r/movies • u/joeljand • 11h ago
Discussion Sad movies that are kid friendly
This is kind of a weird question but when my kid is having a sad day, or in moments when something makes him really sad he often asks for a "sad movie". This is a normal way to process emotions, most adults do this but the problem is he is only 4. Most of the sad movies out there are not appropriate for kids and most kids movies aren't really sad, or at least sad for kids. The opening scene in 'UP' breaks my heart every time but it doesn't really register for a kid.
We often use 'Song of the Sea'. It's great animated movie but we need something new. Does anyone have any suggestions for kids friendly movies that have a meloncholic theme that don't have a lot of violence, scary scenes or mature content.
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u/CorrectShopping9428 10h ago
Land Before Time (1988)
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u/Technical-Outside408 9h ago
Yep yep yep.
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u/KitSokudo 7h ago
Double whammy as an adult if you know what happened to the kid that was Ducky. 😭
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u/ShibToOortCloud 7h ago
Had no idea that was a terrible read.
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u/redsekar 6h ago
Watch All dogs Go to Heaven. She voiced the little girl in that movie. Listen to Burt Reynolds at the end telling her how good she was and how he’ll always remember her. He recorded that after her murder, it’s GUT wrenching
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u/nicholkola 7h ago
And Secret of NIMH and All Dogs Go to Heaven. Don Bluth made quite a few sad kid flicks.
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u/Zukez 10h ago
This is too far. I'm never showing my kids The Land Before Time.
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u/LKennedy45 10h ago
But you can show them Jenny Nicholson's recap and ranking of all 15(?). Or just watch it for yourself.
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u/maltliqueur 10h ago
Homeward Bound
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u/bdahlia9 7h ago
It doesn’t matter that I know the dogs all get home fine, I’m bawling when they’re waiting for Shadow and he comes over the hill.
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u/maltliqueur 7h ago
Big time spoilers, yo.
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u/bdahlia9 6h ago
It’s a 32 year old movie.
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u/maltliqueur 6h ago
It's in the sub rules and this person is asking for suggestions. Why would you spoil the movies in the comments when they're surely going to read them?
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u/discoqueenx 7h ago
Accidentally watched this when I was pregnant and I think I hit new levels of ugly crying previously undocumented by man
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u/readzalot1 7h ago
I am sitting with tears in my eyes just thinking of those few seconds when Peter knows Shadow is not coming home. And then he does.
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u/Striking_Feature72 10h ago
What about Inside Out? Sadness is very relatable and Bing Bong has a bit of sadness too(Riley's imaginary friend.) There's no violence, scary or too advanced content.
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u/wharpua 9h ago
I remember when it came out one review of this movie had the subtitle “Why are Mommy and Daddy Crying?”
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u/Greenjeff41 9h ago
Come on, Joy, one more time. I got a feeling about this one.
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u/nadji1 9h ago
I took my daughter for a mommy-daughter date to see this. She was so sad they were trapped, she went to the lobby and was crying. I convinced her they were going to escape. "Bing Bong made a rocket! They will be fine!".
We had to leave the theatre, I have still not seen the whole movie.
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u/Smitty357 6h ago
When she is crying in her parents arms at the end and Sadness takes Joys hand…. Riley is so sad but she realizes there is happiness to be found in that and forms the new core memory. Ugh my son just watched this movie this morning lol and I always tear up a bit.
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u/mark_is_a_virgin 7h ago
I feel like this is the best answer is literally about learning and dealing with emotions
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u/kittykalista 6h ago
I was diagnosed with depression around the same age as Riley, and they really nail what it feels like. It’s one of the best representations I’ve ever seen on screen. It’s the only movie I’ve openly sobbed over, because a few scenes hit too close to home.
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u/_Princess_Peach 9h ago
The wild robot had my 5 year old and I both crying at the end.
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u/Flyinace2000 9h ago
100% wife and I get teared up listening to the soundtrack.
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u/Flyinace2000 9h ago
Though I might be a softy, I can nearly make my self cry thinking of the Bingo in space at bed time episode.
