There has rarely been a better time for animated films. There has never been a wider audience who want to see them, and there have never been as many platforms to get the films made. With the release of Netflix's Klaus and the abundance of animated features on Disney+, streaming is now able to support this medium as well.
With so much content, these films have made a huge impact culturally and emotionally. They have given us tons of characters to fall in love with, following their stories from start to finish. Nothing then is more powerful than having to say goodbye. Here are ten of the most tragic deaths to appear in animated films over the past decade.
Peter Parker - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the most groundbreaking and popular animated films of the past decade. Its unique style and design broke ground away from traditional 3D animated films and offered some of the wackiest and best portrayal of Spider-Man characters ever.
Peter Parker was brought to life twice in the film alone, once as a failure schlub who we soon fall for, and again at the beginning of the film as the hero we all know and love. Although we had little screentime with him, having to watch Peter Parker kick the bucket is something that many fans aren't used to with a character who seemed so full of life.
Klaus - Klaus
Netflix's first feature-length animated film, Klaus revitalized the 2D medium of animation, both harkening back to the classic feel yet modernizing it to create something new. But for all its beauty, the film's true strength is the relationships and characters.
Klaus and Jesper have a classic odd-couple dynamic. Eventually, the two become the best of friends. Sadly, no one lives forever, including Klaus who eventually moves on from this life to be with the one he loves. Though he is able to come back each Christmas, it is still tragic thinking of this character, both in the concept of the film and as Santa Claus himself, passed away.
Grama Tala - Moana
Moana was one of the best Disney animated films of the decade, both embracing the classic storytelling formula while innovating in terms of representation and animation technology. One of the key hallmarks of the Disney hero story is the death of a parental figure, and sadly, Moana contained this exact trope.
Moana's grandmother, Gramma Tala, passed away and urged Moana to go on her quest. Although it was to be expected as a trope in this story, that didn't stop it from feeling just as emotional. What assuages the pain is the idea of reincarnation, with Tala taking the form of an large manta ray.
Uncle Aaron - Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
While Peter Parker's death was a blow, it still was at least remedied by the fact that there are thousands of Peter Parkers in the multi-verse. Sadly, with that many Spider-Verses, there are just as many deaths of loved ones, specifically uncles.
Directly mirroring the death of Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, Miles tragically loses his favorite Uncle Aaron, otherwise known as the Prowler. Not only did he lose a loved one, but the realization that this beloved mentor figure turned out to be a villain is just as tragic, as is the fact that Aaron's body is then discovered by his estranged older brother.
Tadashi Hamada - Big Hero Six
Big Hero 6 brought the superhero genre to the world of Disney Animation, bringing Marvel's comic-book team to life. Like Moana and many animated films before it, this film needed the tragic death of a friend or family member to inspire the heroes to achieve their destiny.
Tadashi, the older brother to protagonist Hiro, tragically dies trying to save his teacher in a fire. The loss hurts even more later in the film when videos of Baymax's prototype trials are discovered by Hiro. The spirit of Tadashi lives on through Baymax.
Agatha Prenderghast - Paranorman
Laika has made animated films like no other. The Portland-based animation studio has utilized the classic animation medium of stop-motion puppetry and combined it with innovative CGI effects. Their films like Kubo and the Two Strings and Coraline have been among the best animated films ever made.
Paranorman, the studio's second film, contains one of the most tragic deaths in any animated feature. The reveal that the villainous witch is actually the spirit of a little girl accused of witchcraft is so heartbreaking. Just because she was different, Agatha was condemned.
Chicharrón - Coco
When it comes to addressing death, no animated film really tackled the subject in a better and healthier way than Pixar's Coco. The beautiful film weaved a story of loss and legacy by bringing the Mexican holiday of Día de Los Muertos to the big screen.
One of the elements of the film is especially tragic. After people die, they are only able to keep living in the afterlife if they are remembered by those in the real world. The final death of Chicharrón, as played by the iconic Edward James Olmos, is so tragic yet beautiful. He fades with Hector singing to him, and the light-filled dissolution of his skeleton form is haunting.
Bing Bong - Inside Out
Pixar's Inside Out took audiences into the mind of humans, bringing the subconscious world of our brains into animated forms. Through this film, we saw emotions, dreams, and memories personified as cartoon characters, all of which fans fell in love with.
Bing Bong though, Riley's imaginary friend, holds a special place in the hearts of many viewers. His sacrifice to save Joy in the finale of the film is one that choked up even the most hardened viewers. It was like watching out own childhoods slip away into nothing.
Hector Rivera - Coco
The death of Hector is one that is the most tragic. This loving father and musician only wanted what was best for his daughter and his art, and the villainous Ernesto de la Cruz stole all of that away when he poisoned his friend.
Watching Hector sing "Remember Me" to young Coco just pours salt in the wounds. Luckily, by the end of the film, the pain is at least addressed, bringing the memory of Hector's music back to Mama Coco.
Stoick - How To Train Your Dragon 2
How to Train Your Dragon was a revolutionary film from Dreamworks animation, so the sequel had to be even more world-changing. This darker, more mature take on this universe meant that the stakes needed to be raised, and with the death of Stoik, they definitely were.
Although it falls under a similar category as the Disney parental deaths, the execution (pardon the pun) of the death sequence and the events leading up to it heighten the impact of everything that follows. Stoik finally accepted his son, was reunited with his wife, only to have it all stripped away from him.