10 ’90s Kids’ Movies That Are Actually Traumatizing, Ranked

While the excess of the 1980s led to plenty of traumatic kids’ movies to horrify children, the ’90s took a different approach to kids’ films. There were fewer movies featuring frightening creatures like in Gremlins or Willow. Instead, the family movies of the ’90s explored more emotional stories and mature narratives. Screams and nightmares were replaced by buckets of tears and examinations of loss and grief.

Of course, the 1990s also provided some spooky Halloween fare perfect for families, but the six-year-old PG-13 rating weeded out movies that pushed the envelope a bit too far. The macabre and funny The Addams Family or the whimsical and emotional Edward Scissorhands were “off limits” to children too young to handle the content, even though dark movies from the 1980s like The NeverEnding Story were considered acceptable. There are still ’90s kids’ films that are traumatizing, exemplifying the last vestiges of the creepy ’80s or exploring adult themes that bring kids to tears.

10 ‘White Fang’ (1991)

Directed by Randal Kleiser

In White Fang, young Ethan Hawke‘s Jack travels to San Francisco for the 1896 Gold Rush. During his journey to his father’s claim, Jack faces several frightening attacks – from a pack of wolves, a grizzly bear, and other miners. These scenes are intense and feature characters (human and animal) being hurt or killed. Throughout the film, Jack has several run-ins with the lovable wolfdog White Fang, who saves him from the grizzly bear, and viewers quickly get attached.

After White Fang is traded against Jack’s wishes, the wolfdog is abused and trained to fight other dogs. The scenes of animal cruelty are difficult to watch, but Jack saves White Fang, and the two form a deep connection as White Fang is rehabilitated. The heartbreaking third act sees Jack trying to send White Fang back into the wild by coldly using a stick to trigger and scare him; Jack has to emotionally hurt his friend to save him, bringing tears to everyone watching this forgotten Disney classic.

White Fang is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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9 ‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993)

Directed by Kenny Ortega

Hocus Pocus has become a Halloween tradition and spawned a sequel 30 years later despite a middling 40% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Witches Winifred (played by Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) are instantly charming and identifiable due to the actors’ excellent performances; their humor bounces off one another perfectly. However, the witches of Hocus Pocus are the villains and are out to ingest children’s souls.

The kooky, campy vibe of the film cannot hide that the narrative touches on guilt, virginity, death, and murder – themes that could be difficult for young children to navigate despite the fun musical interludes. Violence is quite prevalent throughout the film – the witches are hanged, burned alive and turned to stone/dust – and children sacrifice themselves for each other. Hocus Pocus also features Winifred’s zombified lover Billy (Doug Jones in gnarly special effects make-up), who might be scary for some.

Hocus Pocus is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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8 ‘Matilda’ (1996)

Directed by Danny DeVito

In this film adaptation of Roald Dahl‘s Matilda, telekinetic Matilda (Mara Wilson) is a vivacious six-year-old who wants to learn despite her horrible (and criminal) parents’ objections. They (along with Matilda’s older brother) neglect and mistreat her, so she retaliates with some ill-advised pranks that hopefully don’t rub off on young viewers (like gluing her father’s hat to his head).

However, Matilda’s family is just the tip of the iceberg. She is eventually sent to a school that features one of the meanest teachers in movies, Miss Trunchbull. Towering over the school kids and putting her athletic prowess to nefarious purposes, Trunchbull’s teaching method consists of torturing children, sending misbehaving kids to an iron maiden-like device called the “chokey” – which is still seared into some adults’ memories today.

Matilda is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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7 ‘FernGully: The Last Rainforest’ (1992)

Directed by Bill Kroyer

FernGully: The Last Rainforest introduced children to environmental issues by following tiny fairies living in the Australian rainforest. One of the fairies accidentally shrinks a logger down to her size when she saves him. Shrinking the logger helps viewers identify with the fairies’ and animals’ plight by showing the film from their perspectives. Robin Williams voices comedic relief Batty, but his tragic backstory reveals that Batty was tested on by humans, resulting in severe mental health complications.

Also threatening the rainforest is the scary pollution monster Hexxus (voiced by the incomparable Tim Curry), who poisons and destroys the trees and foliage, ruining the wildlife’s homes. His burning and oil-slick skeletal appearance oozes danger. In an intense finale, Hexxus sets the rainforest on fire, and not all the fairies make it out alive.

FernGully: The Last Rainforest is available to stream on Starz in the U.S.

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6 ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993)

Directed by Henry Selick

Henry Selick‘s stop-motion masterpiece The Nightmare Before Christmas is often mistaken for a Tim Burton film (he did write and produce the movie) due to its macabre themes and recognizable imagery (Jack Skellington can briefly be seen in Beetlejuice). Spooky visages like skeletal reindeer, mad scientists and trick-or-treaters populate Halloween Town until Pumpkin King Jack decides to take over Christmas for the year. He kidnaps Santa Claus and makes several inappropriate changes to the cheerful holiday, like gift-wrapping decapitated heads.

