After we consider animated movies, our thoughts instantly jumps to colourful characters, magical tales, and a world stuffed with laughter and smiles. We consider Disney classics crammed with catchy musical numbers, fairy tales the place the princess at all times will get her fortunately ever after, and feel-good messages about life to carry our temper. Animation is an artwork kind designed for surprise and delight.

Nonetheless, the fact is that animation is cinema too. And no matter its format, it presents administrators and storytellers a medium to convey the full spectrum of human feelings and channel their emotions. Whereas animation is believed to carry fantasies to life, at its core, its duty can also be to behave as a medium of storytelling that displays a person’s actuality. And when filmmakers dare to discover this fact, their animated works take a dive into darkness. As novelist Don DeLillo stated, “All plots have a tendency to maneuver deathward,” and it’s simply as true in animation as wherever else.

There are a number of animated motion pictures that confront tough topics and complicated themes, problem society, and make clear subjects which might be seldom mentioned, like live-action movies do. There are nonetheless breathtaking visuals and joyous moments, however their tales are what stay seared in our mind as eternally disturbing and bleak. We’ve jotted a listing of a choose few animated movies which might be actually very devastating, and right here’s why.

Up to date Mar. 2, 2024: This assortment of essentially the most miserable animated movies has been up to date with extra content material, together with the place to seek out every film on streaming.

20 A Scanner Darkly (2006)

Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover cop in a not-too-distant futuristic dystopia. He’s assigned to watch Substance D, a harmful new drug that’s destroying the lives of a number of customers. As he infiltrates the drug subculture, he finds his personal identification and sanity slipping away. Primarily based on a novel by science-fiction grasp Philip Ok. Dick, A Scanner Darkly follows Bob as he falls sufferer to the dehumanizing impact of those medicine.

Dystopian Dwelling and the Lack of Id

There are two key parts at play right here. The primary is the movie’s dystopic setting, which as a style is kind of bleak, miserable, and ominous. Then, there may be the distorted animation fashion which emphasizes the protagonist’s fractured psyche underneath society’s scrutiny. Director Richard Linklater filmed live-action scenes and used rotoscope expertise to animate them, leading to a singular and hallucinatory expertise that gives ample paranoia in an already oppressive society. Stream A Scanner Darkly on Kanopy

19 9 (2009)

9 introduces a horrible post-apocalyptic panorama that emerges on account of a large warfare between people and machines. A solitary rag doll named 9 (Elijah Wooden) is caught within the futuristic rubble of devastation. He comes upon different numbered dolls of various shapes and sizes, and groups up with them with a view to survive their setting. Because the small group faces rising risks and enemies, the last word message is about braveness and friendship as they unravel the thriller surrounding their existence.

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Rag Dolls and Allegories

Director Shane Acker wastes no time in establishing a desolate, ash-choked world that clearly was not designed by machines. The protagonist himself begins off very grimly as he wakes up subsequent to a lifeless physique and witnesses the aftermath of humankind’s subsequent warfare. This movie would not pull any of its punches: no character is secure from dying, and the monstrous machines that fill the wasteland are downright unsettling at factors. The entire concept of utilizing rag dolls as some form of allegory for darkness and limitations additionally evokes pathos for a world the place youngsters ought to as an alternative be taking part in with dolls. Although it would not be an enormous hit on the field workplace, it will obtain two Annie Award nominations for Finest Animated Results in a Characteristic Manufacturing and Finest Manufacturing Design in a Characteristic Manufacturing. Stream 9 on Max

18 Akira (1988)

Akira

Launch Date

June 28, 1991

Solid

Mitsuo Iwata , Nozomu Sasaki , Mami Koyama , Tesshô Genda

A cyberpunk traditional that revolutionized animation eternally, Akira takes you to a future neo-Tokyo, the place 17-year-old Shotaro Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) and his biker gang, the Capsules, rule town. However political unrest in his neighborhood is rising, and because the powers that govern town start to lose management, it’s as much as the Capsules and a rising resistance motion to do one thing about it. This turns into tough when the federal government captures Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki), a pal and gang member with latent psychic skills, and the outcome threatens town of Tokyo itself.

