Disney cartoons have been a frequent feature on my movie viewing lists for as long as I can remember. From the older movies of my childhood to the more recent ones I have watched with my own kids, many of them have a special place in my heart. The first animated Disney movie was Snow White and The Seven Dwarves way back in December of 1937. Since then, there have been 57 animated Disney ꧅movies and 19 Disney Pix༒ar movies. Over this time many topics have been dealt with, although often these movies cover similar themes.

Fairytale romances and happily ever afters, in particular, are now synonymous with Disney. Animators are known for happily glossing over the original fairytale endings of these classic 𒐪stories to give a happier outlook. It doesn’t always work however as sometimes those happy endings just stick in our throat.

When it comes to Disney experiments not every ending works out as planned. More r🌳ecent movies, in particular, have tried to change up the tired formula an💞d the results have been varied. Some Disney movies have truly terrible endings, sometimes ones which undermine the entire rest of the movie, while others are as beautiful as the movies princesses.

In this list, I’ve found 15 of the very worst endings Disney and Pixar anima𒆙tors have to offer us as well as 10 which truly saved their respective movies. Obviously, this article contains movie spoilers, lots of them.

25 ಞ Hurt The Movie: Dumbo

The ending of Dumbo is controversial enough that back in 2015 PETA actually campaigned to get it changed in the event of a new rem🏅ake and frankly I’m inclined to agree. While Dumbo spends the movie becoming more accepted and more famous, at the end of the day he is still trapped in the circus. There’s no beautiful escape or new life of fre🌜edom.

Dumbo simply gets designated as the star attraction and gets his 🍌own circus car with his mother. This is one ending that I’m still sad about years later. Free Dumbo!

24 💃 Hurt The Movie: Aladdin

I want to start by saying that I am in no way dissing Aladdin. I love this movie and especially the late, great Robin Williams' genie. However I still have a serious issue with the ending. I applaud the choice Aladdin makes to save🌞 Genie instead of becoming a prince. What bothers me is what comes next when the sultan just suddenly remembers that he is in control and can change the stupid law. What? Why doesn’t he just do that in the first place and save us all the trouble? Jasmine never wanted to marry a prince anyway.

23 ꧂ Saved The Movie: Up

Best known for being the most heartbreaking Pixar movie ever, Up will have even the most hardened Disney critic in tears in t🍨he🐎 first 10 minutes.

Widower Carl ends up an🍒 unlikely friend to wilderness scout Russell as they🍰 go on an epic adventure. At the end the two eat ice-cream on the kerb, a throwback to a memory of Russell and his absent father which cements Carl’s place as a father figure to Russell.

As if this wasn’t enough we see Carl’s house placed perfectly, exactly where ℱhe and Ellie always wanted to be. It’s almost enough to make you cry, again.

22 Hurtꩲ The Movie:♋ The Muppets

I know it’s not strictly a cartoon, but it has puppets and this ending annoyed me so mu꧑ch I couldn’t leave it out.

It begins with the muppets failing to hit the fundraising target to save their theatre. Then Kermit makes a fantastic speech about how it doesn’t matter because being together is all they need and they can start again. It makes for a nice ending and a great me💞ssage. Then the big theatre boss has a change of heart and undermines the🎃 entire point Kermit made.

I wish I’d stopped watching it before that underwhelming cliché ending. Just to make it worse: i﷽t takes place in the credits, like a bad afterthought.

21 Saved The Movie: Toy S꧋tory🎀 3

Toy Story 3 is a roller-coaster of a movie. The moment when all the toys are heading towards the incinerator is genuinely frightening. Pixa🐟r make up for scaring y🎉ou however with a poignant and beautiful ending.

As we enter the final moments of the movie we see Andy, the toys owౠner we’ve known for 3 movies, hand off his toys to his energetic young neighbor. As we see his sad goodbye, we feel bittersweet for those lovable toys as one by one they are passed 🐠down to the next generation to be loved and played with once again.

20 Hur✱t The Movie: Fantasia

Fantasia is an odd movie. There’s no story as such just a series oꦜf cartoon segments set to different aspects of classical music. While it’s not to everyones taste some of the segments are quite uplifting and interesting. Wha🧜t I don’t understand however is the last section: named “Night on a Bald Mountain,” it is quite frankly scary.

Featuring darkness, demons, fire and chaos. While the very end 🎀of it has a procession of light it’s too little too late. Bring back the Sorcerer’s apprentice I say.

19 Hurt The 🐓Movie: Hunchbac🌊k of Notre Dame

This one is a tricky one because the original ending to The Hunchback of Notre Dame is much darker than the Disney version. While the Happy Ending Fairy has washed over it somewhat, there is still something deꦉeply unsatisfying about the movie’s conclusion.

While Quasimodo saves the girl he loves and becomes welcomed and accepted into society, he never manages to win her heart. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that he’s able to live a normal life now, but it somehow feels very harsh to watch him have♔ to stand back and watch his love marry another man.

18 🎀Saved The Movie: Brave

One of my favorite movies, Brave follows the journey of ꦚMerida, a princess who asks to compete for her own hand in marriage. A princess tale withou🥃t a prince, this story follows Merida’s journey to change her mother from a bear back into a human. At the end, she not only reunites the tribes and disbands the law of arranged marriages but she also learns of her mistakes and frees her mother and brothers.

The happy ending is not a marriage or even a romantic match but simply a family, reunited🌊 and living life happily together.

17 Hur𒀰t The Movie: WALL-E

WALL-E is one of th🅘e strangest and most divisive Disney Pixar films. Much of the movie is mostly silent and it focuses heavily on the dangers of pollution and global warming💫. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that its ending is truly bizarre.

After finding a solitary plant growing on earth the peoജple li♑ving on a starship named Axiom set off back to earth. While the credits show them all rebuilding it just doesn’t add up with what we saw.

The earth the plant grew on was still full of rubbish and the people hadn’t moved from chairs for years. Wher♑e do they suddenly find space for all that junk? Sorry Pixar 🐭I’m not buying it.

16 💃 Saved The Movie: Ratatouille 𝄹

For the entirety of this movie, you have to utterly disregard everything you know and just enjoy the ride. The p🦄remise is a rat who can cook helps a bumbling bus boy become a famous chef so it’s not exactly realistic.

At the end of the movie the health inspector♍ closes down the res⛦taurant which is followed throughout the story. While this seems harsh the ending comes full circle as Remy the rat tells of how the bus boy and his chef partner opened a new restaurant.

In the new venue Remy helps in the kitchen, Linguini is back as a bus boy and it has a floor for humans and another fඣor rats. Totally crazy, but in keeping with the entire movie and a really great ending.