The Nightmare Before Christmas finds a suitable balance of scary-to-fun, though, with the dichotomy of the Halloween Town crew versus Christmas Town and Santa Claus. The Halloween Town inhabitants aren’t evil, they just want to celebrate. This Christmas must-watch shows off some extensive grotesque imagery, but the Danny Elfman soundtrack helps ease the tension after a monstrous and bug-riddled Oogie Boogie makes an appearance.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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5 ‘The Iron Giant’ (1999)

Directed by Brad Bird

Brad Bird‘s directorial debut, The Iron Giant is the best animated movie of the 1990s that’s not from Disney. Being set in the Cold War in 1957 may put the narrative a little above kids’ heads, and the themes of war, paranoia and weaponry are heavy. However, children relate to nine-year-old Hogarth when he finds a giant extraterrestrial robot after it falls on Earth, and they’ll fall in love with the Vin Diesel-voiced behemoth.

As Hogarth and the Giant’s bond strengthens, so too does the viewers’ love for the characters. This makes it more gut-wrenching when the Giant is threatened by the military and subsequently sacrifices himself to save Hogarth’s town. The Iron Giant leans into the tear-jerker ending when the missile-bound Giant remembers Hogarth’s words: “You are who you choose to be. Superman.” With a critics’ score of 96% and an audience score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Iron Giant succeeded in examining complex themes throughout the beautifully animated visuals.

The Iron Giant is available to stream on MAX in the U.S.

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4 ‘The Lion King’ (1994)

Directed by Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff

Disney’s The Lion King brought children and adults to tears with its retelling of William Shakespeare‘s Hamlet. In Disney’s take on one of the ultimate tragedies, lion cub Simba is tricked by his uncle Scar into believing he killed his father, Mufasa. Scar’s betrayal, and murder, of Mufasa is high-intensity, with the wildebeest stampede an imminent threat below. The camera zooming in on a horrified Simba reiterates his isolation and trauma after the fact. The scene of Mufasa’s lifeless body, along with Simba’s tears, after the lion-killing stampede remains a tearjerker even for adults.

The Lion King softens the mature themes about grief with its catchy songs by Elton John. But not everything can be “Hakuna Matata.” Scar’s memorable villain song, “Be Prepared,” and Jeremy Irons‘ sinister voice performance are exquisitely menacing. And the final, ferocious battle between lions culminating in hyenas eerily laughing as they devour their once-leader could be traumatizing. Circle of life, indeed.

The Lion King is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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3 ‘My Girl’ (1991)

Directed by Howard Zieff

My Girl follows 11-year-old Vada (Anna Chlumsky) in a coming-of-age story about first love and loss. As the daughter of the town’s funeral director, Vada feels like an outsider until she befriends fellow unpopular kid Thomas (first of the famed Culkin brothers, Macaulay). This sweet film delves into heavy territory when Vada expresses her guilt over “killing her mother” due to complications shortly after her birth. Vada also has to navigate a new family dynamic when her father (Dan Aykroyd) begins dating a new woman (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Vada faces further tragedy and loss when Thomas dies due to his bee allergy. When her father arranges the funeral for Thomas, Vada finds her way into the open-casket funeral and the waterworks begin. Vada’s wails for her friend shatter viewers’ hearts, and she ultimately runs away in tears, unable to handle her grief. This unforgettable death scene still haunts viewers to this day. We’re not crying, you’re crying.

My Girl is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

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2 ‘Ernest Scared Stupid’ (1991)

Directed by John R. Cherry III

Bumbling Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) made his fifth film appearance in kids’ horror-comedy Ernest Scared Stupid. Unwittingly unleashing a ruthless ancient troll, Ernest has to figure out how to stop the grotesque creature with the help of a few tweens. The cursed troll succeeds in transforming several kids into wooden dolls and sucking up their life force. It also mutates kids into other trolls, brainwashing them into turning against their friends and family.

Living up to its title, Ernest Scared Stupid is mostly cheesy fluff with a few jump-scares. But the creature effects are handled seriously and can be quite intimidating. The mucus-ridden trolls are frightening and disgusting, especially when Ernest gets up close and personal with one who’s extra snotty. The film is definitely skewed more toward children than adults, with the slapstick humor not fully landing for older folks. However, the morals of unconditional love and retaining one’s child-like innocence resonate with all ages.

Ernest Scared Stupid is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

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1 ‘The Witches’ (1990)

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Releasing in 1990, gross-out kids’ movie The Witches fits right in with the traumatizing films that permeated the ’80s. Anjelica Huston devours every scene she’s in as the incredibly wicked Miss Ernst, the Grand High Witch – in both human and witch form – with the assistance of grotesque special effects make-up that still holds up. The witches are the stuff of nightmares for children and adults: rash-covered bald heads; pointed, wart-covered noses; clawed hands; and squared-off feet don’t even begin to describe the visuals.

This Roald Dahl adaptation also features children in peril, lovable mice who are also in peril and several unsettling transformation sequences. The Witches includes clever comedy to off-set its more morbid and terrifying scenes, making the film a good watch for brave kids with a morbid sense of humor. From the half-human/half-mice children to the witches’ blistering true forms to the Grand High Witch’s various mutations, The Witches is full of body horror that children and adults won’t soon forget.

The Witches is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

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