Disney is a studio that knows how to play with or against the audiences' emotions. If they want people to laugh, they'll create a side-splitting comedy in some of their funniest movies. If they want them to feel vulnerable, they'll create a heart-gripping drama that will leave everyone misty-eyed.
But since not even Disney is perfect, some scenes and sequences miss the mark. It might be due to the passage of time, reinterpretations, or simply a misjudgment on the studio's account, but there are several Disney moments that come off as quite creepy, despite their best intentions.
The CGI Crowd In The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
While the art form did improve with more experience, some of Disney's early CGI animated scenes were not the best in the business. While most of the effects seen in The Hunchback of Notre Dame were easily ahead of their time, like the ones made to show the size and scope of the cathedral, the human models weren't exactly convincing.
Looking back on some of the crowd shots, many of the character models look like creepy smiling 3D puppets rather than human characters. Quasimodo's miniatures had better detail than some of the people at the Feast of Fools.
The Chase Scene In Alice In Wonderland
By its nature alone, Alice in Wonderland is meant to be a weird and wild psychedelic experience. Alice encounters a cast of colorful characters during her time down the rabbit hole, but at no point is she ever in any real peril, until the ending chase scene, that is.
While the elongated Scooby-Doo-esque chase through the various whimsical scenes is full of plenty of visual gags and humor, everything after the Caterpillar encounter suddenly takes an intense turn. The image of the denizens of Wonderland trying to gang up on Alice as she flees down a smoky spiral certainly sounds like the definition of a bad trip.
Lester’s Possum Park In A Goofy Movie
A Goofy Movie was one of Disney's underrated gems of the '90s, and easily one of the funniest. But for being one of the best cartoons to feature Goofy, everyone's favorite dippy dog, the scene at Lester's Possum park wasn't exactly comedic gold. In fact, it got downright uncomfortable.
The tongue-in-cheek parody of Disney's Country Bear Jamboree had malfunctioning animatronics and an audience full of creepy tourist kids that rubbed both Max and the viewer the wrong way. Comedy might have been the intention, but it definitely wasn't the result.
Toontown In Who Framed Roger Rabbit
The scene in Toontown from Who Framed Roger Rabbit wasn't so much creepy in its presentation as it was in its implication. Despite the environment having different laws of physics and existence, it's probably the most dangerous setting in the movie, considering how many things there try to kill Eddie off.
He's flattened in an elevator, chased by a terrifying, lovesick toon, and sent plummeting to his doom by Bugs Bunny, all in Toontown. It's a wonder he walked away without permanent damage, let alone a few bruises, from the visit.
The Great Beyond In Soul
Death isn't an easy topic to deal with for many, but Soul did make it look at least manageable. But there's one detail about the afterlife that just doesn't sit well with some viewers. It might not look creepy considering how many souls are blissfully floating up the stairway to Heaven into the Great Beyond, but that bug-zapper sound effect isn't exactly a peaceful transition.
The ambiguity of the afterlife in this movie's world is already a pretty hard concept for some to grasp, but the idea that one's existence is over with a final zap isn't very comforting.
Adventure Is A Wonderful Thing In Pooh’s Grand Adventure
In its defense, "Adventure Is A Wonderful Thing" is a fun song and probably one of the catchier tunes in Pooh's Grand Adventure. That said, there's a lot of particularly scary imagery scattered throughout the performance, and that's not exactly common in a Winnie the Pooh movie.
As Owl draws up the map for their grand adventure, he sings about some of the perils that they might face, causing animated monsters to chase Pooh and friends across the scenery. Most of it is pretty tame, but seeing these characters get chomped by creeps and creatures isn't exactly normal.
Heffalumps And Woozles In The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
In a second appearance on this list for Pooh, there's still something freaky about his sequence in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Thanks to Tigger's intrusion, Pooh is forced to keep watch over his precious Hunny Pots on a blustery night from Heffalumps and Woozles.
Although it's meant to be purposefully over-the-top, everything is chasing Pooh, trying to steal his honey, or otherwise causing the poor bear some form of panic in this psychedelic musical number. It has its cute moments, but it's easily one of the weirdest Pooh moments in his canon.
Pink Elephants On Parade In Dumbo
If there's one Disney scene that summarizes cute but creepy, it's the Pink Elephants number in Dumbo. The hallucinations induced by water spiked with clown booze are as weird and wild as their creation might suggest, ranging from colorful figures to eyeless monstrosities.
This sequence goes from cartoony to unsettling at the drop of a hat. One minute they're dancing and the next they're trying to tear up the screen. It might have been Disney artists wanting to experiment with surrealism, but the technicolor pachyderms resulted in several other psychedelic scenes that followed.
Bumble Boogie In Melody Time
Inspired by both the music of Freddy Martin and the previously mentioned sequence, the "Bumble Boogie" from Melody Time might look like a sequence straight from Fantasia, but it soon turns into a fight for survival for one poor animated insect.
A vase of flowers soon turns into what the narrator describes as an "instrumental nightmare," as various flowers and objects try to squash, smack, and otherwise pulverize the bee simply looking for a place to land. There's a difference between slapstick and sadistic, and this sequence toes the line.
Edgar Bergen’s Dinner Party In Fun And Fancy Free
At the time, the second half of Fun and Fancy Free, in which Edgar Bergen tells the story of Mickey and the Beanstalk at a young girl's birthday, was all totally fine and wholesome. But after a few decades and some rewatching, the setup does not age well.
A kid having a party with an old ventriloquist and a room full of puppets is actually a pretty creepy scenario by today's standards, and some modern Disney fans might find it a bit unsettling. Though nothing akin to the Twilight Zone's scariest episodes, it's simply not the best look for Disney.