When viewers and fans think of a Disney Movie, wholesome images of princesses, cartoon animals, and animated musical numbers with bright colors and catchy tunes are typically the first things to come to mind. They wouldn't be wrong, but Disney has definitely shown their edge on more than one occasion.
Disney can be as wholesome and sugary as possible, but for every Princess dreaming of her true love's kiss, a Jabberwocky is getting violently decapitated on screen. The house of mouse has made more than a few movies that go beyond PG, but some of them truly earn their PG-13 rating and do not apologize for it.
Adventures In Babysitting (1987)
While it's technically under the Disney label, it was released under their Touchstone Pictures brand, making it the first PG-13 movie to be made by the Walt Disney Company. As harmless as it might sound, the movie actually quite a selection of scandalous subject matter, even for something released in the '80s.
As a gang of kids goes on a night of comical misadventures, they encounter violent street gangs, prostitutes, and a colorful sea of profanity that would never fly in a modern Disney production.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)
For the true first steps into PG-13 territory, Disney gave fans the first chapter in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Based on the theme park ride of the same name, the film set viewers on course for a swashbuckling and sensational adventure with Captain Jack Sparrow and a ship full of buccaneers blighted by an ancient Aztec curse.
Even without Barbossa and the titular Curse of the Black Pearl, the film gives viewers some swarthy and scandalous pirates. These clearly aren't the same jolly troublemakers who burned up the city in the ride, but they are what viewers can expect from true pirates. Swearing like sailors, plundering, pillaging, and drinking themselves sick, as they are want to do. It's only when the moonlight curse comes into play does the movie permanently earns that rating.
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
While it might seem like small potatoes to some, drinking, smoking, and swearing have become grounds for a PG-13 rating in decent years. But in the case of Saving Mr. Banks, it's less about the presence of the smoking, drinking, and swearing that earns the rating and more of the image of who is committing these shameful acts.
The film is about the making of Mary Poppins and the conflict of artists seen between author P.L. Travers and animation giant Walt Disney. For a Disney movie, it shows a less-than-family-friendly side of its founder. As he did in real life, viewers see Walt smoke cigarettes, drink whiskey, and even swear a handful of times. This doesn't paint Walt in an obscenely negative light, but rather humanizes an icon of the industry.
Mulan (2020)
The many Disney live-action remakes have something of a stigma about them. While it's true that no amount of movie magic will ever truly capture the feeling of the original, the action-movie approach to Mulan's remake was certainly a refreshing choice. It was more intense than viewers might have first expected.
With the large-scale battles, the action and violence were unquestionably more brutal and intense than the animated version. However, this was mainly done to draw influence from kung-fu movies and historical dramas from Chinese cinema. While a bit of a lightweight compared to some other PG-13 peers, it was a choice made with purpose.
The Lone Ranger (2013)
The Lone Ranger, while not as bad as some critics might claim, truly is a bit of a mess. It's a decent, purposefully cliched, Disney western, but not without some questionable material. Johnny Depp in his over-the-top Tonto and taxidermied bird is only one of the more minor glaring qualities of the film.
The fact that the Lone Ranger's archnemesis was reimagined as a cannibal who eats a man's heart in the feature feels like something out of a horror movie version rather than a Disney adaptation. Pair that with scenes of an entire tribe of Native Americans getting executed and some surprisingly risque scenes in Redd's saloon, and the Disney magic starts to quickly drain away.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Curse of the Black Pearl was Disney's first true foray into PG-13, but its sequels only upped the ante with each new installment. At least for the first two films anyway. Dead Man's Chest not only saw the return of Captain Jack, but of yet another intense thrill ride through the Caribbean as Jack and his crew try to escape the claws of Davy Jones.
The film is loaded with jump scares, cannibals, horrifying mutated pirates, and several grisly deaths that might keep some younger viewers up at night. Especially Davy Jones and his hideous crew of the Flying Dutchman.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End
At World's End might have been the ideal ending for some, but most will agree that the movie truly pulled out all the stops in terms of action, story, and shocking visuals. It had all the right moves that the series needed to finish out on a triumphant conclusion, and it was as intense as a finale for the franchise needed to be.
Frequent forays into the inner psyche and personality of Captain Jack is certainly more than enough PG-13 material, especially considering the infamous goat joke. But then there are scenes like Davy Jones splitting Mercer's head with his tentacle beard which will make many stomachs turn a few times over.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
The fourth Pirates movie was where things started to take a more ridiculous turn, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Stranger Tides was over-the-top, silly, and filled to the brim with fun and exciting charm, much like Captain Jack Sparrow himself. However, for every wily scheme and antic from the Captain of the Black Pearl, evil mermaids and zombies are lying in wait.
The man-eating mermaids are some particularly tough customers, but the film is also loaded with juicy double-entendres and blatant jokes of a sensual nature that normally wouldn't make it past censors in a normal Disney film. But with the phenomenal chemistry between Captain Jack and Angelica, it was nearly inevitable.
Jungle Cruise (2021)
While not the first Disney action movie to feature The Rock, the Jungle Cruise movie delivered on what the title implied, a movie inspired by the Disney Parks attraction. But despite Dwayne Johnson's long list of dad-jokes and a trip through a tropical paradise in South America, the movie had some pretty gruesome images.
The fate of the Conquistadors is one of the most visceral punishments to befall a set of Disney villains in recent years. Not only is it incredibly imaginative and frightening, but it's also a nightmare to live with. In any other movie, a group of men cursed to have their forms turning into mud, bees, and snakes would be the subject of a body-horror film.
Cruella (2021)
The ending has certain sects of the fanbase divided, but there's no denying that Cruella went darker than Disney's own Maleficent. The film does give the fiendish fashionista a more sympathetic angle but she's still the villain in the end, albeit with a slightly altered interpretation. That all being said, it certainly doesn't shy away from intense subject matter.
Viewers see Cruella drunk in a department store, watching her mother fall to her death, and unleash anarchy across 1960s London. And as ridiculous as it sounds, the film succeeds in making dalmatians terrifying. Based on what viewers might have seen from Disney movies, the spotted dogs aren't known for their ferocity. However, the Baroness's hounds are the exception.