Unbelievable Animation Enhances a Grim Story

Akira is nothing in need of a cyberpunk masterpiece, and is taken into account maybe the best anime film ever made. The slick visuals, the chaos, the character research, in addition to the graphic violence depicted within the movie are usually not for everybody to digest. And but, at its core, the query it raises is what occurs when energy turns into damaging. From Tetsuo’s transformation right into a monster to Tokyo’s fragile civilization, every thing symbolizes the truth that we’re able to each creativity and chaos. Mix that with a number of the most unprecedented animation high quality ever seen within the Nineteen Eighties, and you’ve got what is likely one of the most superbly miserable movies ever made. Stream Akira on Hulu

17 Animal Farm (1954)

Animal Farm is directed by Pleasure Batchelor and John Halas, who adapt George Orwell’s well-known novel into an animated allegorical movie. It facilities round a bunch of home cattle residing on the farm of Joe, a drunkard. After they resolve to insurgent towards their human farmer, they create a secure house for animals the place they are often equal and free. However because the revolution will get out of hand, pigs take the reins of management and start abusing their energy.

A Cautious Examination of Political Upheaval

From eager to be politically perfect to sinking into an limitless void of corruption, the movie contemplates each notion a society is constructed on. To name Animal Farm a youngsters’s movie tailored from a youngsters’s e book can be a mistake, because it tackles topics like oppression, dictatorship, and unfair remedy, with out shying away from the darker penalties of totalitarianism. In a method, the movie is a reminder that energy corrupts. Stream Animal Farm on Tubi

16 Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)

This movie, which mixes animation with live-action footage, gives a fictionalized account of the making of and affect that Pink Floyd’s 1979 album The Wall had on the artist and the individuals. Within the course of of making the album, Pink (Bob Geldof), a well-known rock star, finds himself overwhelmed by the pressures of fame and isolation. As he descends into psychological sickness, he finds himself going again in time and reminiscing, as a wall grows round his psyche.

The Wall, Visualized

By way of hanging animated sequences, Pink Floyd: The Wall permits the viewers to glimpse into an artist’s detachment from actuality, their confinement to a jail that’s their mind. From Pink’s troubled college days to failed relationships to a traumatic childhood suffering from World Warfare II, every thing is uncovered towards the rock band’s iconic music. It makes the general expertise fairly maddening and, contemplating the tragic finish of their first lead singer, Syd Barrett, particularly miserable. Pink Floyd: The Wall just isn’t obtainable on streaming

15 Waltz with Bashir (2008)

Waltz with Bashir

Launch Date

June 26, 2008

Director

Ari Folman

Solid

Ron Ben-Yishai , Ronny Dayag , Ari Folman , Dror Harazi , Yehezkel Lazarov , Mickey Leon

Written, produced, and directed by Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir is a first-hand account of the 1982 Lebanon Warfare. Within the movie, we watch as Folman’s protagonist is haunted by visions of the previous, significantly the years he served as a soldier and fought a warfare. By way of hypnosis and conversations with others who share the identical recollections as his, he items collectively the fact of the interval. This movie is notable for its incorporation of real-life parts, with a number of interviews that includes both real-life veterans from the battle or actors recreating their genuine testimonies.

A Traumatic Recollection of Warfare

The psychological affect that any warfare has on the individuals concerned is jarring and immense. Generally, the violence witnessed is so excessive that the thoughts finally ends up blocking out the trauma related to it. Folman faces the identical actuality, and by pushing animation into uncharted territories of horror and realism, he unveils a portrait of warfare that was unseen by many. The movie performs with the concept that what our recollections protect can also be what they rot and deform. Waltz with Bashir would later go on to safe an Annie Award nomination for Finest Animated Characteristic, along with a Golden Globe Award for Finest Overseas Language Movie. Stream Waltz with Bashir on Tubi

14 The Fox and the Hound (1981)

It isn’t daily that you just see a Disney movie being miserable and outright gut-wrenching. The Fox and the Hound is an exception to the everyday Disney method. It tells the story of a curious fox cub named Tod (Mickey Rooney) being raised by a widow on a farm. He befriends Copper (Kurt Russell), who’s an equally inquisitive hound pup. Their friendship is put to check when Tod’s innate fox nature locations him at risk, and Copper is compelled to decide on between their friendship and the character of their respective species.

A Tearjerker Story About Friendship

Contemplating what number of youngsters have been scarred by the brutal dying of Mufasa in The Lion King, it isn’t shocking that there’s one other beloved movie from Disney with the identical traumatic undertones, in the end tugging on the heartstrings of its viewers. The central theme of The Fox and the Hound is friendship, and the way it’s destroyed by synthetic divisions. It is up there as one of many finest ’80s children motion pictures as a result of exploration of those themes, and its tumultuous manufacturing schedule would not directly play a job within the eventual Disney Renaissance. Stream The Fox and the Hound on Disney+

13 Good Blue (1997)

Good Blue

Launch Date

February 28, 1998

Director

Satoshi Kon

Solid

Junko Iwao , Rica Matsumoto , Shinpachi Tsuji , Masaaki Ôkura

In Good Blue, a younger Japanese pop star decides to go away her career and swap to appearing. Mima (Junko Iwao) begins her profession transition with a job in a homicide thriller TV present. However, when an obsessed fan named Mamoru Uchida (Masaaki okura) sees this as a betrayal, he begins to stalk her on-line and in actual life. This results in a deterioration in Mima’s psychological well being, and he or she quickly develops a dissociative identification dysfunction, not realizing what’s actual and what isn’t.

