#20 - Monsters Inc. - Time To Say Goodbye
Monsters Inc. remains very popular even after so many years, and it´s no wonder because of such an original and fun concept! But especially because of how likable Sully was, and the cute relationship he developed with little human girl known as Boo. This tiny troublemaker made a before-and-after in Sully´s life, so, after all is said and done, it´s time to say goodbye. And here is the saddest part of the movie. Boo is too little to understand Sully is saying goodbye forever, so he has to play with her like usual first to get her to listen.
> "Kitty has to go." > Once he finally gets her to understand, they hug one last time. After a moment, Boo gets up and checks the door once more, but now it´s just an ordinary wardrobe. On Sully´s side, Boo´s door is being broken to pieces.
#19 - Monsters Inc. - “Kitty!”
Some time has gone by and we see Monsters Inc. is now doing better than ever, especially since they discovered making kids laugh is much more efficient than scaring them. But Sully is still devastated. All this time, he kept as a memento the drawing Boo made, and a small shard of the door... But not all is lost
Mike , in secret, had prepared a small surprise for him: After a lot of hard work, he managed to rebuild the door for his friend, but he´s missing a small piece... Sully puts the final shard, activating the portal. And slowly opens the door. We now face Sully from the side of Boo´s bedroom, and we soon hear a small child say: > "Kitty?" Sully´s smile shines like the Sun.
#18 -Toy Story 2 - “When She Loved Me”
In the sequel of Toy Story, a new member joins the cast, Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl. Meeting Woody when he´s stolen by an obsessive collector, she tells him her story, and how else, but by singing a sad, melancholic tune: “When She Loved Me”
It tells us how Jessie´s owner was a girl who deeply loved her, and played with her everyday. But as the song progresses, we find out the girl started growing and becoming interested in other things, like all kids do when they start becoming teenagers. But then, one day, the girl finds Jessie again among her old belongings. For a moment we could have hoped that the girl would play with Jessie at least once more, but she just bring her to the car, and drops her off elsewhere, in a box full of donated toys. Jessie can only see how her beloved owner drives away, never looking back.
#17 - Brave - The Bond Is Broken
Tension is at its highest on this very scene. After spending the entire first part of the movie clashing with her mother about her future, Merida finally decides to take things too far... She steps into the archery competition claiming that as a first-born she has the right to compete... > "For my own hand!"
As expected, she beats the other suitors, and this INFURIATES her mother, which leads us to the harshest confrontation they had yet, until Merida snaps and slices the tapestry, separating her mother from her on the process, literally. Queen Elinor, horrified, has had enough, and throws Merida´s beloved bow into the fire. Before Elinor could even process what she has done, her daughter Merida breaks into tears and flees the castle at top speed, not stopping until her horse drops her in the most eerie part of the forest. From here on, the scene becomes dark and suspenful, making us worry about what will Merida do when she is still very hurt about what just happened.
#16 - Finding Nemo - “My Dad Took On A Shark?”
We now go to a happier scene, where Nemo, who all this time considered his father to be boring and a worrywart, meets Nigel, the pelican, as the bird comes to report the exciting news to the dentist´s fishtank. And Nigel got some huge news for Nemo. He excitedly tells him how every sea creature is commenting on Marlin the clownfish, and all the daring and dangerous adventures he went through just to find his son!
At one point, the word “shark” is mentioned, then Nemo asks, “My dad took on a shark?” to which Nigel replies: > “I heard he took on three.” > Nemo couldn´t be more excited, and this only makes him redouble his efforts in getting out of the tank to meet with his father again.
#15 - UP - Life With Ellie
A little bit of personal information: I studied animation, and the 6-minute intro of Up! was one of the thing we watched together in the classroom, without previously having watched the movie at the cinema. This scene was completely mute, only music filled the atmosphere. We all ended up crying like babies. This scene broke me.
Up! did the most memorable intro to a character´s story I´ve ever seen. After losing his lifetime partner, we can all understand how Carl must feel. The whole house is a testament to his and Ellie´s life together, down to the mailbox, and there is nothing to fill that hole. So it´s no surprise Carl ended up becoming grumpy and isolated. And it´s the little things, like the fact that they could never travel to their paradise, nor have any kids as they wished, that makes it all the more painful.
