It’s fair to say that the millennials have had it rough in at least a few ways, with one particular example being the vast array of traumatizing movies that were made just for them. Every era of film and TV has its more fringe or niche projects that do something weird. However, the era right around when the millennial generation was starting to engage with movies appears to have an unusually high number of projects that really pushed the boundaries on being kid friendly.

From terrifying practical effects monsters, to adorable animated characters being put through a literal hell, these movies really tested what was appropriate for young viewers. In other instances, the application of the uncanny valley and exploration of things like children dying were used. While these could be viewed as attempts to help children deal with challenging topics, the reality was it just fueled anxiety in an otherwise oblivious kid born between the early 1980s and mid to late 1990s.

10

The NeverEnding Story

The NeverEnding Story is without a doubt one of the most iconic movies to come out of the 1980s, and it featured some incredible characters that got millennial kids’ minds racing. Atreyu and Falkor traveling throughout the kingdom of Fantasia to save the world from The Nothing was all incredibly exciting. However, there were some elements that were more terrifying than tantalizing for the young audience.

From the terrifying wolf-like creature, G’mork, to the dark and ominous atmosphere of the film, there was a lot about The NeverEnding Story that was incredibly unsettling. In addition, the final fight in the movie between Atreyu and G’mork features gratuitous blood and death. Add to this the other practically created creatures that appear throughout, and it becomes a mystery why this was made directly for young kids.

9

Return to Oz

A year later, in 1985, Return to Oz was released to the public and continued this pattern of extremely dark fantasy movies aimed at kids. Return to Oz actually served as a loose sequel to 1939s The Wizard of Oz, but it traded in the bright and colorful world for one that was dark, derelict, and disturbing. The film starts with Dorothy being taken to a sanatorium due to her ongoing persistence that Oz is a real place. While there, she is strapped to a bed in preparation to receive electroshock therapy.

While she escapes this initial torment, she then falls into a river, where she nearly drowns before being transported to Oz. While there, she encounters fresh horrors, and a monster who has a museum of people’s heads, as well as having her life threatened in intense and terrifying ways. She then eventually gets home, and finds that a fire burned the sanatorium down and killed the doctor who was planning to experiment on her, but she still returns home with her family who took her there in the first place.

8

The Dark Crystal

Just a few years earlier, in 1982, Jim Henson, the man behind The Muppets, set out to direct a dark fantasy feature film of his own, and the result was The Dark Crystal. While the movie was intended for all the family, this was a considerable departure in terms of tone from Henson’s previous work. Between the intense emotion of the story and the terrifying creatures, it was more nightmare fuel than family fun.

Henson was particularly experienced and skilled at creating real characters as intricate puppets, and his skills were applied here to create cute heroes like the Gelflings, alongside terrifying monsters like the Skeksis. These creatures, being real practical creations, added a layer of authenticity and surrealism that pushed it over the edge to become something deeply disturbing. As great as the story is, the movie is responsible for many millennial nightmares.

7

My Girl

In 1991, My Girl was released and marketed as a beautiful coming of age comedy movie starring Macaulay Culkin, who had just starred in the blockbuster hit Home Alone. When considering the stars and the premise of a movie about kids, friendship and enjoying summer, the movie appears to be light-hearted and widely accessible. However, the final moments of the movie change everything.

After the two kids form an incredibly close bond, becoming the best of friends and even sharing a first kiss, Thomas (Culkin) decides to venture into the nearby woodland on his own to look for Vada’s mood ring. However, the beehive that they knocked down reveals a swarm of angry bees who viciously attack the boy. Due to his allergy, he dies after this incident, and the final moments of the film explore Vada’s grief over losing her dear friend.

6

Bridge to Terabithia

Ensuring that no millennial went without a movie about kids dying unexpectedly, 16 years later in 2007, Bridge to Terabithia hit theaters with a similar setup about kids becoming friends and growing up. This film also featured a fantasy plot as the kids created an imaginary kingdom around them to explore and go on adventures. After Jess and Leslie become close friends, after previously feeling isolated and alone, Leslie dies tragically while swinging on the rope bridge they made.

