When Disney Was Scary

A rundown of Disney's faltering late-70's/early 80's attempts to keep up with Spielberg.

I think I saw all of these in the theater. Even DRAGONSLAYER, which had boobies and a really gross scene with baby dragons chomping on a dead woman's bloody feet! PG went a long, long way back then...

When Disney Scared Us

"It's funny because as a horror fanatic, the only movies I just can't bring myself to watch as an adult are SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES and THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS. These films terrified me as a kid and even though I'm sure they're nowhere near as scary as I remember them - just the thought of sitting down to them freaks me out."

The only thing scary about WATCHER is Lynn Holly Johnson's whining. I remember seeing it twice when I was a kid and loving it, even though it didn't make one whit of sense.

I vividly remember Watcher in the Woods and Return to Oz, both of which would probably still scare me if I watched them today.

Dario Argento named SNOW WHITE as the scariest film ever made.

Princess Mombi's interchangeable heads in Return To Oz freaked me out.

Updated On: 4/22/15 at 08:00 PM

Roscoe, I agree with you. Pinocchio was perhaps the most terrifying Disney movie ever made! I first saw it when I was in High School and I took my 8 year old brother to see it.

Pinocchio definitely is epically nightmarish.

I actually think Something Wicked is a solid adaptation of an admittedly better book, personally. Watcher in the Woods (which did terrify me as a kid) is just a mess, though.

The only thing I found scary in Pinnochio was the Coachman..."And they never come back...as BOYS!"

Mombi's original head was a terrifying sight for me as a kid...she looked like Dixie Carter after three days without sleep or makeup.

Exactly--Pinocchio just goes from scary to scary. First Pinocchio is sold into puppet slavery, then he's watches his "friend" transform into a slave donkey, and then a giant whale chases him.

That Babes in Toyland movie wasn't Disney--it was a made for TV remake--and yes, it's bizarre and all kinds of awful.

Thanks for the info on Babes in Toyland. Not sure where I thought it was Disney. I guess either I thought it was a poor and scary remake of the one with Annette Funicello or may have seen it on the Disney Channel after the original airing.

Oh man, Pinocchio. Between the crazy puppeteer, the donkey scene, the whale, and that damn coachman, it has to be one of the most terrifying movies I've ever seen.

As for Return to Oz, Mombi and her heads never really scared me. The beginning is what always made me scared- nothing says a children's movie like a beloved character getting electroshock therapy. And then she meets the Wheelers, who are all kinds of messed up. And yet I adored this movie as a kid.

Updated On: 4/23/15 at 11:47 AM

There are some movies that are Disney made that we may find more sad, but if you're younger they can be scary. Things like Bambi and the end of Old Yeller come to mind. I saw both of those when I was a child and they scared the crap out of me for days on end.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow scared the living bejebus out of me as a kid."

Oh me too! I loved, and yet would be terrified, by those Disney Halloween specials they would rerun in the 80s that always showed them (you know, hosted by the Mirror on the Wall.) Heck, even the old Silly Symphony, the Skeleton Dance freaked me out.

But most terrifying was Night on Bald Mountain. I was probably 7 or 8 when I first saw Fantasia and I was obsessed--but that segment used to fascinate and terrify me--I would actually wake up at night not being able to get the Mussorsgy music out of my head. (Actually, at a slightly younger age I had the same issues with Pink Elephants from Dumbo...)