Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Pinocchio was released in 2022, and reinterprets the classic story, which began with Carlo Collodi’s book The Adventures of Pinocchio in 1883. The inventor Geppetto creates a wooden marionette named Pinocchio, and wishes for the puppet to become a real boy. In his quest to be good and become human, Pinocchio faces temptation from a sinister carnival leader, and must overcome this. Del Toro’s dark interpretation of the story and stunning stop-motion animation were highly praised. If you enjoyed the movie, here are some excellent and dark animated movies to watch next.
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11 Pinocchio (1940)
RKO Radio Pictures
After the new version, the classic Disney Pinocchio is a great place to start. It’s surprisingly dark for a Disney movie, and remains so for kids and adults. It has the familiar basis: the puppet Pinocchio tries to become a real boy, but is led astray into dark areas of the world. Pinocchio getting swallowed by a whale is terrifying for all ages, while older viewers can truly understand the horror of kids being taken advantage of. Filled with beautiful animation and a frightening story that ends happily, it remains a Disney classic.
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10 Wendell and Wild (2022)
Netflix
Wendell and Wild is a recent stop-motion movie about Kat, a girl who survives the car crash that kills her parents in the scary opening scene. She then attends an all-girls’ school, where she summons the demons Wendell and Wild, who can temporarily resurrect the dead with hair cream. This silly detail lightens the elements of death and zombies, as well as the corporation that has taken over the town and caused local deaths. While Kat gets justice against the corporation, she is also able to forgive herself, which is captured emotionally; Polygon shared that director Henry Selick purposely chose to leave seams on the designs and use hand-painted faces for true emotion and realism.
9 Watership Down (1978)
Cinema International Corporation
Richard Addams’ Watership Down seems like a cute story about rabbits, but is a truly adult animated movie, as rabbits Hazel and Fiver try to move their rabbit group away from destructive humans. Their journey through the lushness of nature is interrupted by violence and danger from both animals and humans, as they reach the promised land of Watership Down – which poses its own issues. This dystopian allegory is packed with images of death and blood, and remains just as dark over 40 years later.
8 The Secret of NIMH (1982)
MGM/UA Entertainment Co.
Another seemingly cute animal movie, The Secret of NIMH brings to life the horrors of animal testing, as a mouse seeks a rat colony to save her sick son. There, she finds the rats have been altered to be smarter and use human technology, due to science experiments. This frightening premise is matched in the movie’s images, like the lair of the Great Owl, which is covered in bones, and the owl himself. Though it ends happily, its dark ideas and critique of unethical animal testing linger.
7 Corpse Bride (2005)
Warner Bros. Pictures
Corpse Bride uses the stop-motion format to tell a creepy love story. Victor is a young man who is nervous before his upcoming wedding, and accidentally recites his vows to a corpse named Emily. This causes Emily, who was murdered by her fiancé, to rise from the grave and bring Victor to the underworld to be her husband. It seems like they’ll end up married, but the movie instead allows Emily to get her happy ending by freeing her of her torment from the murder. It has great music and great characters while still keeping its darker aspects.
6 Coraline (2009)
Focus Features
Considered one of the best stop-motion movies by ScreenRant, Coraline brings a Neil Gaiman novel to life in frightening ways. It follows the title character, who discovers a secret doorway in her new home. This doorway leads from her dysfunctional family to a home where a seemingly perfect family hides dark secrets, as the Other Mother wants Coraline to stay forever. It shows the darkness hiding beneath what we perceive as perfection, while also addressing different kinds of family relationships and what is needed to make them work.
5 James and the Giant Peach (1996)
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Based on Roald Dahl’s book, James and the Giant Peach brings an orphan boy named James and his group of magical bugs on a wild journey inside a giant peach. This magic ride starts off dark, as James’s parents are eaten by a rhinoceros. He then lives with two abusive aunts, whom he leaves after growing the magic peach. The eerie animation style perfectly matches the movie’s darker sides, while still embracing the fantasy and delight of James’s journey.
4 The Iron Giant (1999)
Warner Bros.
The Iron Giant is set during the Cold War, and follows Hogarth, a young boy who finds a giant robot. The two become friends, and Hogarth teaches the Giant about the world, and what it means to be human. Their happiness is ruined by the arrival of a government agent, who sees the Giant as a threat to humanity, and tries to destroy it. Their friendship forms the emotional center of the movie, and contrasts with the themes of hatred. In the end, the Giant sacrifices himself to protect the town, reinforcing that he is what he chooses to be, and not the weapon he was created to be. It’s a touching look at humans, freedom, and friendship.
3 9 (2009)
9 is a stop-motion movie that takes the viewer into a post-apocalyptic world. It tells the story of 9, a “Stitchpunk,” who is part ragdoll and part robot. He must find the eight remaining Stitchpunks, and piece together their knowledge to figure out why humanity was destroyed. Each Stitchpunk represents a part of the personality of the scientist who made them, exploring the human sides of things that are inhuman. This apocalyptic setting is unique for an animated movie, and 9 captures the barren wasteland while still giving hope for the future.
2 Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Toho
If you appreciated the World War II narrative woven into del Toro’s movie, Grave of the Fireflies is another war movie that is dark and heartbreaking, especially because it’s based on the true story of Akiyuki Nosaka. Regarded as one of the saddest movies of all time, it tells the story of Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, who struggle to survive in Japan, at the war’s end. Both kids sadly die, and the story is told in flashbacks that lead up to their deaths. From the horrors of war seen in the firebombing and the kids suffering from starvation, it’s a harrowing and emotional journey about the true costs of war.
1 ParaNorman (2012)
ParaNorman is a stop-motion animated movie centered around Norman, an unusual boy who can talk to ghosts. This ability leaves him an outcast at school and in his family, but it also ends up saving his town after a witch unleashes her curse and zombies begin to attack. This kids’ movie has a dark depth to it, as the witch that the town fears is really the ghost of a child who was killed for suspected witchcraft. It’s an unexpected twist that shows the movie’s maturity, which is concluded with a touching ending that celebrates moving on.
