20 Disturbing Scenes from 80s Kids Movies

There were a lot of 80s movies that got away with some crazy things back then and were still considered appropriate for children. While this certainly wouldn’t pass as child-friendly today, some of these 80s kids movies were actually known for their creepy scenes back in the day.

Everything including disturbing-looking animals and monsters, twisted plots or depressing scenes, these movies didn’t spare a lot of emotion back then. Although the majority did have happy endings.

Check out the creepiest 80s kids movies.

1. The Nightmare King from Little Nemo: Adventure in Slumberland

Little Nemo: Adventure in Slumberland was by far the creepiest movie we have seen as kids, when the Nightmare King steals away King Morpheus after Nemo was pressured by Flip into unlocking the door he was warned not to open. As if that wasn’t scary enough, Nemo wakes up in his home flooded with water and suddenly ejected into the ocean.

When following a map to Nightmare Land to rescue the king, their tugboat was pulled into a whirlpool, flinging them into the monster-infested Nightmare Land. When the Nightmare King, sends a huge flock of bats to capture the rescue party, Nemo uses the scepter, but awakens in his bed instead.

But then the goblin’s appear in his room as the rescue party travels to Nightmare Castle by flying through a hole in the sky.

Check out the video clip to see them in action.

2. Hell in All Dogs Go to Heaven

All Dogs Go to Heaven was supposed to be a happy one targeted towards young children. But Don Bluth and the animators certainly had something darker in mind, like when the main dog, Charlie, was told he was doomed to hell as consequence of his pocket watch stealing crime (pretty harsh in our opinion).

The movie also featured dogs setting up gambling rings, getting hit by cars and even drinking alcohol. This is surely what hell may entail, but are young kids ready for it? The story also showed hell as one of the scariest places, overlaying the scene with red with smoke and disturbing demons.

3. The Hospital Scene in E.T.

We remember not even wanting to watch E.T. because of the heart-wrenching hospital scene. The movie did have a happy ending and funny moments for audiences of all ages, however, the scene in which both Elliot and E.T. both get sick is traumatisingly tragic.

Clusters of men in hazmat suits were breaking into the home with machines beeping and connecting to electrodes to E.T. and Elliot’s bodies. To make matters worse, they desperately tried to reach for each other for comfort, which probably triggered some anxiety within the young audiences.

4. The Dip in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Everyone loves Roger Rabbit for its coexistence of realistic and animated characters as well as the storyline of course, but what certainly caught first-time audiences off guard was the dip. It was actually considered to be one of the darkest outplays in Disney movies. This certainly contrasted with the various appearances of Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck and Dumbo prancing around.

Especially the frightening Judge Doom as soon as he was run over by the steam roller. But the innocent cartoon shoe that was used in the introduction to the dip scene was simply heartbreaking as he shrieked in pain while slowly burning up in the bubbles.

After Christopher Lloyd, who also played the beloved Doc Brown in Back to the Future, played Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it was hard to ever think of him as the same again.

5. The Spirit Book in the Care Bears

Care Bears was never one of our personal favorites, but the film never screamed “creepy” in any way shape or form. So when the creators of the 1985 Care Bears movie decided to develop a sinister villain face jutting out of a Spirit Book, they definitely surprised everyone.

What made the scene even worse is that she was friendly at first to persuade her owner Nicholas how she was trying to help him, but her corruption showed at the end when she revealed her true intentions. This scene may have left young children thinking twice about picking up a book again.

6. Rooster in Annie

Everyone knows Tim Curry always had the ability to play a creepy character, which is why he played the haunted piano in Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and the famous clown in Stephen King’s IT. So the question is why did they use him as Rooster in an innocent kid’s film?

While he’s not supernatural or grueling, he doesn’t look at all friendly to say the least as he makes it known he’s just a selfish jerk looking for a get rich quick scheme. Oh and his attempt to kidnap a sweet little orphan was what made little afraid to go outside after watching the movie. There’s just something unsettling about his intimidating smirk and glaring eyes that rubs us all the wrong way.

7. Darkness in Legend

Despite Legend’s PG rating (they were much less strict on movie ratings in the 80s), could this really be considered a kids movie?

As Darkness (Tim Curry) tried to create eternal night by killing the last of the unicorns, Jack (Tom Cruise) and his friends tried to save the world and Princess Lili (Mia Sara). This movie did have the fairytale creepers, but the face of darkness was just disturbing, especially with his deep, rumbling laugh.

8. Skeletor in Masters of the Universe

Surely Master’s of the Universe looked a bit fake, but the face of Skeletor was certainly creepy. But with the black-uniformed “soldiers”, the black ship floating down the street and Skeletor sitting on his thrown and shooting lightning from his hands…reminded us a bit of Star Wars, but the film had some good fighting scenes.

9. The Wheelers in Return to Oz

Despite the flying gorillas from The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz had a completely dark twist. There were actually a number of creepy scenes. The first was when Dorothy, played by Fairuza Balk, was given an electric shock to “cure” her visions of Oz.

But when she finally returned, she and her friends discover it was taken over by the grueling Nome King. But the creepiest of all characters were the Wheelers, bent down on all fours with wheels for feet and rolling around.

The craziest part was that they aren’t even evil, just neutral, but director Walter Murch certainly did a great job in putting children on edge in this thriller movie.

10. The Smooze from My Little Pony

We never thought anything scary could come from My Little Pony, and maybe they didn’t mean or it to look creepy, but the 1986 version of My Little Pony had a few creepy moments when the evil witch Hydia conjured up the force known as the Smooze.

