9 Most Terrifying Pixar Scenes That Wouldn’t Look Out Of Place In A Horror Movie

Pixar may be a company that creates films for the whole family, but it has also created some scenes that feel like they would have fit better in a horror. Pixar has a rich history with some of the biggest titans of industry before it settled into making kids movies as a division of Walt Disney Studios. Beginning in 1979, it existed as the Graphics Group in Lucasfilms. Then in 1986, it spun off as an independent company with funding and support from Steve Jobs, who was also one of the founders of Apple.

While Pixar began making movies in 1995, with the release of their debut film Toy Story, it was not until 2006 that it was acquired by Disney. Pixar has gone on to create dozens of popular movies, winning accolades and awards for their animation, storytelling, and innovations. However, while their brand is designed to be for all the family to enjoy, Pixar does not hold back when it comes to having scenes that are emotionally charged, and occasionally terrifying.

9

Sid’s Room – Toy Story

In their film debut, Pixar established the incredible quality and innovation which could be expected from the company with Toy Story. The movie achieved great success, and prompted the release of subsequent movies expanding the world of these living toys. Due to this success, it quickly grew to become a multi-billion dollar franchise. Each film is packed with emotions and occasional heartbreak, but it has also strayed into the world of horror.

In the first movie, the neighbor of Andy and the toys is revealed to be a twisted kid names Sid. Sid likes to explode things, destroy toys, bully other children, and trains his dog to be violent and aggressive. However, it isn’t until the toys break into Sid’s room that they understand the true darkness in his mind. In a harrowing scene, the happy, well-kept toys belonging to Andy are introduced to a variety of toys who have been experimented on by Sid, creating terrifying toy hybrids.

8

Dead Rat’s In The Window – Ratatouille

Ratatouille was released in 2007, and it continued Pixar’s tradition of exploring the world from new and unique perspectives. In this instance, the story followed a small rat, named Remy, who has a passion for fine dining and cooking. However, Remy is a rat, and so his passion is not so easy to pursue, as his kind don’t typically get into cooking, and most humans run a mile if they see a rat anywhere close to food.

However, the rat being around someone’s meal is the least scary thing about the film, and the horror actually comes from a scene where Remy is shown what humans normally do with rats. Django, Remy’s father, wants to talk some sense into his wayward child. In an effort to dispel his dreams of becoming a chef, he takes Remy to see an exterminator shop with dead rats hanging in the window. The scene is intense and frightening, with the lights of cars passing adding to the uncomfortable and overwhelming atmosphere.

7

Hopper’s Death – A Bug’s Life

Pixar also includes scenes where characters pass away in several films. However, in most cases, the film will heavily imply a character who is beloved may pass away between scenes. On other occasions, Pixar decides to be more direct in its approach to suggesting how a character may pass, and in the case of A Bug’s Life, when the villain, Hopper, finally faces off against the ants, his fate is explicitly revealed.

Hopper is a grasshopper, and so he is much larger and more agile than the ants. The grasshoppers also steal the ants’ resources and disturb the colony. However, the grasshoppers also have a natural predator that they are terrified of; birds. Whenever a bird is approaching, the grasshoppers scatter quickly to escape the danger. However, when Hopper is having his final confrontation with the ants, he unwittingly becomes the target of a curious bird. He is picked up, and as he screams in terror, he is lowered into the nest of the bird, where three baby birds snap up and reach for the incoming treat.

6

Mike On The Scream Machine – Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. is a movie where literal monsters power their civilization by harnessing the power of screams from young children. The monsters harvest screams from kids, and collect them in special canisters that store the energy to power their homes and spaces. However, there is a scene where one of the particularly vindictive monsters attempts to use an extra powerful machine designed to suck the screams from an individual, draining them of their own life force and energy on another monster.

Randall abducts Mike Wazowski and chains him up in this machine as he asks questions about the potential human child in the factory. Randall slowly moves the device closer to Mike, creating an imminent sense of impending doom that is harrowing. The torture and the genuine fear of Mike and his friends as they watch on helpless is like something straight out of a horror.

