Disney, a secret nightmare factory. For this list, we’ll be looking at Disney films that made our spines tingle and teeth chatter, sticking with us well into adulthood.
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00:00 "Keep away from her! Keep off!"
00:02 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:08 for the top 10 scariest Disney movies.
00:11 "Don't worry Larry, I won't hurt you. It's much more fun to just convert you."
00:20 For this list, we'll be looking at Disney films that made our spines tingle
00:24 and teeth chatter, sticking with us well into adulthood.
00:28 Which scary Disney movie defined/ruined your childhood? Let us know in the comments.
00:33 Number 10. Hocus Pocus.
00:37 We remember this Halloween staple for its goofy comedy and bewitching performances,
00:42 but the setup is much creepier than some might recall.
00:46 The film opens with a young girl having her life sucked out,
00:53 a young man being separated from his family as a cat, and the hanging of three witches.
00:58 And much of this takes place on screen.
01:01 "This is terribly uncomfortable."
01:04 While the rest of the film injects plenty of silly moments,
01:07 the children of Salem remain in peril throughout.
01:10 "Come little children, the time's come to play, here in my garden of magic."
01:27 As funny as the Sandersons are, they can be genuinely threatening as well.
01:32 Director Kenny Ortega drapes every scene with an autumn ambiance that screams
01:36 "Season of the Witch." For every flying vacuum cleaner,
01:40 there's a wicked image that's burned into our subconscious.
01:43 "What a clever little white witch. But it will not save my friends."
01:51 Number 9. Escape to Witch Mountain.
01:54 This adaptation of Alexander H. Key's novel is infused with horror royalty.
01:59 Director John Huff, who previously made The Legend of Hell House,
02:03 brings a similar sense of gothic suspense.
02:06 It also features a pre-Dr. Loomis Donald Pleasence as an antagonist.
02:10 "So when you've heard my report, I think you'll understand.
02:13 I have found what you're looking for."
02:17 The true stars, though, are Kim Richards and Ike Eisenman as two siblings with a sixth sense
02:22 in common. With mystery clouding their past, the brother and sister find themselves on a road trip
02:28 for answers.
02:28 "Ah, now don't get any ideas. I got no patience with kids. Especially runaways."
02:35 "But it's just the opposite, sir. We're trying to find where home is."
02:39 Although the final destination is admittedly more lighthearted,
02:43 the buildup possesses some of the eeriest moments in any Disney film.
02:48 It's the element of the unknown that supplies the film with such a chilling effect,
02:52 but the warmth of family pulls us through.
02:54 "You two got powers beyond belief."
02:56 "We're not doing this. This is something too powerful for us to do.
03:01 Somebody else is making this happen."
03:04 Number 8. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
03:08 This anthology film is something of a slow burn. It opens with the fun and fancy free
03:13 wind in the willows before getting to the more menacing Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
03:17 Even then, this portion takes its time establishing the mood, much like a campfire story.
03:23 "Long about midnight the ghosts and banshees, they get together for their nightly jamboree.
03:28 There's things with horns and sorcery, some with fangs about this size."
03:34 Bing Crosby's narration is comforting yet ominous,
03:37 hinting that something sinister is just around the corner.
03:41 The segment delivers on the fright with its finale,
03:43 in which Ichabod Crane comes face to face, kind of, with the Headless Horseman.
03:49 "Yeah!"
03:59 The climax is a blood-curdling chase as the Horseman supplies nightmare fuel with his
04:03 jack-o'-lantern head and diabolical laugh. Voice actor Billy Bletcher also voiced Pete
04:08 and the Big Bad Wolf, but nothing tops that cackle.
04:12 "Yeah!"
04:18 We're getting out of here.
04:19 Number 7. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
04:23 With the studio's first feature, Disney sought to prove that animation could do more than make
04:27 audiences smile. Walt's crew not only showed that the medium can move us,
04:32 but it can also be downright horrifying.
04:35 "Let me see thy face."
04:37 "What wouldst thou know, my queen?"
04:42 While not as grim as its source material, Disney's Snow White quickly descends into
04:47 darkness with the Evil Queen, her hauntingly baritone mirror, and the titular princess's
04:52 woodland nightmare. Although the film is balanced with charming, colorful moments,
04:57 the Queen and her elderly alter ego never fail to trigger goosebumps,
05:01 ravaging the screen like a poisoned apple.
05:03 "A perfect disguise."
05:08 There might be more interesting Disney villains, but the Queen perhaps instills the most terror.
05:17 She's definitely featured in her share of bad dreams over the years.
05:20 "Time to check our special forms!"
05:26 Number 6. Something Wicked This Way Comes
05:30 This is one of the most sophisticatedly dark films that Disney has ever produced,
05:34 arguably appealing even more to older audiences. Ray Bradbury adapts his own
05:39 novel with his words beautifully manifesting into atmospheric dread.
05:43 "We are the hungry ones. Your torments call us like dogs in the night. And we do feed,
05:50 and feed well."
05:53 Director Jack Clayton previously tackled psychological horror in 1961's The Innocents.
05:58 Something Wicked is more of the supernatural variety, but Clayton brings the same gothic
06:03 ambiance.
06:04 "Only I think there is something missing from your life. Something that could make you so happy."
06:12 The performances are effective across the board, especially Jonathan Pryce as the mysterious Mr.
06:18 Dark. You get the sense that nobody went into this project with the sentiment that they were
06:22 making a kids movie. It's a film that treats its audience like adults, going to places that we
06:28 honestly never expected to see from Disney. The guillotine anyone?
06:32 "Those boys, they've seen too much. Hunt them down and bring them back to me."
06:42 Number 5. The Black Cauldron.
06:45 Disney has never been a stranger to scary moments, but The Black Cauldron marked their
06:49 first animated feature to attain a PG rating.