Superstar Obsession and Psychological Sickness

Contemplating how digitized at present’s world is, Good Blue serves as a poignant instance of how unhappy and dreary the movie star tradition is. Dwelling a lifetime of fame comes with its personal cons, and director Satoshi Kon focuses on this difficulty in essentially the most unsettling method there may be. Because the movie progresses, the difficulties of figuring out what’s actual and what’s a product of Mima’s creativeness begin to floor, successfully gaslighting its viewers because it builds to a haunting climax. The movie’s animation and grim visuals additionally steadiness out the haunting portrayal of fact versus fantasy. Stream Good Blue on AMC+

12 Track of the Sea (2014)

Directed by Tomm Moore, Track of the Sea takes its viewers to Eire, the place Ben (David Rawle) and his little sister Saoirse (Lucy O’Connell) are despatched to stay with their grandmother after their mom’s dying. After uncovering Saoirse’s heritage as a selkie, a creature with the flexibility to shapeshift right into a seal, the 2 resolve to return house by sea. However on their adventurous journey, they’re drawn right into a world of faeries and thriller. Now Saoirse should use her skills to revive steadiness between the fairie world and the true world.

An Irish Tearjerker

The plush visuals, exact animation, and heavenly soundtrack of Track of the Sea itself is sufficient to suck you into its stunning and heart-rending story. However the film is essentially concerning the fallout of the lack of Ben and Saoirse’s mom, and the deep melancholy their father falls into, to the purpose the place he cannot care for his personal youngsters.

Ben is indignant and infrequently takes it out on his sister, although he reluctantly helps her and takes care of her too. Ultimately, we discover out that their mom is not lifeless, however the tearful goodbye the three of them have to present her is totally heartbreaking, making the ending a bittersweet exploration of affection and loss in households. Lease Track of the Sea on Apple TV

11 Up (2009)

Up

Launch Date

Could 28, 2009

A film that famously made audiences weep from its opening montage alone is Pete Docter’s beloved movie Up. It facilities round a 78-year-old widower named Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner), who desires nothing greater than to meet his late spouse Ellie’s dream of shifting to Paradise Falls within the wilds of South America. So he ties a thousand balloons to his home, with a view to fly your entire home there. Sadly, as he executes his plan, he’s inadvertently accompanied by a younger wilderness explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagal).

An Iconic Intro Sequence

Pixar has created various movies which might be sentimental, however none handle to be so whimsically adventurous and exquisitely stunning as Up. Carl’s profound grief and solitude is portrayed with the form of care that evokes an instantaneous appreciation of our goals, and the relationships we now have in our personal lives. Ellie and Carl’s flashback showcases a lifetime’s price of affection, and it’s merely heartbreaking that they by no means bought to expertise Paradise Falls collectively. Conversely, Carl’s gradual climb from his personal self-loathing into happiness is an unbelievable journey to expertise. Up would later go on to change into the second animated movie in cinematic historical past to be nominated for Finest Image on the Academy Awards. Stream Up on Disney+

10 Mary and Max (2009)

Mary and Max

Launch Date

February 9, 2009

Director

Adam Elliot

Charting towards the stop-motion animation house, we now have Mary and Max. Set within the Nineteen Seventies, the movie facilities round an unlikely friendship that blossoms between a lonely and disadvantaged eight-year-old woman in Melbourne and a forty-four-year-old depressed man in New York Metropolis. As pen buddies, each Mary (Bethany Whitmore) and Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman) have related tales — one fighting obsessive-compulsive dysfunction and Asperger’s syndrome and the opposite with loneliness and neglect — and that’s what binds them collectively.

Loneliness on the Fringes of Society

Critics have precisely praised the movie as “outstanding and poignant.” However past its heartwarming layer of connection and friendship, Mary and Max digs deeper into themes of loneliness and discovering goal in a world that was not made for misfits. Director Adam Elliot makes certain to infuse the scenes with cheer and comedy, however its bittersweet conclusion is what makes the movie so devastating. On the Australian Academy of Cinema and Tv Arts Awards, Adam Elliot would obtain nominations for Finest Authentic Screenplay and Finest Manufacturing Design for his work right here. Stream Mary and Max on AMC+

9 Anomalisa (2015)

Michael Stone (David Thewlis) is a motivational speaker who arrives in Cincinnati hoping to stay his finest life working as a person who evokes others. However whereas struggling along with his marriage, he finally ends up discovering town’s routine extra suffocating than ever. Shortly after checking into his resort, he meets Lisa, the one individual on the planet who doesn’t make him really feel uncomfortable. Their connection grows stronger as she urges him to change his life.

