Pixar has it out for me. They want me to cry. And, unfortunately for my tear ducts, they are good at it
10. Ratatouille: Ego’s Meal
There is something so satisfying about watching Anton Ego eat the titular meal. His disdain for what had been a love at one point is written all over this scene. As the dish is uncovered, each layer of food is rendered so beautifully with what almost seems to be soft focus. We see Ego, ready to pre-judge, take the fork to his lips, and the moment he bites, his eyes expand and we are slingshot back into his childhood where his memories of growing up are shown in bright, beautiful color. It’s a scene that so beautifully depicts the feeling of revelation and remembrance, that it is hard not to feel the same way as Ego.
9. The Incredibles: Dash can run on water
I remember sitting in the theater watching this movie, I was having a blast with it up to this point, but then Dash started running across the water. It’s not that there is even a hint of sadness in this scene but the moment when Dash realizes what he’s doing and does a little laugh and goes even faster is sublime. I couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear watching this scene. Just taking in all the detail, realizing how far animation had come and wondering just what the future held. Just a perfect small moment in film filled with greatness.
8. Finding Nemo: Daddy’s here
In a shockingly violent opening, we see Marlin lose not only his wife to a barracuda, but also all but one of his unborn children. Marlin finds that one of the eggs survived. He picks the egg up and cradles it in his fins, and tells his son that he will protect him. As a father, this scene gets me every time. My daughter was in the NICU after she was born because she had stopped breathing a few times. I remember holding that tiny little girl in my arms and telling her that everything would be ok and that daddy would always be there for her. I saw the film before becoming a parent, and seeing it afterward definitely brought this scene into perspective.
7. Toy Story 2: Jessie’s Lament
In a heartbreaking moment in what is a mostly joyful film, Jessie the Cowgirl, with help from Sarah ‘Make you cry like a Girl’ McLaughlin remembers her lifetime spent with her owner. How it went from a time spent running through golden fields, to being neglected for years underneath a bed, finally to being left in a box to be taken away. If the song doesn’t get you, it’s the look on Jessie’s face when she realizes that she hasn’t been brought out to play but to be left behind on the side of the road.
6.Wall-E: Dancing with the Stars
There is just something about the eyes of Wall-E that get me. You wouldn’t think a tiny little robot with basically no face could be so expressive. It’s watching Wall-E dance with Eve between the stars that fills your heart with gladness.
5. Finding Nemo: Marlin lets go
Marlin spends the majority of Finding Nemo trying to protect his son from the dangers of the outside world. Marlin has good reason to be over-protective of his only remaining child, but by the end he realizes that part of being a parent is preparing your son or daughter to go out on their own. It’s at the end that Marlin learns to loosen up a bit and let Nemo go. It’s not when Nemo leaves, but when he rushes back to hug his father again before heading off to school that the tears start welling. Finding Nemo is a great children’s film, but the lessons it teaches you as a parent are even better.
4. Monster’s Inc: KITTY!
The people at Pixar are geniuses in many regards but it’s their ability to make you care so much about the character’s so much that makes them a cut above almost all other films of the last 20 years. Monster’s Inc is a really fun movie, but it’s the last few seconds of the movie that are the best. After Sully thinks he’s lost contact with Boo forever, we see that Mike has re-structured the door to Boo’s world so Sully can see her again. Stepping through the door with his hulking frame, we hear Boo yell her pet name for Sully, and the fact that the camera is focused on Sully’s face only as it lights up is truly a moment of divinity.
3. Toy Story 3: Woody says Goodbye
Although there is currently another Toy Story film in the works, I really wish they would have ended it with 3. Seeing Woody watch as Andy drives away forever after delivering a speech that fulfilled Woody’s motives as Andy’s favorite toy, is cathartic for the audience too. It’s the recognition of all the unsung work Woody had done over the years unbeknownst to Andy that truly hits home. They are both letting each other go, but the fondness and love remains even though they are apart.
2. Wall-E: Saved with a kiss
Throughout Wall-E, we have seen him as such an expressive and gentle character. One with so much emotion and feeling, that when after being rebooted, we see Wall-E as nothing more than an automaton, just busying himself with what he was programmed for that it comes with an overwhelming sadness. Eve tries her best to bring him back, but in his eyes (those damned eyes again) that the spark of his spirit is gone. But when Eve places his hand in hers (something Wall-E had dreamed about) and brings him back with a kiss of life, it’s his little ‘Eve-a?’ that made we start blubbering. Just a beautiful film through and through.
1. Up: A life lived together
If anyone were to ask me what makes Pixar so good, I would have to do nothing more than show them the opening, wordless montage from Up. Never before has a moment in a film hit me so hard as the beginning of this movie. With such a maturity, Up captures the ups and downs of marriage, from the good to the bad, and what sticking beside each other feels like. By the end of this scene, I was openly weeping, not just a few little tears, but the full out ‘I need to pause this, and wipe the snot off my face’ type of crying. The scene itself is so beautiful, but it’s helped even more so by the incredible score by Michael Giacchino, which is at first whimsical and bounding, but by the end somber and touching while doing no more than slowing down the refrain. Just hearing the score or thinking about this scene can make me start to cry sometimes. Marriage is a beautiful thing, never easy, but more rewarding than you can imagine. Love is not about just kissing or holding hands, it’s about two people who are there for each other during the good and the bad. It is a gift to be able to have it, but it comes with high price of knowing that someday it will be gone. If nothing else this scene shows you the importance of holding on to what you have while you still can.
