but these are one of many things adult viewers may notice that a child may not notice such as the discrimination against immigrants , child labour , and in the beginning of the film the humans in the home village who I assume are Jewish like the main characters are persecuted by the soldiers of the Russian tsar because it takes place during the polgromes against the Jews during the 1800's.
Just the theme of the movie alone makes it dark especially for a family film which is a lone child being separated from his family and looking for them.
4. Scary scenes .
Just like in real life though this sadness is frequently also mixed with elements of fear and horror which is evident in several scenes such as the scene in the end of the movie with that Giant demonic looking mouse which was made even more scary because of it's revolutionary use of CGI/3D animation which was the first time it was used in an animated movie during an era when it was expensive and rarely used.
Do you agree with me on this and if not what do you think about this ?