#14 - Brave - “Noble Maiden Fair”
After Merida and her mother manage to flee the castle, they make their way towards the Witch´s cottage. Unfortunately she isn´t home, and left only a hint for Merida to decipher how to return her mother to normal. Because of this, both feel hopeless, as Merida doesn´t seem to know quite right what to do, and her reassurance is not working.
A storm reaches them, and Merida looks very sad, suddenly remembering when she was very little, and storms scared her to the core. But her mother hugged and reassured her, telling her she would always be there to protect her. A very melancholic scene that will give Merida a bit of strength to start getting along better with her mother, or at least help her survive as a bear.
#13 - Toy Story 3 - Andy´s Choice
In the third installment of Toy Story we finally see Andy, now adult, closing once and for all his life in the house he grew up in. And a crucial time comes, for everyone: For him, for the toys, and for us... Will he take them to college with him? Will he give them away, just like Jessie´s owner did to her?? Not the Andy we know! He loves Woody, and Buzz, and everyone else! He knows they deserve to be loved forever, and this is why, with a heavy heart, he decides what to do next:
Close to his home there´s this little girl, named Bonnie. She loves her toys as much as Andy does. So he knows they´ll be in good hands and will be loved and cared for. As he shows her the toys, he realizes Woody was accidentally in the same box... Andy could never part with him...But Bonnie looks so excited! He´s holding Woody tight to his chest, not sure what to do... He´s not ready, he might never be... In the end he, very emotional, starts talking in detail about how amazing Woody is, and all his features, and starts playing with him, and Bonnie. After a beautiful piano montage, we finally see Andy leaving for his car. He turns again, and Bonnie makes Woody wave goodbye. Andy gives one more smile and waves.
#12 - The Incredibles - His Own Weakness
The Incredibles is The Movie for those who like action, superpowers, and more importantly, something that makes this movie stand out on its own genre: Interpersonal relationships. For those who wish to see more characters caring and protecting for others, and not have this be just limited to romantic couples. This is a small scene, but when Mr. Incredible is trapped in Syndrome´s hideout, there´s a warning of trespassers, and they find out that that Elastigirl, Violet, and Dash, have come to the rescue.
> “Abort, abort, there are children aboard, repeat there are children aboard this aircraft!” > Mr. Incredible feels devastated, hopeless, his family is in danger because he screwed up and got caught. At this moment he´s not a hero, he is a father, a weak and powerless father being terrified of harm coming to his beloved family.
#11 - Finding Dory - “Shells! I Love Shells!”
When Finding Dory was announced, people were understandably excited. Nemo had gone above and beyond in all aspects to make it one of the most amazing and memorable animated movies of all time, and there were very good ideas to tackle Dory´s character. And the sequel did NOT disappoint. As we could expect due to Dory´s memory issues, her parents were all too concerned with her welfare, always looking after her, after all, if she ever got lost, how would she find her way home??
We soon find out these two movies overlap, as it´s within Dory´s quest for her parents that she meets Marlin, and quickly joins him in his efforts to find Nemo. And, happily, after the first adventure is over, they happily help her back find her own family. This of course comes with its twist and turns, but they finally manage to find the place where Dory came from, and it´s because of the shells: Little Dory loved shells so much, that her parents made several lines that led to her home, no matter where she went. They knew Dory loved shells so much that if she every saw one of these lines she would follow it all the way, finding her home in the process.
#10 - Inside Out - Sadness Takes Over
We cannot stress how important was Inside Out for many of us, it helped us understand how it´s ok to feel sad, or angry, or even disgusted... Because needing to express how we really feel and be honest with ourselves will only lead to more happiness in the future. This is what the movie is all about, and what it took Joy so long to understand, until she finally got it, and allowed Sadness to take control of Riley´s mind:
After all Riley´s been through ever since she moved, all the unpleasant things that were eating her inside, she finally allowed herself to express how sad she truly felt, and letting it all out helped her parents understand as well. They even confessed they also were sad about how everything turned out as of recent. And that bonding and understanding from her parents helped Riley understand everything would be fine after all.