Synthetic Human Connections

Charlie Kaufman has a popularity he stands by with Anomalisa. Whereas the stop-motion animation method provides a whimsical tone to the narrative, Kaufman’s script is definitely the winner right here. By taking one depressed protagonist and putting him in a scenario of inescapable loneliness, he feedback on how even essentially the most primary human connections can really feel robotic or compelled. The movie is a deeply actual character examine that’s made much more impactful underneath Kaufman’s gaze. It might later change into the first-ever R-rated animated movie to obtain an Oscar nomination for Finest Animated Characteristic. Lease Anomalisa on Apple TV

8 A Silent Voice (2016)

Shoya Ishida (Miyu Irino), the principle protagonist of A Silent Voice, is a bully who victimizes a deaf switch scholar (Saori Hayami) a lot that she modifies faculties. However the guilt of it follows him for years, and as his life spirals uncontrolled, Shoya reaches out to the identical woman and tries to rebuild a relationship together with her whereas overcoming his personal demons. The movie is primarily based on the unique manga collection of the identical title, with some scenes being barely adjusted to suit a feature-length runtime.

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An Examination of the Results of Bullying

Directed by Naoko Yamada, A Silent Voice is a heartbreaking story that addresses the lasting scars of bullying, guilt and isolation. Its emotional storytelling and beautiful cinematography showcase how even the smallest act of cruelty in youth can echo into maturity for each individuals concerned. Finally, it’s a universally relatable and touching story that stirs the center, with an ending that is price sticking round for. Lease A Silent Voice on Apple TV

7 The Iron Big (1999)

Taking you to the Chilly Warfare period of the late Nineteen Fifties, The Iron Big follows the story of a nine-year-old boy, Hogarth (Eli Marienthal), who discovers a mysterious and big metallic large within the woods close to his house. Having no reminiscence and no agenda, the enormous turns into Hogarth’s pal. However within the course of, he attracts suspicion from the native authorities, who in flip informs the navy, who finally resolve to seize or destroy the metallic creature.

“You Keep. I Go. No Following.”

On the floor, The Iron Big is like some other story about an unlikely friendship. Nonetheless, in case you are a ’90s child, this movie in all probability devastated you. Impressed by the poet Ted Hughes, this emotional sci-fi flick tackles heavyweight themes comparable to concern, prejudice, and what it means to be extraordinary in a world that’s vulnerable to destroy what it can’t perceive. Mix that with some impeccably spectacular animation from Warner Bros. and course from Brad Hen, who would later go on to create The Incredibles, and you’ve got one of the beloved cult animated movies ever made. The top of the movie is one thing that may induce tears in any fan with only one phrase: “Superman.” Stream The Iron Big on Max

6 Watership Down (1978)

Watership Down is a type of animated movies primarily based on a youngsters’s e book the place each the e book and the movie are unexpectedly darkish. The premise of the film follows a bunch of rabbits getting ready to flee their warren as it’s destroyed by human invasion. Their seek for a secure new house is led by two rabbits — Hazel (John Damage) and Fiver (Richard Briers) — who, alongside the best way, be taught of a totalitarian system and a ruthless governor ruling over the eponymous Watership Down.

A Stunning Quantity of Violence

An epic motion journey, Watership Down noticed some controversy due to its violent content material, a lot in order that it will even be reclassified by the British Board of Movie Censors in 2022. Individuals who come to the movie with none data of Richard Adams’s 1972 novel are shocked by the surprisingly practical and unflinching depiction of the rabbit civilization and their dire scenario. The brutal quantity of warfare and dying make it somewhat darkish for a household movie, however its in the end optimistic messaging surrounding the appreciation of life steadiness out the extra intense scenes. Stream Watership Down on Max

5 It is Such a Lovely Day (2012)

It’s Such a Lovely Day is an experimental black comedy that performs out as a surreal recollection of its fundamental character’s recollections. The principle character, Invoice, is portrayed as a stick determine who suffers from an unknown neurological drawback. Hand-drawn vignettes comply with Invoice as he navigates his encounters with weird individuals, his relationship with dying, and the never-ending wrestle to know actuality. The movie itself is an assemblage of three separate brief movies produced by Hertzfeldt between 2006 and 2011, having been edited collectively right into a single narrative.