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u/Murderdoll197666 9h ago
YES...so glad for once someone already beat me to it lol. LOVED the movie, had both of my kids tearing up and my youngest one practically NEVER shows that kind of emotion toward movies. It does genuinely tug at your heartstrings as an adult too so its not just "kid sad" kind of stuff.
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u/joeljand 9h ago
The Wild Robot has been a favorite for a long time. It doesn't fall into the sad category though. It had me crying the first time though.
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u/Kathrynlena 10h ago edited 10h ago
I think it really depends on your kid. Sadness generally comes from life experience, and at 4, there’s just not a lot of that banked.
What kinds of things make him feel sad? We, as adults, will suggest movies like the Fox & the Hound (lost friendships), Up (lost dreams), or Coco (lost loved ones) but if he hasn’t experienced any of those things yet, I doubt he’ll consider them particularly sad.
That said, my recommendation is Inside Out. It’s about what it’s like to be sad as a kid (even if she’s a big kid compared to your guy.) Sadness is literally a character and she talks about how it’s ok to be sad because it’s normal and healthy.
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u/joeljand 10h ago
He seems to connect with movies or shows where the Characters are sad more than why they are sad. I think seeing sad characters deal with sadness makes him feel better about being sad. Today he is sad we got rid of the power wheels that he is too big for now.
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u/me_no_no 9h ago
Maybe he will identify with Eeyore?
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u/joeljand 9h ago
I try recommending Winnie the Pooh every time but he says it's not sad
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u/neverendingbreadstic 7h ago
The Tigger Movie always mad me super sad as a kid. As a separate suggestion: The Brave Little Toaster.
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u/blugirlami21 10h ago
The Brave Little Toaster perhaps. Also The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go To Heaven and maybe The Lion King. Really depends on their maturity level
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u/Lukealloneword 10h ago
Watch the Fox and the Hound.
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u/tilyd 7h ago
The ending is bittersweet, but to me the scene where the lady drops Tod in the woods is the saddest.
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u/MissingScore777 2h ago
This scene was the first time I cried watching a movie.
It's a vivid childhood memory for me.
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u/Firehawk195 9h ago
Big Hero 6 does a good job of dealing with grief in a healthy way. Very warm film that depicts sadness rather gently.
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u/ellen_boot 7h ago
My favorite "need the good kind of cry" movie, but maybe a little complex in its sadness for somebody really young. Would definitely depend a bit on the maturity of the kid.
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u/Charger525 10h ago
Coco (2017)
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u/Kathrynlena 10h ago edited 10h ago
This one tears me apart but mostly because I’ve lost all my grandparents and my parents are aging. I don’t know if it’ll really register for a kid the same way.
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u/Charger525 10h ago
I lost my grandfather during Covid and it still doesn’t feel real that he’s gone. I’m very sorry for your loss.
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u/shadow247 7h ago
We lost my wife's mother in 2023. Im so very heartbroken. She was nicer to me in the 15 years I knew her than my mom ever was for 5 minutes. Still doesnt seem real. She lived with us with Papa since 2016, so its a double whammy having him around without her.
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u/kindofjustalurker 7h ago
I’ve seen this movie like six or seven times atp. Maybe more. and it still makes me bawl
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u/busyshrew 10h ago
Bambi
The Black Stallion (but warning: the ship sinking sequence is intense)
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u/almo2001 9h ago
I first saw Bambi in late high school. Heard it was a total classic.
I'm like WTF is this candy-ass shit it's so.... HOLY SHIT!!!
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u/illoomi 7h ago edited 7h ago
The Last Unicorn, Spirit, American Tail, Brave Little Toaster
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u/CallistanCallistan 6h ago edited 6h ago
The Last Unicorn TERRIFIED me as a kid, between the harpy and the Red Bull. Not sure that one is good for a 4-year-old.
Edit: also it’s weirdly sexual. There’s a bare chested (female) harpy and a horny tree. Great movie, but probably not for little kids.
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u/guitarjg 10h ago
My Girl
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u/NTropyS 10h ago
The Secret of NIMH. Sad scenes, but it does have a happy ending.
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u/byneothername 10h ago
I’ve got two kids five and under. Totoro. Flow. Flow has the bonus of being a dialogueless movie and I find it therapeutic to have on in the background. Also, weirdly, the final song in Fantasia 2000, the Firebird suite. That one has sparked (ha, ha) conversations about death and growth.
