Remember the first time you watched The Lion King, The Fox and the Hound, Bambi or any of those other heart-wrenching Disney movies of your youth? I bet your parents do. I'm in my 30s and I still have not seen Bambi. My parents didn't want to watch it when I was little because it was too sad for them! And my whole life I have never found someone who wanted to watch Bambi with me for the same reason. Honestly, I'm afraid to watch it now. Why does Disney make the most heartbreaking films for children?? Will it ever end?!
No. It seems the chaos will never end, it's just escalating. Disney started with the loss of friends and parents, but now they've worked their way up to more and more complicated things like the family dynamics in Lilo & Stitch. Now they're hitting on things like dealing with complicated emotions in Inside Out, the afterlife in Soul, and family trauma in Encanto. I suppose in the long run, it helps kids… Right? It like, readies them for the real world or something.
Recently, a mom on TikTok shared video of her toddler experiencing Lilo & Stitch for the first time. The emotional rollercoaster this poor little girl goes through is hitting everyone in the feels HARD. Not just because it's sad to see a little girl so upset like that, but also because a part deep inside of our hearts is being opened and reminding us of the first time we watched a sad Disney movie when we were her age. I'll never forget sitting there wondering when Simba's dad was going to wake up… She watches Lilo & Stitch and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch and the empath and emotions are heavy (and also adorable).