This evokes intense guilt and shame in the surviving boy, Jess, as he feels he should have been there, and the final moments of the film see him deal with his deep grief and loss. As touching as the story may be, it once again offered an intense and mature story for children. Suddenly, death became a very real and very near threat for kids watching, and this trauma could have shaped their experiences for many years after.

5

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Moving into the world of animation, the 1980s were a period of creating animated stories that tried to be different to Disney, and one way of doing that was through exploring darker themes. All Dogs Go to Heaven came out in 1989, and the film explored themes of death and hell in great detail. While the primary character who dies is a dog, the visuals of hell and demonic spirits are incredibly intense.

In addition, the movie features numerous scenes where characters are directly haunted, harassed by monsters, and killed. While the overall message of the movie is positive and happy, the images can be intense and upsetting upon first viewing. This is a harsh contrast with most light or uplifting kid’s movies, and even the ones that deal with death don’t tend to focus so much on examining an afterlife like hell.

4

The Brave Little Toaster

The Brave Little Toaster is an animated adventure film about a group of appliances that desperately miss their owner. Since they reside in a cabin that is only used for vacations, they rarely see their owner, Rob, and his last visit was years earlier. In an effort to find out what happened, they decide to leave the warmth and safety of the cabin, and set off to search for Rob.

What follows is a whole host of terrifying events that splits the group up, causes them to lose parts, and lose hope. Eventually, they wind up in a dump, where they are all about to be crushed, just as Rob comes and finds them. However, before the happy ending, Rob and the appliances are almost crushed, but they narrowly escape. Regardless of the final outcome, everything leading up to that moment was incredibly intense, but still branded with a G rating for general viewing.

3

Babe

In 1995, the movie Babe inspired a generation of young people, predominantly young girls, to make a change in their diets and go vegetarian. This occurrence was an odd phenomenon that has been researched and documented by Johns Hopkins University (via Bioethics at the Movies), and given the name, “The Babe Effect.” The movie focuses on a young pig, who is given a voice and an intelligent mind for the movie.

While early on, the pig is being bred to eventually feed a family, the movie showcases their terror at being harmed, and their compassion and kindness. This may not be trauma in the same way that a movie exploring human death is, but nonetheless, it left a lasting impression on the millennial kids who grew up watching it. From start to finish, the film is deeply emotional, and forces audiences to look at these animals differently.

2

The Witches

Roald Dahl is a popular children’s author known for writing stories that toe the line occasionally, but when his story The Witches was adapted in 1990, things got real. Jim Henson’s production company was involved in creating the prosthetics and animatronics for the project, and once again leaned into the darker side of their creativity as they did with The Dark Crystal. Combined with the twisted imagination of Dahl, the movie was a hit, but also deeply unsettling for younger viewers.

Between the horrifying true faces of the witches, the use of rodents, and the threats towards children, the movie proved to essentially be a horror film for kids. Over the course of the movie, the terrifying witches prey on children, discuss and carry out their plans to kill kids, and this is done in a variety of ways. Ultimately, it’s incredibly intense despite the PG rating.

1

Charlotte’s Web

Finally, in 2006, another film which stars a talking pig hit the big screen, this time based on the classic children’s novel, Charlotte’s Web. When a young girl saves some piglets from being killed, she is later forced to send her pet pig, Wilbur, away due to his mischievous behavior. While there, the family plans to slaughter the pig for Christmas dinner, and poor Wilbur’s only chance to survive comes in the form of a highly intelligent spider named Charlotte.

In order to save Wilbur, Charlotte hatches a plan to impress the family and convince them that Wilbur is extraordinary. She succeeds, but Charlotte reaches the natural end of her life cycle, creating an egg sac, and then dying of exhaustion. This moment provides a touching connection between Wilbur and Charlotte, but it’s also heartbreaking to see Charlotte pass away after the events of the film. Once again, a scene that shattered the hearts of millennial children and teens as they bid farewell for the last time.