The 7 Most Moving Disney Movie Moments That Still Make Us Cry—Every. Single. Time.

We often think of Disney movies as being wholesome family films that make us all smile, but another thing that they often have are devastating moments that make us tear up. Most of the time it revolves around someone dying, but there are a select few that highlight just how devastating leaving someone can be. Below, we have rounded up the seven saddest moments in Disney movies, including Mufasa’s death. Keep reading for more. 

7. When Buzz and Woody say goodbye in ‘Toy Story 4’ (2019) 

A lot of people think that when Buzz (Tim Allen), Woody (Tom Hanks) and the rest of the gang get donated at the end of Toy Story 3, it’s the saddest moment in the tetralogy, but it’s actually when Buzz and Woody get separated at the end of the fourth film. 

After realizing that he likes life as a lost toy, Woody decides to leave Buzz and the rest of his friends behind. And if that wasn’t sad enough, the film ends with Buzz saying, “To infinity,” before panning to Woody, who replies, “And beyond,” causing the whole theater to weep. 

You can watch Toy Story 4 here. 

6. When Tod gets left behind in ‘The Fox and the Hound’ (1981) 

The Fox and the Hound is arguably one of Disney’s saddest movies ever. In the film, viewers are taken alongside the unlikely friendship between Copper the hound (Kurt Russell) and Tod the fox (Mickey Rooney). But after learning that their owners hate each other, Copper and Tod must figure out how to keep their friendship alive. And just when you think the film will end happily, Tod’s owner decides to leave him alone in the woods, meaning he will never see Cooper or have a home again. 

You can watch The Fox and the Hound here. 

5. Bing Bong’s farewell in ‘Inside Out’ (2015) 

When Bing Bong (Richard Kind) first appeared on screen in the first Inside Out, people were quick to fall in love with him. They were also quick to cry when he told Joy (Amy Poehler) to take Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) to the moon for him. 

“When he finally extends his hand and says, ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this,’ you had seen a lot more of him during that original scene so that when they’re continually trying and trying and trying to get back, you understand what he’s going through,” Kind said of his character’s death. “It was absolutely heartbreaking.” 

You can watch Inside Out here. 

4. Bambi losing his mother still hurts, 84 years later (1941) 

Bambi’s mother might not have had a name, but that didn’t make her death any less tragic. While leading her son to find food, the mother-son duo finds itself being chased by hunters, one of which eventually shoots and kills Bambi’s mother, leaving Bambi all alone in a silent, snow-covered forest. And if that wasn’t sad enough, Bambi’s mother’s last words were, “Keep running! Keep running!” Talk about heartbreaking. 

You can watch Bambi here. 

3. When Ellie dies in ‘Up’ (2009) 

Up, as a whole, might be a heartwarming film about an old man who goes on an adventure with a young and enthusiastic boy, but the first 10 minutes are nothing short of devastating. In it, you see a montage of Carl (Edward Asner) and Ellie Fredricksen (Elie Docter) growing up together, falling in love, getting married, finding out they can’t have kids, discovering that Ellie has cancer and then Ellie eventually passes away. Thankfully, as we said, the film gets better and more joyful as it goes on, but the beginning of it is quite rough. 

You can watch Up here. 

2. When Mama Coco remembers her father in ‘Coco’ (2017) 

Nothing made viewers happier than when Mama Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía) finally remembered who her father was in Coco. The whole scene comes after Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) returns from the Land of the Dead, desperate to get his family to recognize their long-lost patriarch Héctor (Gael García Bernal). To try and do that, Miguel begins to sing Héctor’s song “Remember Me” to Mama Coco, who then—after not speaking for quite a while—begins to sing it back to them, causing everyone both on and off screen to bawl their eyes out. 

You can watch Coco here! 

1. Mufasa’s death in ‘The Lion King’—the saddest scene ever (1994) 

When we think of the saddest Disney movies, Mufasa dying in The Lion King will always take the cake. Based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the death happens after Scar (Jeremy Irons) tricks Mufasa (James Earl Jones) into thinking that his son Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is in danger. Then, after Mufasa saves his son, Scar pushes his brother off of a ledge. And while that was sad, the saddest part came when Simba found his father’s body and cried next to it. Now, it’s 20 years later, and this scene is still devastating every time we watch it. 

You can watch The Lion King here.