- 5 months ago
Prepare your tissues for this emotional journey! We're exploring heart-wrenching moments when beloved non-human characters met their end on the big screen. From loyal companions to magnificent beasts, these deaths left audiences worldwide in tears. Which cinematic farewell hit you hardest? Join us as we count down unforgettable farewells that proved you don't need to be human to break hearts.
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00:00They'll be fine. Just get inside. You, right now.
00:05No!
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those instances where somebody, not us,
00:12was left in tears after the on-screen demise of a non-human character.
00:21Number 10. Kong, King Kong Franchise
00:30It was beauty that killed the beast. This is the immortal line uttered by Carl Denham at the end of the original 1933 King Kong.
00:39Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.
00:44A bit of dialogue that's become synonymous with the downfall of this giant beloved ape.
00:49Granted, Kong's rampage does result in the deaths of many people over the course of his franchise's history,
00:54but it's important to note King Kong never asked to be brought to New York.
00:58That makes his fall from the Empire State Building all the more moving and affecting.
01:02Don't hold on to me or they'll kill you.
01:04It also doesn't matter whether one is viewing the death of Kong in 1933, 1976, or 2005,
01:12or from what building the fall occurs.
01:14They're all tragically epic ends befitting a truly iconic monster.
01:18Why'd he do that? Climb up there and get himself cornered.
01:23The ape must have known what was coming.
01:24Number 9. The T-800. Terminator 2. Judgment Day.
01:28There's one more chip.
01:34And it must be destroyed also.
01:37This sequel to James Cameron's original Terminator flips the script a bit,
01:41presenting the T-800 as a heroic opposition to an even greater threat.
01:44The android is now tasked with protecting the young John Connor from the T-1000,
01:48a shape-shifting upgrade from the original that's even more devious and dangerous.
01:57Terminator 2. Judgment Day is notable for its action set pieces,
02:00but also for a sense of humour that was largely lacking in the OG.
02:03Still, the death of Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 at the film's climax
02:13remains as one of the franchise's most well-remembered moments.
02:16Number 8. Hooch. Turner and Hooch.
02:37We're sort of used to the buddy cop genre including some manner of serious moments at their climax,
02:42one where one of the protagonists may be wounded, but ultimately makes it out alive.
02:46This was tragically not the case for Hooch,
02:48the canine partner of Tom Hanks' detective Scott Turner.
02:51This police dog is a true hero, saving the day for Turner at the cost of his own life.
02:56It's going to be a long night, so when do you say wait?
03:00Prepare for it, huh?
03:01Trying to stay alert.
03:04There you go. Special treat.
03:06It's the comedic beats of Turner and Hooch that make us in the audience expect
03:12that Hooch will survive his time on the operating table.
03:15Alas, this is not to be.
03:16And no amount of sequel baiting with a new litter of puppies
03:18was enough to dry our eyes from watching Hooch take a bullet.
03:27Number 7. Artax. The NeverEnding Story.
03:29What is it, Artax?
03:32Is it time to go? Already?
03:36It's the animal death that's scarred a generation of 80s kids,
03:39to the point where many still can't watch the scene without tearing up.
03:43The NeverEnding Story was a decade-defining fantasy adventure
03:45with tons of imagination.
03:47It's also another example where not even Bastion's eventual undoing
03:51of the nothing's plans makes up for that scene in the swamps of sadness.
03:55Come on, boy. Come on.
03:57The performance of Noah Hathaway as Atreyu tears out our collective hearts
04:12as he pleads for his horse, Artax, to emerge from his slow sinking into the swamp.
04:18Come on, boy.
04:22What's the matter?
04:25I understand.
04:31It's too difficult for you.
04:32His exclamations of frustration and rage still ring in our ears.
04:37Artax! You're sinking!
04:39Come on! Get around!
04:40You have to now!
04:44Come on!
04:46Artax!
04:47Fight against the sadness, Artax!
04:50And remind us of that traumatic moment
04:52where we realise that the stakes in the NeverEnding Story were high.