With one eye lopsided and a huge mouth, this purple tidal wave of slime didn’t look so kid-friendly, especially when it tried to eat everything. What made things worse was when the movie introduced the character with an upbeat, cheery song. But many little kids couldn’t help but be disturbed when watching the creepy wave consuming everything it touched.

11. The Bedroom Full of Spiders in Something Wicked This Way Comes

Despite the fact Something Wicked Comes this Way was Disney, this movie brought some pretty dark scenes from the classic Ray Bradbury novel. Starring Jonathan Pryce as ringmaster Mr. Dark and the two young boys who visited his carnival, the story took a creepy twist when the two friends discover the spiders in their bedroom.

Spiders that big in a child’s bedroom in a young kids movie? That was certainly one of Disney’s darker, sinister moments. What was also crazy was that the movie was actually filmed with real tarantulas – CGI wasn’t that good in the 80s.

12. The Owl in The Secret of NIMH

In the classic Don Bluth 1982 film, The Secret of Nimh, a little mother mouse, Mrs. Brisby, was searching the forest for a medication to save her sick children. While it sounds fun, light and did end well, there were quite a few not-so-peachy moments in the movie.

Lots of grueling beasts that could scare anyone to go for a nature walk, including guard rats, huge cats and the menacing Great Owl with no pupils. His main quality was wisdom but his appearance was just intimidating for the younger audience, with his glowing yellow eyes, sharp claws and large beak. Now who will you think of when you hear an owl in the woods at night?

13. When Anthrax Drowns in The NeverEnding Story

The classic story of Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 film, The NeverEnding Story was certainly memorable, especially known for its theme song. But while there were moments of happiness and laughter, there were also a few with devastation that involved the loss of a beloved character.

It’s always worse when the animals die, and this film didn’t spare his life this time. In the trek across the Swamps of Sadness, Anthrax, Atreyu’s horse, became stuck in the mud and drowned in the river. With Atreyu crying in despair, it all jerked some tears.

But to make this scene look real, the filmmakers actually did submerge the horse into the mud. This certainly would be illegal today, but thankfully the steed was never harmed during the filmmaking process.

14. The Horned King and The Skeleton Army in The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron was also a Disney film, but it wasn’t too popular among the young audiences or their parents, probably because of the Horned King. Based on Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain novels, The Black Cauldron was about a young adventure who was in trouble for protecting a pig with magical powers.

It’s certainly like Disney to put the magic in the characters, but not to make the antagonist so…gruesome. As he attempts to capture the super pig to capture the Black Cauldron, the key to conquer the world, his fearsome red eyes, huge horns and scraggly sharp claws probably left little kids with nightmares. Even after he captured the Black Cauldron, he whipped up an army of undead skeleton to give kids’ nightmares a finishing touch.

15. Optimus Prime’s Death in the The Transformers: The Movie

Yes, The Transformers goes back a long way, but everyone hates to see the noble, heroic Optimus Prime die. He’s Optimus Prime! It certainly caught everyone off guard as the tear-jerking scene had us all glued to the TV.

While it put a good end to the Autobots animated series, the story was revived in 2005 when the creators released the live-action film The Transformers: The Movie. They wanted to introduce new characters in the new movie, so they had to kill off the remaining autobots, courtesy order of the Hasbro toy company so they could promote their new toy sales.

16. The Clown in The Brave Little Toaster

What could be more harmless than a little appliance with a huge smiley face on it? It was obvious the movie targeted a very young audience, but it did so without leaving out a few scary scenes, especially those with the clown.

No wonder kids don’t like clowns, this one looked scarier than Pennywise in the latest IT movies. The expressions of the little heroes faces probably matched those we had as kids when watching this for the first time.

17. The Fratellis in the Goonies

Everyone loved The Goonies growing up. It was a classic adventure story about a group of kids searching for a lost pirate ship full of treasure, particularly to save their home from foreclosure. Nobody expected to see the disfigured face of Sloth with his monstrous frame and intimidating shouts. But it wasn’t not long before Chunk discovers the beast is harmless, in fact heroic.

But the Fratellis, particularly Mama, had us all sitting on the edge of our seats when she almost grinned up Chunk’s hand in the blender.

18. The Leech Scene from Stand by Me

Stand by Me was mistaken by a lot of parents due to main characters being kids, but it was rated R. Although if they were allowed to watch it, 80s kids could relate their childhood to the adventures of the young heroic characters.

Although everyone couldn’t help but cringe during the leech scene when they came out of the river with blood-sucking parasites on their bodies. We could never forget that one.

19. The Sacrifice in Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

Who could ever forget when Mola Ram sacrificed his victim’s heart to the worshipped demon in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom? The graphics weren’t great, but it certainly left a disturbing image in your head, especially as a young kid.

Then when he was lowered down into the fiery pit of molten lava – as if he didn’t die already without his heart – and screamed in pain as he burned to his death. Then it got even better; the heart caught on fire within Ram’s hand as did his evil laugh.

20. Little Foot’s Mom Dying in the Land Before Time

In order to keep the story concentrated on Littlefoot being raised by his grandparents, they had to do something with his mother. But they didn’t need to show her dying right in front of him.

Although she did fulfill her motherly duty by sacrificing herself to save her son from the ferocious Sharptooth, or the T-Rex. Still, this scene in The Land Before Time was a big tear-jerker that probably wouldn’t have been allowed in children’s movies today.