#9 - UP - The Grape Soda Pin
It comes to no surprise that, by the end of the movie, Russell more than earned his badge for assisting the elderly, but while normally this would be a task for his father... Russell knows all too well he never has the time to join his scout activities, or for his own son really. Even so, he looks at the crows, not really hoping much...
> “Old man coming through... I’m here for him.” > Not only was Mr. Fredericksen at the ceremony, but he was also filling for the role of Russell´s father. And more importantly... When Russell looked at his new badge, it was the very rare "Ellie Badge!" Russell did not only earn his badges that day, he also gained an honorary grandpa, and a friend.
#8 - Ratatouille - Like Mom Used To Make…
Just like Remmy, this is a very little scene that ended up having a very large impact: For us, the audience, and for the characters. It´s deep and melancholic without being sad: After Anton Ego is served his meal, ratatouille, a "peasant" dish, he is all but ready to close the restaurant in a couple paragraphs. But then he eats it, completely skeptical...
And then it hits him, the flavor was so unique, yet familiar... It reminded him of a time and place long ago, when he was a child and had fell from his bike. He showed up home, sniffling. His mother smiled fondly and gave him a nice hot meal... Ratatouille. Ego cannot believe this, his pen falls from his hand, and after some moments of disbelief, he smiles, a true, honest smile, and happily eats the rest of his meal, enjoying every part of it. This moved him so much that he even wrote a magnificent review, which got him to lose all credibility among his peers, but even then he considered it worth it.
#7 - The Good Dinosaur - Circles And Sticks
One of the most recent films of Pixar, and lesser known, yet just as good as the others, is The Good Dinosaur. Here, we met Arno, a young dinosaur, and Spot, a small human boy who seems to behave more like a wild dog, howling and waking in four legs. Arno is, at first, not amused by him, and Spot being part of the reason Arno got separated from his family doesn´t help.
At some point in the night, Arno starts missing his family and talking about them, despite Spot seemingly being unable to understand him. Arno then sets up some sticks in the dirt, and draws a circle around them, to represent his family. Surprisingly, Spot does the same, but then puts down two of them, which represent his parents. Arno understands, and does likewise with his father´s stick. They get closer, understanding each other´s pain and sadness, and howl to the night sky.
#6 - Coco - “Everyone Knows Juanita”
Just like its older sister, The Book of Life, Coco tells us the beliefs of El Dia de los Muertos (The day of the dead). Long story short, as long as people who have died are remembered for those who met them in life, they will live on in the Land of the Remembered. It is only after they are forgotten that they disappear and move on.
Because of this, everyone wishes to be remembered, and moving on is akin to dying a second time. We witness the second passing of Chicharron, a friend of Hector, when they visit him in hopes of getting a guitar for Miguel. As Chicharron feels he will pass on any moment now, asks Hector for his favorite song, to which he complies. The song is soft and melancholic, and apparently made kid-friendly on the spot, since Miguel was present. After the song is over, Chicharron passes on, and his hammock shifts, a subtle hint he is indeed no longer there. Hector and Miguel make a moment of silence, and move on.
#5 - Wall-E
Wall-E is a completely different movie in every aspect, the main of which is that the main characters, Wall-E and Eve, robots, are almost completely silent during the entire story, only being able to call each other´s name aside a few other mechanical noises. Wall-E and Eve meet when she comes to Earth to check if there is any evidence of life, after centuries of Wall-E cleaning the now dystopic wasteland. Wall-E quickly falls in love with her, and happily shows her the plant sprout he found recently. This immediately sets Eve into serious mode, and she flees to the spaceship humans currently inhabit.