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u/ellen_boot 7h ago
Surprised Flow isn't being mentioned more often. What a stunning film. I can count on my fingers the times I've teared up in a theater, but that darn kitty got me.
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u/fulsooty 8h ago
I've only seen it recommended here once, so I'll repeat it: An American Tail.
I first saw this when I was in Kindergarten. Feivel & his sister singing "Somewhere Out There" while they missed each other was sad to little me. His father reporting the size of their family to customs--"Five...I mean, four"--broke my little kid heart. It's a scene I still remember.
Also, Charlotte's Web. Although the sadness doesn't really kick in til the end.
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u/Capsicumgirl 8h ago
Where the Red Fern Grows
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u/Klutzy_Security_9206 8h ago
VERY good answer.
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u/No-Scarcity-5904 2h ago
I don’t know. At four? I saw it at about eight, and it wrecked me for a few weeks.
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u/haybai81 10h ago
The Snowman. My stepdaughter had only ever watched sweet Disney movies up to this point. When she got to the end, I was unprepared for how sad she felt.
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u/BEEGPEENS 9h ago
Might not be a perfect match, but Studio Ghibli movies are intended for kids but often have realistic/sad plots and scenes relating to family, life, war, the environment, etc.
I have 3 young nieces who absolutely loved Ponyo and Princess Mononoke
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u/joeljand 9h ago
We love Ponyo and Totoro. Others like Mononoke and Howl's get too scary.
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u/BEEGPEENS 9h ago
That totally makes sense! I can definitely see Mononoke being a bit much. What about Kiki’s Delivery Service?
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u/spinereader81 10h ago
Born Free
Ring of Bright Water
The Snowman (the animated special)
An American Tail
Snoopy Come Home
Follow That Bird
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u/Dogbin005 9h ago
Toy Story 3. (although you'd definitely want to watch 1 and 2 first)
It's got 2 of the saddest moments in any kids films. One devastating, one bitter-sweet. Plus it's the absolute perfect conclusion to the Toy Story trilogy. No need for further cash grabs.
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u/Jldbtter6252 9h ago
The Fox and The Hound.
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u/Magik160 9h ago
When she is leaving the reserve…
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u/Jldbtter6252 9h ago
I walked into my parent’s house one day after work and saw both of my sisters and my mom bawling their eyes out at that scene.
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u/hellosunloaf 9h ago
The people who made Song of the Sea have some other movies, Secret of Kells and Wolfwalkers, that have a very similar tone.
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u/flowerpanes 8h ago
Lilo and Stitch, the animated movie. Easy to understand the sisters sadness, see why Stitch is often unhappy and how family is important even if you are having a very hard time getting along.
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u/almondbunny 9h ago
The Last Unicorn. It has a melancholy feel to it. Though the Harpy scene and the Red Bull may be too scary. But the unicorn is sad and then in the second half after she is transformed pretty much every charcter is sad.
My Neighbor Totoro The girls are sad about their mother and dealing with that.
I feel like a lot of films for kids have big emotional beats that are too scary for children that young. I was going to suggest Once Upon a Forest, but the subject matter of the forest being poisoned and the way the humans are scary figures at the end, might not sit well with a little kiddo.
Maybe there are some old Sesame Sreet or Mr. Rogers episodes or clips? I saw a clip a while back of a Mr. Rogers episode where his friend was sad about losing a baking competition and Mr Rogers talked to him about being sad and finding ways to feel their way through the feeling.
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u/Magik160 9h ago
When I was a kid, we had Watership Down, Plague Dogs & Secret of NIHM. Which explains a lot, honestly.
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u/queercourtier 9h ago
I found Flow to be a very sad movie, but beautiful and moving as well! Then there’s All Dogs Go to Heaven. Happy Feet has some stressful and sad scenes too. If you’re interested in short films, Kitbull and Far From the Tree are both adorable and emotional.
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u/AnneofLaMancha 8h ago
The Last Unicorn (1982) It always made me feel some type of way as a child, a melancholic longing for a time I never lived, perhaps.
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u/knightbaby 7h ago
Fox and the hound! I loved that movie when I was a kid and DAMN is it sad.
