Disney loves to make their audiences cry, pull at the heartstrings, and have us leave the theater with our eyes damp, so here are some of the characters I'm still upset about.

1. Mufasa- The Lion King

I’m sure everyone’s childhood heart broke in two when Mufasa was pushed off the cliff. We all pleaded with Simba as he tried to understand the situation. All the chaos and confusion and we were stunned. Our young selves either were too young to comprehend what was actually happening or had our nice Disney animal movie world shattered in seconds. This was actually the first tragedy of our Disney fueled childhoods.

2. Coral- Finding Nemo

Disney managed to create a clownfish who was both incredibly sassy and somehow looked exactly like all our of own mothers. Immediately the entire audience loves her and is excited to see the adventures to come in the remainder of the film. Sadly, the mood changes quickly, the previously booming-with-life reef is now bare and a large preying fish is looking Marlin and Coral right in the eyes. And just as we knew our fearless mothers would do, Coral swoops downward in an attempt to save her soon to hatch children. The tears really start to flow when the scene returns to Marlin, alone, holding the only surviving (and now cracked) egg.

3. Sitka- Brother Bear

There’s nothing like an unresolved argument to pull at the heartstrings. And nothing like an argument between family. From a tiff that lead to a storm off that ended in a battle with a bear- Brother Bear didn’t hold back. Sitka, in an attempt to steer the bear away from Kenai and Denahi, stabs his spear into the ice cliff which leads to both him and the bear falling into a river. Bitterly, the audience watches the bear surface and swims out but only a broken piece of Sitka’s spear and the ripped fabric of his hood are found in the water. Nonetheless, we cried like babies.

4. Flynn Rider- Tangled

Okay, so I know Rider comes back to life with the help of Rapunzel’s magical tears, but those brief moments of (rare) Disney silence were traumatic. Just after soiling Mother Gothel's plan to enslave Rapunzel for her magic hair, he cuts it with a shard of a mirror into a rough bob (doesn’t that just sound badass). The entire time the man is bleeding from a stab wound and inevitably succumbs to the wound. But my God, thank you Rapunzel for crying on him and bringing his smolder back into the world. It was a rough couple seconds of death, we all cried. Don’t even try to deny it.

5. General Li- Mulan

The father-son connection between General Li and Li Shang, though it seems stiff, still shows a true familial bond. As Li Shang and his fellow warriors come upon the burned ruins of a village, it isn’t just the debris that pulls at the heartstrings. Near the edge of the village, half covered in snow is the helmet of General Li. Grief struck his son takes his sword, plunges it into the snow banks and places the helmet just on the handle protruding from the ground- as a sort of memorial- and walks away in silence. Though Li Shang buries his emotions to seem strong and level-headed to the men under his authority, the sadness is palpable.

6. Queen Athena- The Little Mermaid III

Oh, my goodness, singing and laughing, reveling in the music surrounding them: a plethora of mermaids are only enjoying their day together. King Triton surprises his love and his wife Queen Athena with a music box that hums the melody of their song. But of course, the clouds in the sky turn black and a pirate ship is spotted. In the chaos that ensues the mermaid scatter, leaving their instruments to be scooped onto the ship, but spotting her music box, Queen Athena darts to grab it and is caught in the wreckage as the ship sails into the rocks. I was old enough when I first watched this movie to know what happened (unlike my friend Mufasa) but knowing that little Ariel was young enough to not quite understand hurt just as much as knowing King Triton lost the love of his life.

7. Bing Bong- Inside Out

Bing Bong reminded us all of our imaginary friends from our childhood, bringing us back to better days when we spent our time playing, blissfully unaware of whatever “responsibilities” are, and when in doubt spent them with our personalized imaginary friend. Bing Bong was way more creative than my imaginary friend but he served the same purpose. In the act of pure selflessness, Bing Bong sacrifices himself for the sake of her emotions. Even worse the intense singing of Bing Bong’s song that moves his wagon and then the cheer of success after Joy finally makes it out of the Memory Dump. The tears really start to flow as Bing Bong fades away with a sad smile on his face.

8. Sparky- Frankenweenie

What hurts more than animals dying? Nothing. Especially when it’s during an innocent baseball game and all because he wanted to play fetch, too. Having an excitable dog myself, my little pup would totally break free of his leash and chase after that ball. I mean yes, he comes back to life thanks to Victor and his experiment but that minute long baseball game practically pulled the tears out of me.

9. Bambi’s Mother- Bambi

All they wanted to do was eat some grass in the middle of the winter. But it had to be deer hunting season, and that hunter just had to lift his gun and pull the trigger. Even though the tear start as the audience hears the gunshot, they start to absolutely pour as Bambi keeps running, right into the thicket and doesn’t turn around until it’s safe. That’s when he realizes his mother isn’t with him and that bang had meaning.

10. James- The Princess and the Frog

Tiana’s father was a big man with a big heart and even bigger dreams. That little slip of paper, written marker “Tiana’s Place” sets the film forward and brings a little wetness to the audience's eyes- tears of happiness and cuteness overload of course. Even though there is no explanation on how her father passes away, his dream combined with Tiana’s talent and determination show that there’s no stopping this dream from becoming a reality. The absence of James hurts as I find myself remembering throughout the film that he will not physically be able to see his little girl’s and his dream finally come true.

11. Tala- Moana

I cried a lot when I first saw Moana. I cried because it was beautiful, I cried because we’re the same age going through similar problems, but I cried the most when her grandmother Tala passed away. She always believed in the ocean and it’s unpredictableness, knew it had power beyond imagination, and she knew Moana was destined to be legendary. After being shooed off by her grandmother, quickly packing and making her way onto a sailboat, the tears streamed down everyone’s faces when her stingray spirit swam under Moana’s boat. Her confidence in herself soared with the knowledge Tala was with her and supporting her. Immediately I missed her sassy comments, but knew that she was with the ocean spirit now, guiding her granddaughter throughout her journey across the ocean blue.