‘What film traumatised you as a child?’ – 25 so-called kids’ movies that are still causing adults emotional distress

Who remembers being a child, sitting down on a Saturday afternoon to watch a nice movie… and ending up with a lifelong psychological scar? Probably everybody, due to the fact that entertainment allegedly aimed at children can sometimes be a bit scarier than it should be.

These wounds have been reopened on the AskUK subreddit after user Wonderful-Cow-9664 asked this:

What film traumatised you as a child? For me, The Land Before Time absolutely broke me-I’ve never watched it again since and I have absolutely not ever let my now 18-year-old son watch it.

And lots of people jumped at the chance of a spot of group therapy. Spoiler alert – these weren’t all intended for children.

1.

‘Watership Down. Cute rabbits and all.’
–WestonsCat

2.

‘My Girl. He can’t see without his glasses.’
–JBB2002902

3.

‘Never Ending Story. I’m 53, it’s been 40 years since I watched it – nope, still can’t.’
–stupre1972

4.

‘The Witches legitimately blighted my childhood. A film about a cabal of evil terrifying demon witches hellbent on exterminating every single child from the face of the earth. For kids. Based on a book which was also for kids.’
–RosieFudge

5.

‘Return to Oz, there’s a notorious scene featuring heads without bodies.’
–octofishdream

6.

‘Dumbo. I’m middle aged and I still can’t watch it. The trailer for the new version made me lose it. I’m not normally like this.’
–hellhound28

7.

‘Goodnight Mr Tom. The lad locked under the stairs holding his dead baby sibling and then his best mate dying at the end was rough. Kid went through some shit.’
–justmoochin

8.

‘The Fox and The Hound. I’ve watched it as an adult and bawled then too.’
–liebackandthinkofeng

9.

‘Threads. We watched it once in year 5 and I’ve never watched it again.’
–Neddius

10.

‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas. Cried for weeks after watching that in primary school.’
–Sadbitch_boi

11.

‘The scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Judge Doom got flattened.’
–CuteMaterial

12.

‘The Dark Crystal – the ‘mmmm’ noise the Skeksis make kept me up many a night.’
–Neddlings55