The 7th brother is really sad in the beginning, a puppy gets lost from his humans and is adopted by a bunch of wild rabbits.
Oliver and company is sad in the beginning too, and has some sad moments throughout.
All animated children’s movies with animals
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u/redsekar 6h ago
Fly Away Home. Live action animal movie about geese. I watched is over and over as a kid on VHS and always cried every time time; and always went back for more.
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u/FlorenceCattleya 9h ago
Dumbo has a scene that makes me cry. Also, Where the Red Fern Grows is really sad, but maybe not good for a 4 year old.
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u/readermom123 8h ago
My Neighbor Totoro! The whole movie is about kids dealing with sadness and fear.
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u/Reasonable-Wave8093 8h ago
Charlottes Web (70s), Wild Robot, Fox and Hound, Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, An American Tail, The Rescuers. Flight of the Navigator, Journey of Natty Gann have their moments too.
Early disney shit is bleak af.
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u/Twistfaria 7h ago
I mean I’d say The Secret of NIMH would be a good one. Some kids find it scary, I never really did. It has some more serious themes like sickness. Bambi might be good. The Neverending Story. A Little Princess. The Fox and the Hound. Coco has some serious themes. The Land Before Time is great!! The Rescuers All Dogs Go to Heaven Dumbo An American Tail Pete’s Dragon (the original)
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u/maporita 7h ago
Robot Dreams. The simplicity of the animation about a dog who befriends a robot contrasts with a searingly human story about friendship and loss and moving on. A gem of a movie.
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u/readerf52 7h ago
My special needs kid was into animal movies.
If your kiddo is an animal lover, sometimes movies like Flipper will feel like a very sad movie. Hotel for Dogs had a pretty scary villain, but the dogs without homes was sad. And I don’t remember much of Roxanne and Zeus, but I think it had sad parts. Free Willy made us never want to see orcas in captivity again.
My daughter is non verbal, but she has such empathy that a lot of movies seemed sad to her. These were some of her animal favorites.
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u/CreatureManstrosity 7h ago
One that always got me as a kid was Homeward Bound. It is super sad for a talking animal movie.
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u/Faery818 4h ago
Anything by Don Bluth. Just make sure they're not too scary first.
Land before time All dogs go to heaven The secret of nimh Rock a doodle American tail
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u/Envermans 3h ago
Most Studio Ghibli films could fit that bill. Spirited away, Pom Poko, princess mononoke, kiki's delivery service, Howls moving castle, Nausicaa valley of the wind... my 2 personal favorites are Secret world of arietty and My neighbor totoro. I recently watched Totoro with my 1 and half year old toddler and he loved it. We now have a cat bus plushy!
Avoid grave of the fireflies though. You will both weap and possibly be traumatized.
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u/Lower_Refrigerator_2 1h ago
Would say bridge to terabithia, it is a kids movie based on a book. The book was written by a mother to help her young son process the death of one of his friends.
But the movie hits hard so they’re probably too young. I know I watched it at 11 and it destroyed me.
Other than that you can try something with a bittersweet ending.
Recently watched K-pop demon hunters and it is great for this. Main themes are learning to accept yourself and knowing that your scars make you beautiful.
Plus the music is great😂😂😂
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u/esmelusina 6h ago
Grave of the Fireflies
Your kid will never ask for a sad movie ever again.
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u/MomsBored 9h ago
White Bird, it is about a girl hiding from nazis but the story focuses on her friendship & heartbreak. Her friend does get beat up while she was hiding.
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u/BondStreetIrregular 9h ago
This is a left-field pick, but I recollect the 1974 Canadian short (24 mins?) film "The Violin" as being somewhat melancholy and seen through the eyes of a young child.
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u/30cuts 9h ago
"Ludovic" by Co Hoedeman, a series of short stop motion films that are quiet and sometimes sad. Ex: In "Visiting Grandpa" Ludovic goes to his grandpa's farm, which is nice, but he also remembers his grandma who is no longer alive. All of them are available legally on the NFB Youtube channel.
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u/Nacho_7258 9h ago
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Not exactly an amazing movie, but it deals with death and loss in a very mature way.
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u/phluper 11h ago
The Iron Giant