Over the course of the story, Wall-E does everything he can to help Eve regain her senses, and in the way to this she finally snaps back to normal and realizes she deeply cares about him too. During all this, they are also trying to help the human captain to regain control of the spaceship, as the autopilot has hacked it for itself. During the final scene, Wall-E saves the day, but losing his memories in the process, and being badly damaged as well. Eve takes him back to Earth and fixes him to the best of her ability. Sadly, even fully restored, he has become a simple robot that dutifully continues with his directive. Everyone is deeply saddened to see him like this, but Eve, never giving up, gives him a spark-kiss, and this happily works to boost back his memories!
#4 - Inside Out - “Take Her To The Moon For Me…”
Inside Out was a masterpiece when it comes to rattle our emotions, but this one scene was almost unfair in how hard it made us cry... I am going to be honest, when I first saw this movie I had the feeling Bing Bong had some sort of ulterior motive, as I am used to movies having antagonists. But this guy was not one of them. He was fun, cute, and honestly wanted the best for Riley, hoping she will get her childhood dream of going to the Moon.
On a particular scene, Joy and Bing Bong fall into the memory dump, where useless memories are eventually forgotten, so they need to get out of there, on the double. Luckily, they find Riley´s song-powered wagon, but they can´t make it high enough! The wagon is too heavy with the two of them in... Bing Bong suggests Joy to sing louder, and before she could even noticed, he jumped off the wagon. When Joy turns around, happy that they finally got out... It dawns on her, Bing Bong fell over. She peeks into the memory dump to call him back, and he is already fading away, parting with just these words: > "Take her to the Moon For me…” >
#3 - Finding Nemo - All Is Lost
This movie earns its fame even after all these years for many reasons, and the most important of them in my personal opinion is that it´s MERCILESS: As we know, when the movie begins, Marlin and his wife had lots of babies, and she only got ever so far as to name one of them, Nemo, who was, in Marlin´s opinion, a silly name. Not a moment later, he loses almost his entire family, being only left with... Nemo. We are nearing the last part of the movie, and after all the trials and tribulations Marlin has gone to find his only son, he finally succeeds, but not in the way he expected...
It just so happened that Nemo was playing dead at that very moment to trick the dentist´s niece into not taking him away, but Marlin saw his body and, fearing the worst, could not stand to look any longer. Heartbroken, he leaves, and without giving us even a second to recover from this, thanks Dory for her help, and claims she can live now. And here, Dory hurts us even more: > “Please don’t go away.” > She´s sad, and scared. She only feels home when she´s with Marlin. And he´s leaving her.
#2 - Brave - The End
Remember this song? We heard it halfway through the story, as a warm reminder that Queen Elinor has always been there for her little daughter. This much more vivid reprise now hit us like a wrecking ball, as the time to turn her back into a person has ran out, and the only leads Merida had don´t seem to be working.
Devastated, confused, heartbroken... Merida hugs her while tears roll down her cheeks. Elinor is no longer responding, Merida cries harder and apologizes for being such a difficult daughter, and acknowledges her mom has always been there for her, and pleads her to come back, and whispers... > "I love you". > After some moments for her and us the audience to hesitate and hope, we finally see a human hand patting her back, and Merida quickly realizes her mother is back to normal. > "You have changed!!" "We both have!!" >
#1 - Coco - “Remember Me”
We are at the rock bottom here, literally. As Miguel and Hector are trapped in the pit, they sit down and talk what they really hoped to get out of this trickery they´ve entertained for the entire movie. Here, Hector reveals that he just wished to be remembered by his daughter, Coco, as she hadn´t seen him since she was a little girl. We finally make the connection, and realized this is the very same Coco that we already know, Mama Coco. And she will be gone soon, which means there will be nobody alive to remember Hector. This makes matters much more dire, so, literally as soon as Miguel is back in the land of the living, he rushes to his home in order to bring Mama Coco an infallible message: Her father´s song, "Remember me."
This scene is even more touching when we see Miguel´s family, who did everything in their power to stop him, come to the realization that just by listening to that song, Mama Coco is coming back to her senses, and even give Miguel the missing piece from the family photo: Hector´s piece. > “My Papa used to sing that to me.” > We are left with a bittersweet ending, as, one year later, Mama Coco has left the land of the living, but is happily together with her parents, Imelda and Hector.