5

The Barracuda Attack – Finding Nemo

In Finding Nemo, the whole movie focuses on the relationship between a young clownfish who desperately wants to be independent, and his overly anxious single father. However, the reason that Nemo’s dad, Marlin, is so anxious about protecting his son and keeping him home, is due to an incident that happened just before Nemo was born. The same incident that took his wife, and potentially dozens of other babies in one fell swoop. Marlin and his wife, Coral, were living blissfully preparing for the arrival of their babies who would soon hatch from their eggs.

But in a cruel twist of fate, a hungry Barracuda discovers their home. Marlin and Coral attempt to fool the predator into leaving by staying still, but Coral recognized the threat to her babies and chooses to try and protect them. In a desperate attempt to save her family, she swam to the eggs, and Marlin tried to push back the vicious fish, but he was knocked unconscious. He then awakes some time later to find his wife and children gone, all except one egg with a clear mark that left the child permanently injured.

4

The Dead Hero Database – The Incredibles

The Incredibles is one of just a few Pixar movies where humans are the central protagonists. However, the humans that appear are also superheroes with special gifts that allow them to protect and provide for their community. In the first movie, tensions between humans and heroes have reached a fever pitch due to some heroes causing costly damage in the process of their heroics, or inadvertently causing people’s injuries while saving them from imminent death.

In a world that rejects its heroes, the heroes turn to alternative offers to try and help the world. This is what Mr. Incredible believes is happening when he accepts the invitation to come to a private island and stop a menacing machine from causing destruction. However, while there, he uncovers the dark truth about the island when he finds literal skeletons in the closet and finds records of countless heroes being brought to the island to effectively train the robot, with many losing their lives in the process.

3

The Furnace – Toy Story 3

Returning to the Toy Story franchise, Toy Story 3 features one of the most intense and terrifying scenes in the franchise, and indeed in any Pixar movie. As the film approaches its inevitable conclusion, the toys find themselves in an increasingly dangerous predicament while fighting an evil toy bear. As the toys are trapped on a conveyor belt in a huge incinerator, they work together with Lotso, the enemy bear, to reach the emergency stop button.

While the toys manage to reach the button and help Lotso get free, he chooses to leave the toys that just showed him mercy to their terrible fate. With no hope, and no chance of survival or rescue, the toys accept their fate, and in one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the series, they prepare for their death. However, just at the last moment, the scene is redeemed, and the toy aliens appear to rescue their friends with a large industrial claw.

2

The Torture Scene – Cars 2

Another sequel movie chose to move into a darker story with Cars 2. While the first movie dealt with a naive young racer, and his desires to win the coveted Piston Cup, Cars 2 moves into the world of international espionage. When race car Lightning McQueen and his friend, Mater, get caught up in a war between spies and mastermind villains, their worldview suddenly shifts.

In one harrowing scene, a special agent, Rod Redline, is subjected to torture by an evil organization. They use a special fuel and laser which can cause the fuel to become volatile and cause Rod to start spinning his tires out of control. As the line of questioning intensifies, so too does the laser, and in a horrifying shot which is seen in the reflection of a TV screen, Rod explodes into a burst of flames.

1

Arlo’s Dad Floats Away – The Good Dinosaur

In The Good Dinosaur, the movie is a generally positive and hopeful story about the bond between a boy and a dinosaur. However, the movie starts with a bleak and upsetting scene where the young dinosaur Arlo tragically loses his father. Arlo failed to match up with his family due to his timid and nervous nature. However, when his father gives him a chance to prove himself, Arlo is unable to step up as he is expected to.

Arlo’s father attempts to teach him a lesson and help his son grow up by bringing him to track down a feral caveboy, and exterminating the threat to their home and livelihood at this young age. However, in the process of trying to exterminate the threat, Arlo ends up in danger, only to be rescued by his father, who is then washed away in a flash flood, never to be seen again. Like the other Pixar films listed above, the film leans into the darker side of storytelling with a scene that is much more emotionally charged than the rest of the film.