04:56For me.
04:58You're my friend.
05:00I love you.
05:01Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost.
05:15You got the touch!
05:17Call this one an example of WTF 1980s.
05:21It speaks volumes that the producers of 1986's The Transformers The Movie
05:26were so intent on selling new toys to kids
05:28that they somehow thought the death of freaking Optimus Prime
05:32was a good idea.
05:37Until that day.
05:40Till all are one.
05:44This scene plays it straight
05:46as it builds upon the deaths of Autobots Brawn, Prowl, Ratchet
05:50and Ironhide earlier in the film.
05:53The Vince DeCola score feels like a funeral dirge
05:56because it is one.
05:58As Optimus Prime surrenders the all-spark to Ultra Magnus.
06:01The tears are real from both of us
06:03and the movie's human characters
06:05as the Autobot leader dies.
06:07While as adults, we can't help but marvel
06:09at the ghoul Transformers The Movie had
06:11by including such a scene.
06:28Number five, Bambi's mother, Bambi.
06:35You must never rush out on the meadow.
06:38There might be danger.
06:41Out there, we are unprotected.
06:44The meadow is wide and open
06:45and there are no trees or bushes to hide us.
06:48It's important for young people to understand the gravity of death
06:51and movies often serve as the hand
06:53that removes this painfully emotional bandage.
06:55Bambi may have been released in 1942
06:58but its status as a certified Disney classic
07:01ensured that generation after generation
07:03would continue to be traumatised
07:05by the demise of Bambi's mother.
07:07This cinematic death is frank and realistic
07:12as Bambi's mother is shot by a hunter.
07:15Quick, the thicket!
07:23Faster! Faster, Bambi!
07:26Don't look back!
07:28Keep running!
07:29Keep running!
07:30The film doesn't necessarily set up this death
07:32as something inherently malicious, per se,
07:35but rather as an aspect of life.
07:37This realism doesn't make the death of Bambi's mother
07:39any less upsetting for kids, of course,
07:41but in a way, we're also thankful
07:43that the scene, at least,
07:45doesn't feel emotionally exploitative.
07:48Mother!
07:50Number 4. Old Yeller.
07:51Old Yeller.
07:52No, you don't.
07:53We're staying right here
08:05and keeping them coons right now,
08:06aren't you here?
08:07Considering this is an OG
08:09from the long line of traumatic
08:10Don't Kill the Dog movies,
08:12a la Marley and Me,
08:13or Hachi, A Dog's Tale,
08:15Old Yeller is, at its heart,
08:16the story of a family.
08:18There's action, adventure,
08:19and drama to be had,
08:20but there's also the relationship
08:21between young Travis Coates
08:23and his dog, Old Yeller.
08:24Why, you frown old rascal.
08:29Come on, boy.
08:31Yeller is a loyal companion
08:33and a trusted member of the family,
08:35ultimately sacrificing himself in battle
08:37to ward away a rabid wolf.
08:39Unfortunately, Travis is forced
08:41to kill his beloved pet
08:42after Old Yeller contracts the disease.
08:44It's a heart-wrenching scene
08:45where the emotion leaps off the screen,
08:47and another example
08:48of a realistic depiction
08:50of how sometimes
08:51we have to lose the things we love.
08:53Number 3, Dobby, Harry Potter
09:11and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
09:13Every generation has that one cinematic death
09:19that hits home,
09:20that they'll always remember
09:21long into adulthood.
09:23For many kids,
09:24that death was Dobby's
09:25from 2010's Harry Potter
09:26and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.
09:28This house elf certainly earned
09:30a hero's demise,
09:31as Dobby takes a knife
09:32thrown by Bellatrix Lestrange.
09:35Dobby.
09:36This death in service to Harry, Hermione and Ron
09:51receives the proper on-screen reverence
09:54it deserves,
09:55although some fans of the Harry Potter franchise
09:57have remarked how the book version
09:59was even more traumatic.
10:00Help me!