06:52 "Perhaps it may interest you to see what fate has in store for you."
06:57 The movie infamously cut 12 minutes, with some of the removed content supposedly being closer to PG
07:06 13 territory. While the finished film never goes quite that far, this may be the animation studio's
07:12 most consistently gritty film with dire backdrops and fearsome villains, most notably the dreaded
07:18 Horned King.
07:19 "Oh my soldiers, how long I have thirsted to be a god."
07:28 Occasionally it almost feels as if we've wandered into a Ralph Bakshi fantasy film,
07:34 making it one of Disney's riskiest ventures ever. Like several other entries on this list,
07:38 it might not have been a financial success, but the film's dark tone was destined to
07:43 garner a cult following over time.
07:45 "No, you will not escape. You shall satisfy the cauldron's hunger."
07:55 Number 4. The Nightmare Before Christmas.
07:58 Disney rejected Tim Burton's concept art on Black Cauldron, but he'd re-team with the
08:03 mouse years later for a film based on his poem.
08:06 "Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice,
08:09 ride with the moon in the dead of night."
08:12 While Burton conceived the wildly imaginative world, director Henry Selick led the production
08:17 with a crew of stop-motion artists. Every frame of the film is a trick or treat, relishing in
08:23 spooky locales like Halloween Town. Even the cheerful Christmas Town possesses an edge,
08:28 although it's not as freaky as Jack Skellington's Sandy Claws.
08:32 "You're right, something is missing. But what?"
08:36 Disney was concerned that the film might be too scary,
08:40 opting to release it through their Touchstone label. Yet Nightmare not only developed into
08:45 a holiday classic, but it would pave the way for more collaborations with Burton,
08:49 such as his feature-length version of Frankenweenie.
08:52 "You're alive!"
08:53 "I can fix that."
09:01 Number 3. The Watcher in the Woods
09:04 John Huff strikes again in this adaptation of Florence Engel Randall's novel.
09:08 Pitching to Ron Miller, producer Tom Leach said that the film could, quote, "be our exorcist."
09:14 "You asked me once if I sense things. Well, I have."
09:18 That might sound like an odd fit for Disney, hence why the film wasn't a monster hit. However,
09:25 Watcher in the Woods fully committed to being a legitimate horror movie,
09:28 complete with foreboding locations, an unnerving score,
09:32 and compelling performances from the likes of Bette Davis.
09:35 "Sometimes there seems to be something out there. Sometimes I hear someone whispering in the wind."
09:47 Turning the camera into an all-seeing entity, we'd say that cinematographer Alan Hume borrowed
09:53 from Evil Dead, but this film actually debuted first. Certain moments even echo The Shining,
09:59 which also came out after its New York premiere.
10:02 Underappreciated upon release, it's a chiller that deserves a second life.
10:07 "Door. Must open door."
10:11 "Where?"
10:13 "Chapel. Soon. Very soon."
10:18 Number 2. Return to Oz
10:20 Whenever Hollywood revisits L. Frank Baum's Oz books,
10:23 comparisons to the 1939 classic are inevitable. Rather than try to recapture the magic of that
10:30 musical, Return to Oz took a more demented approach.
10:34 "Come here, chicken."
10:36 "Ahh! A whale! What was that? A whale!"
10:43 Instead of singing over the rainbow, the film opens with Dorothy merely being subjected to
10:48 electrotherapy. Instead of merrily skipping down the yellow brick road, Dorothy finds herself
10:53 running from wheelers, headless princesses, and claymation horrors.
10:57 This might have been too jarring for audiences at the time. Over the years, though, people came
11:13 to appreciate the film's pulse-pounding nature and how different it is from the Judy Garland
11:18 version. There's always been a dark edge to this material, and Return to Oz went as far as you can
11:24 go while still being family-friendly. "I believe I'll lock you in the tower for a few years till
11:29 your head is ready, and then I'll take it." "I believe you will not!"
11:34 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:41 Fantasia - Demons and Dinosaurs in D Minor
11:44 Don't Look Under the Bed
11:57 We definitely slept on the couch with the lights on after watching this.
12:01 "Francis?" "Mary?"
12:06 "Do you think I look a little strange?" "But when you grow up, sometimes you change!"
12:16 Mr. Boogity - Freddy and Jason got nothing on the Boogity Man.
12:23 "Look here, Boogity, don't you think this, uh, this haunting business has gone far enough?"
12:27 "Boogity! Boogity!" "Okay, so you don't want to talk, fine."
12:33 Halloween Town 2 - Calabar's Revenge
12:36 The Empire Strikes Back of Halloween Town movies.
12:39 "This can't be happening." "That's weird, my teeth won't come out.
12:46 I'm really thirsty!"
12:49 Tower of Terror
12:50 Every bit as thrilling as the ride. "If anyone needs help, it's you."
12:58 "Checking in."
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13:19 Number 1. Pinocchio
13:21 When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true. But you might have to work through a few
13:26 nightmares first. "And when you are growing too old, you will make good firewood."
13:35 Disney's Pinocchio might not be the darkest adaptation of Carlo Calori's novel, which is
13:41 pretty hardcore in its own right. Yet no version possesses as many standout scary moments. While
13:48 much of the film is vibrant and delightful, this makes it all the more scarring when Stromboli
13:53 threatens Pinocchio or Monstro attempts to feast upon our heroes. "He's gone!" "Where'd he go?"
13:59 Of course, the scene that sticks with us the most is Lampwick's transformation,
14:11 which is right out of a David Cronenberg movie. There may be a happy ending for Pinocchio,
14:16 but Lampwick's fate reminds us that actions sometimes have irreversible consequences.
14:22 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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14:40 [Music]