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I’m in total agreement on number one. Woody saying goodbye would definitely be my number two. The second I saw this posted though I immediately took note of how heartfelt Pixar really is amidst the comedy, something I remember about old Disney. Really great list Seth!
Thank you Heather. Pixar is the one studio that continues to get my money no questions asked. I saw Toy Story at the theater, and I was still young enough at the time to really be into it, then I dropped off for awhile, until seeing Finding Nemo. I’m not even sure what possessed me to go see it but I went into the theater with a cynical attitude, but that was quickly changed within the first 15 minutes. These are movies I will definitely return to, multiple times. My daughter loves them and I’m glad she’s growing up with films that actual care about making good movies, not just cashing in
Seth recently posted..Top 10 Pixar Scenes to Make you Cry
What did you think of Cars 2?
Willow- I have not seen Cars 2. I thought Cars 1 was only alright, but, I don’t think that was the fault of the movie but more of my own dis-interest in cars in general
Seth recently posted..Top 10 Pixar Scenes to Make you Cry
How Pixar pitches a movie-
“I have an idea……”
Movie studio-”SOLD!”
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You big baby, Seth!
I’ve only seen ‘Monsters Inc’ so I’m completely unqualified to comment on this. I still haven’t recovered from ‘Bambi’. Nice work all the same.
Hold on to what you have. Don’t let go.
Haha Wolf- I can’t argue that point. But I cried at then end of T2 when I first saw it in the theater. I was around 10 maybe? I usually don’t cry at the movies, but something about Pixar just hits that nerve
Seth recently posted..Top 10 Pixar Scenes to Make you Cry
Yeh, when I went to see ‘T2′ I was surprised to see folk crying at the end. I got up from me seat and I was like, ‘good film, that…’ – looked around and there was blubbing everywhere. I’m thinking, what just happened?
I tend to fill up at inappropriate moments.
the weirdest thing I ever cried at was for the live action TRAILER for Charlottes Web. But I must admit I had just gotten home from the hospital after a month long stay and 2 major surgeries and loaded on pain meds. But still…
Seth recently posted..Top 10 Pixar Scenes to Make you Cry
‘Battle: Los Angeles’ was the last one to catch me unawares.
I cry at the Red Dawn and bawl hysterically every time watch ROTK, and every time I think it’s not going to happen.
Heather recently posted..Blu-Ray Review: Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
Oh and Battle: Los Angelas we were just discussing on the podcast about how underrated it is.
Heather recently posted..Blu-Ray Review: Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
Ahh my sort of list.
Although I might have put number 10 at number 1. I think that scene is one of the best scenes I have seen in any film, animated or otherwise.
And the end of TS3, holding hands by the incinerator…….. *sobs thinking about it*
Thanks Col.! I do love that scene, but the Up scene just slays me every time
Seth recently posted..Top 10 Pixar Scenes to Make you Cry
Did you cry while writing this up?
I would comment but the only one of these i’ve seen is The Incredibles. These cartoon movies bore me to tears fast. Good write up though.
Like a newborn babe, Xi
Seth recently posted..Top 10 Pixar Scenes to Make you Cry
Great list. I bawl every time I see TS2 at the part when that song plays! Stupid Sarah MacClachlan!! Up too…in fact I think all of these…but I cry at everything : )
Yeah Peggy, they know exactly what to do to really hit home. I think kids don’t cry, I think it’s only the adults
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Great list Seth. I think you have nailed most of the big moments as far as emotional scenes go. The Up sequence is a masterpiece and the kind of thing that just undoes me everytime I see it.
I think that desire to strike some kind of human chord in their movies has infected and changed the entire kid’s animated genre though. Dreamworks has started upping their game, to the point that even something like Puss in Boots leans on some element of familial poignancy that the Shrek films never had. And smaller films like Despicable Me would never work at all if they didn’t borrow from that Pixar playbook. They have a lot to be proud of.
That might be one of the many reasons I was so disappointed with Cars 2. There wasn’t anything at all in that film that was really emotional or character driven. Im not saying that these films need to make me sob each time out, but C2 seemed happy to just play as the whiz-bang cash-in we all figured it would be.
When I look back at the kids movies when I was growing up, i was blessed to have such a great time frame like ET, Goonies, Neverending Story, ect. But there was also a lot of cash in crap towards the end of the 80′s and early 90′s. I just enjoy seeing a studio who’s concern is more about making a better story than making a ton of money.
Seth recently posted..Surviving Christmas (2004)
You know, this year in particular has produced a surprising amount of good kids and family films,some that are every bit as good as those classics from our childhood. Rango, Hugo, The Muppets, Real Steel, Super 8, Tintin, etc. It may have faltered in other ways, but when it comes to family entertainment, 2011 has been aces.
I would have probably had Toy Story 3 at number 2 in this list, but I can’t argue with Up at number 1. That was such a beautiful scene
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yeah, it’s really hard to beat that scene in UP
Seth recently posted..Surviving Christmas (2004)
these are all great ones! especially toy story!!
Claire recently posted..BOO! Horror Films
Glad you liked the list Claire
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