10:01Help me!
10:04Such a beautiful place
10:07to be with friends.
10:12Still, the scene clearly underlines
10:14the stakes at play
10:15as the Harry Potter film series
10:17reaches its final climax.
10:18There.
10:21Now he could be sleeping.
10:27Number 2.
10:29The Iron Giant.
10:30The Iron Giant.
10:31Man, that was...
10:32Does the fact that the titular Iron Giant
10:41from the film of the same name
10:42survives his encounter
10:44with a nuclear missile
10:45make the scene any less troubling?
10:47We don't think so.
10:48Since the execution
11:06from this 1999 Warner Brothers effort
11:08makes it a point
11:09to make the Iron Giant's sacrifice
11:11feel just as big as he is.
11:13Shoot at it!
11:18There's a gravitas to the giant's speech,
11:29to the cinematography
11:29and to the atmosphere at play
11:31as the inevitable collision
11:32gets closer and closer.
11:34You stay.
11:38I go.
11:40Sure, the final reveal lets us know
11:42that the Iron Giant
11:43is going to rebuild himself,
11:45but by that point
11:46we were already in tears.
11:56Before we unveil our top pick,
11:58here are a few honourable mentions.
12:00Littlefoot's mother.
12:01The land before time.
12:02Littlefoot is orphaned by a T-Rex.
12:05Dear sweet Littlefoot,
12:07Do you remember
12:09the way to the Great Valley?
12:13I guess so.
12:15But why do I have to know
12:16you're going to be with me?
12:19I'll be with you.
12:22Even if you can't see me.
12:24What do you mean,
12:25if I can't see you?
12:27I can always see you.
12:29Samantha,
12:30I am legend.
12:31Will Smith's face
12:32says it all, really.
12:33Roy Batty,
12:56Blade Runner.
12:56The death speech
12:58All those
13:01moments
13:03will be lost
13:04in time
13:07like
13:10tears.
13:13Two Socks
13:13Dances with Wolves
13:15This wolf dies a hero.
13:17Caesar,
13:23war for the planet of the apes.
13:25Hails to this fallen leader
13:27of the ape army.
13:33Caesar.
13:34Before we continue,
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13:57Number one,
13:58Mufasa,
13:59The Lion King.
14:00Long live the king.
14:02Scar!
14:03Ah!
14:05Brother!
14:07Help me!
14:16Long live the king.
14:19This is really
14:20all we have to say, right?
14:22It's perhaps
14:22the most obvious answer
14:23but also the right one
14:25as the Lion King
14:25is betrayed by Scar
14:27and trampled to death
14:28by wildebeests.
14:30It's not only Mufasa's fall
14:31that gets us
14:31and let's face it
14:33everyone else
14:34but also the behaviour
14:35of Simba
14:35as he begs his father
14:37to rise.
14:38Dad?
14:40Dad, come on.
14:43You gotta get up.
14:46Dad,
14:47you gotta go home.
14:49The young lion cub's
14:51The young lion cub's
14:51animalistic pouring
14:52of Mufasa's lifeless body
14:53ruins us
14:54as we cry out
14:55to comfort Simba
14:56in his hour of need.
14:58This scene from
14:59The Lion King proved
14:59that children's animation
15:01didn't always need
15:02to be kid stuff.
15:03It could also serve
15:04as high art
15:04that moved emotional mountains
15:06with a tragic beauty
15:07that resounds
15:08through generations.
15:09It was an accident
15:11and I didn't mean
15:12for it to happen.
15:13Of course,
15:15of course you didn't.
15:18No one ever means
15:20for these things
15:21to happen.
15:23We keep reaching
15:24for the tissues here
15:25so just talk amongst yourselves
15:26and let us know
15:27your thoughts
15:28about how movies
15:29hook us in
15:29with these intensely
15:30emotional scenes.
15:32Charlotte?
15:33Charlotte?
15:34Charlotte!
15:35Charlotte!
15:35Charlotte!
15:35Charlotte!
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