The Musings of Don Hertzfeldt

A number of motion pictures on this listing discover existential crises by means of their protagonists. Maybe it’s as a result of life might be so bleak and uneventful at occasions. Regardless of the purpose, director, animator, narrator, and photographer Don Hertzfeldt has his personal philosophical musings on the subject, which he showcases with such brilliance that it’s unimaginable to not lose your self in these moments of nihilism. Hertzfeldt himself gives narration for this surreal story, and as of writing, it maintains an ideal 100% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is Such a Lovely Day just isn’t obtainable on streaming

4 The Plague Canines (1982)

One other rattling animated movie blanketed as an journey, The Plague Canines follows two canines — Snitter (John Damage) and Rowf (Christopher Benjamin) — who escape from a analysis laboratory in Nineteen Seventies England and attempt to survive in a countryside that’s brimming with hunters and violence. Having grown up underneath the watchful eyes of scientists, they by no means had an opportunity to make it within the wild, however when a fox encourages them to take action, they’re solely confronted with extra obstacles.

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A Scathing Critique of Animal Experimentation

Like Watership Down, The Plague Canines was tailored from a Richard Adams novel. Saying the movie is a trustworthy adaptation tells loads concerning the writer’s soul-crushing supply materials, which depicts human cruelty in direction of animals. To be a unvoiced being combating towards a world that opposes their primary rights is already unhappy, however to incorporate the repeated scenes of torture like drowning and resuscitation within the movie is an entire new degree of roughness. The movie’s ambiguous ending makes the remainder of the viewing expertise much more upsetting. Stream The Plague Canines on Tubi

One other animated warfare drama meant for adults, Barefoot Gen depicts the occasions main as much as and after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, by means of the eyes of a kid. The movie follows 10-year-old Gen (Issei Miyazaki) and his household struggling to outlive within the aftermath. As situations of their war-torn metropolis previous to the bombing develop determined, they take up small jobs and assist their father. However when the notorious bombing happens, everybody Gen is aware of perishes earlier than his eyes. The movie relies on the manga of the identical title, and would later spawn a sequel, Barefoot Gen 2, in 1986.

The Stunning Terror of Nuclear Warfare

Proper from the scene the place the bomb is dropped, the viewers witnesses the undiluted horrors of nuclear warfare in a method that’s terrifying and practical. Director Mori Masaki makes use of a surprisingly gory depiction of burns, radiation illness, and the unfold of lifeless our bodies, particularly because it contrasts to the remainder of the movie’s cutesy and harmless artwork fashion. He attracts from his personal experiences of surviving the bombing as a toddler, and the layers of human struggling and the ache inflicted that day in Hiroshima is overwhelming. Stream Barefoot Gen on Cineverse

2 When the Wind Blows (1986)

When the Wind Blows is a hand-drawn animated story about an aged English couple who’re unaware of the cruel realities of a nuclear warfare between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies. Having taken shelter in an underground bunker, they assume they’re completely secure from the specter of their nation being annihilated. However as their assets start to dwindle, so do their lives.

An Intimate Put up-Apocalyptic Story

Whether or not it’s live-action or animation, movies primarily based round warfare often focus on real-life occasions. However Jimmy Murakami’s mission is an anti-war movie that takes place in an alternate actuality. It’s tailored from Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel, and similar to the supply materials, the movie will get painfully actual in its depiction of the mushroom clouds and the lives affected by the fallout of nuclear warfare. Stream When the Wind Blows on Tubi

1 Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Set within the closing months of World Warfare II, Grave of the Fireflies tells the story of a teenage Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi) and his youthful sister Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), who wrestle to outlive in Japan. After their house metropolis is firebombed, their mom is brutally killed, and their father is away at warfare, the siblings are left to fend for themselves and take care of the aftermath of such large devastation.

The Most Miserable Animated Movie

Not like different motion pictures by Studio Ghibli, this one takes a devastating method towards storytelling. Director Isao Takahata tries to convey how youngsters endure the results in a method they can’t perceive. As siblings, they do every thing of their energy to look after each other, however when assets change into scarce, the scenes change into extra bleak and traumatic, with the last word concentrate on the fractured innocence of the kids. This film is rightly thought of to be not simply the saddest animated movie, however one of many saddest motion pictures ever made. Lease Grave of the Fireflies on Apple TV

Unsurprisingly, a number of the most miserable animated movies change into the medium’s most interesting. To see our picks for essentially the most timeless animated motion pictures, take a look at the video beneath: