Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Published Aug 27, 2026, 8:32 AM EDT
Jeremy has more than 2700 published articles on Collider to his name, and has been writing for the site since February 2022. He's an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet, so will gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU... well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
His favorite directors include Martin Scorsese, Sergio Leone, Akira Kurosawa, Quentin Tarantino, Werner Herzog, John Woo, Bob Fosse, Fritz Lang, Guillermo del Toro, and Yoji Yamada. He's also very proud of the fact that he's seen every single Nicolas Cage movie released before 2022, even though doing so often felt like a tremendous waste of time. He's plagued by the question of whether or not The Room is genuinely terrible or some kind of accidental masterpiece, and has been for more than 12 years (and a similar number of viewings).
When he's not writing lists - and the occasional feature article - for Collider, he also likes to upload film reviews to his Letterboxd profile (username: Jeremy Urquhart) and Instagram account.
He has achieved his 2025 goal of reading all 13,467 novels written by Stephen King, and plans to spend the next year or two getting through the author's 82,756 short stories and 105,433 novellas.
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It's something of a misconception that animated movies are only for kids. It's become less pronounced in recent decades, but there is still a certain stigma surrounding adults watching animated movies in certain parts of the world. It can be fairly confusing to see, because many animated movies out there are more than capable of impacting adults emotionally, as the following examples demonstrate.
And sure, many of the movies below are family-friendly, with content that makes them suitable for viewers young and old alike. However, it can't be denied that these sad animated movies deal with some heavy themes through the medium of animation, regardless of whether they're ultimately aimed at younger audiences. As such, viewers of all ages are likely to be moved by these movies, with all ranking among the most tear-jerking animated films of all time.
10 'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On' (2021)
Image via A24A seamless blend of stop-motion animation with live-action footage, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is one of the most charming and heartwarming animated films of the last few years. It's framed as a mockumentary about a one-inch-tall shell who lives with his grandmother and is in search of the rest of his family, seeing as they've all gone missing.
It's not easy to put into words what makes Marcel the Shell with Shoes On special, but it's all in the movie's unique presentation and expert balance of humor and sadness. It's a tremendously bittersweet movie about coming to terms with loss and dealing with grief, yet never goes so far as to become too depressing or heavy for younger viewers, even if it might end up being more appealing to older audience members.
9 'Toy Story 2' (1999)
Image via Buena Vista Pictures DistributionThere are plenty of Pixar movies that qualify as exceptionally sad works of animation, yet few are as devastating as Toy Story 2. It's also notable for being the first Pixar movie to really become notorious for its emotional gut punches, particularly when it comes to the flashback about halfway through the movie to Jessie's backstory, where the audience learns about how her owner eventually forgot about her and moved on.
It's also a movie that asks surprisingly deep questions about existence, the concept of immortality, and whether it's better to live a risky yet rewarding life, or a long yet dull one. It's fairly intense for a family-friendly animated movie, but thankfully, it balances out its more serious scenes with plenty of comedy and fun sequences.
8 'It's Such a Beautiful Day' (2012)
Image via Bitter FilmsIt's Such a Beautiful Day is a minimalist, somewhat experimental animated movie split into three distinct parts. It follows a seemingly ordinary man named Bill, whose life is thrown into chaos when he starts becoming haunted by his tragic past, and finds his mind unraveling due to the stresses of life and a newly diagnosed (and potentially fatal) neurological disease.
It's certainly not aimed at kids, given it's filled with intense subject matter and has a very dark sense of humor. For adults, however, it proves to be an extremely impactful, haunting movie, and manages to explore so many things in a surprisingly devastating manner with its simple animation and premise.
7 'The Lion King' (1994)
Forget about the 2019 remake: 1994's The Lion King is still the ultimate version of this story that can be (only half-jokingly) described as Hamlet but with lions. It follows Simba, who begins the film as a lion cub but ends it as an adult who needs to reclaim his land from the clutches of his evil uncle, Scar.
It's notorious for being one of the saddest movies in the Disney canon, mainly owing to the scenes dealing with the loss of a parent. It pulls very few punches for a kid-friendly movie, and manages to confront the topic of death in a way that'll impact viewers of any age. It's still a powerful film almost three decades on from release, and is deservedly regarded as a classic.
6 'Coco' (2017)
Image via Pixar Animation StudiosCoco is a movie that largely takes place in the afterlife, and from the start, it braces audiences for death to be a big part of the movie. After all, the main character finds himself accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he makes startling discoveries about his family history and meets various family members of his family who are no longer in the land of the living.
Much of the film does feel like a fun, reasonably light-hearted adventure, but things get a little more serious as the film progresses past the halfway point. It's not that it ends unhappily, but it does genuinely know how to get its audience emotionally invested, and possibly even tear up towards Coco's conclusion.
Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz
Which Oscar Best Picture
Is Your Perfect Movie?
Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country
Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one.
🪜Parasite
🌀Everything Everywhere
☢️Oppenheimer
🐦Birdman
🪙No Country for Old Men
FIND YOUR FILM →
01
What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind.
ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours?
AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means.
AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you?
AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like?
AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it. BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible.
AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable.
AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you.
ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately.
AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want?
AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about. BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days.
REVEAL MY FILM →
The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…
Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
Parasite
You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about.
Oppenheimer
You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
Birdman
You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all.
No Country for Old Men
You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
5 'Inside Out' (2015)
Image via PixarA Pixar movie about emotions was always going to be emotional, and so it's no surprise to find that Inside Out ranks as one of their biggest tearjerkers. It takes place inside the mind of a young girl, following her anthropomorphized emotions as they try to regulate her mood while she's dealing with a particularly difficult time in her adolescent life.
Like Coco, released two years later, it takes the form of a fun adventure movie through a fantastical land, yet manages to find the time to also devastate its viewers emotionally along the way. Inside Out's emotional power comes from its central realization that sadness is not something to suppress, but an essential part of growing up.
4 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' (2022)
Image via NetflixThere's no shortage of Pinocchio movies out there, but Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio manages to stand out for several reasons. One would be that it's all done with stunning stop-motion animation. Another would be that it's at least partially a musical. Finally, another reason would be that it's really, really dark in places, and also concludes the story on a surprisingly bittersweet note.
And sure, there's usually some darkness and sadness inherent in this story about a wooden puppet coming to life, but it's amplified in del Toro's take on the famed character. There's an added element of tragedy to why Pinocchio himself was created, and the ending also manages to be quite impactful, given its realistic look at death and moving on in life without someone you once relied on.
3 'Toy Story 3' (2010)
Image via Pixar Animation StudiosToy Story 2 might have been the first Toy Story movie to truly get viewers' tears flowing, but it's arguable that Toy Story 3 took things to another level altogether. Even with the existence of a fourth movie, there's still a powerful sense of finality within Toy Story 3, given it brings an end to the franchise's original story of Andy and his relationship with his loyal toys.
There are two scenes right near the end that are particularly well-known for being potent tearjerkers, with the ending of the movie maybe being Pixar's most bittersweet one yet. If anyone who grew up with the series finds themselves unmoved by the closing scenes of Toy Story 3, they may well need their pulse (or heart) checked.
2 'Tux and Fanny' (2019)
An unusual – and obscure — animated film about two individuals who live in a strange, lonely world, Tux and Fanny is likely an acquired taste. It's divided up into dozens of short skits that add up to a runtime of approximately 80 minutes, and sort of tell an overall story whilst also feeling fragmented and consistently unpredictable.
It's generally quirky and comedic, though it can occasionally be unnerving and even quite sad, too. It has a unique tone that's very difficult to describe, but is undeniably successful in getting viewers to feel a wide range of emotions in a very short amount of time. It's surreal web animation at its best, and is without a doubt unlike any other animated movie out there.
1 'Grave of the Fireflies' (1988)
Image via TohoGrave of the Fireflies ranks as one of the most heartbreaking and famously shattering anti-war movies of all time. The fact it's animated does little to diminish how real and gut-wrenching it feels, given its story revolves around two siblings forced to survive for themselves in the final days of World War Two, after an air raid makes them orphans.
It's one of the most famous Japanese animated films of all time, and it's not hard to see why. It's the kind of movie that, once watched, is unshakable and is sure to leave an impact on all of those who view it, thanks to its powerful and unforgettable condemnation of war, as well as its unwillingness to shy away from the damage that conflict has on a nation's civilian population.
Grave of the Fireflies
Release Date April 16, 1988
Runtime 89 Mins
Director Isao Takahata
Writers Akiyuki Nosaka, Isao Takahata
English (US) ·