Experiencing a gradual, but often sudden, change of perspective is part of growing up. It's why your elementary school seems impossibly tiny when you head back to vote. Or why your much older cousin, who was three whole grades above you, is now basically your age. And it's why the movies you watched over and over when Sunday mornings meant juice boxes, not Mimosas, look so different when you revisit them now.While some moments from kids' movies will hit you hard at any age (see: the death of the parent of any adorably animated creature), others weren't quite as sob-inducing when you were 5 as they are when you're 25. When we return to these movies as adults, the child characters go from peers who are having bad days to little kids you really just want to hug. Rather than being aspirational, coming-of-age milestones become reminders of your own mortality. And sometimes you've gained just enough life experience to wallow in a movie's more maudlin moments.
The next time you agree to watch your niece or little cousin and plop down in front of a old classic, pack extra tissues. Because the movie you just have to share with them could come with more feelings than you remember.
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Just as "Someone Like You" can bring up years-buried breakup emotions, catching the right clip of this depressing version of Milo and Otis will reawaken years of soured friendships until you're sobbing into a pile of BFF jewelry.
The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
Watching this movie as an adult serves as a very trippy reminder that you'll never be a kid again. But, serious question: I get why the "blanky" sees the kid as his master, but the vacuum cleaner? The toaster? Doesn't the kid have parents who more often interact with those appliances?
My Girl(1991)
Watching this scene as as a kid, you may have been distracted from the tiny casket by the dawning realization of your own mortality. But when you're an adult, there is absolutely no distraction from the tragedy of a kid who'll never become an acrobat.
Hook (1991)
As a kid, you probably picked up on how horrifically sad Rufio's death is. As an adult, you can meditate on the fact that Peter left two heartbroken, forever-pining women in his wake, as well as the fact that it took a very, very immersive trip to Disneyland to turn him into a decent parent.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Robin Williams is so funny in this, yes, comedy, it's easy to forget that the movie is actually about a bitter custody battle and a comedian's need to be funny at a very low point in his life.
Angels in the Outfield(1994)
Tiny Joseph Gordon-Levitt, your inability to understand sarcasm is heartbreaking. And the "Oh Captain, My Captain" moment becomes a lot more emotional when you watch it as a grown-up
Now and Then (1995)
Kid takeaway: The '70s look pretty fun.
Adult takeaway: Oh my god, have I not been truly happy since I was 12?
Mighty Joe Young (1998)
Having a giant gorilla as a BFF is super appealing to a kid. So appealing, that a child can block out the fact this movie opens with a dying mother singing a lullaby to her daughter as she slowly bleeds out from a gunshot wound. As an adult, that particular narrative turn stands out even more than Joe's destructive games of hide-and-seek.
Smart House (1999)
When you watched it as a middle schooler, Smart House was all about magically appearing cupcakes and learning the moves to "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)." But watching the movie as an adult, you realize it's about a teen who's so desperate for a mom he tries to create one out of a machine.
The Iron Giant (1999)
If the giant closing his eyes and whispering "Superman" doesn't leave you in tears as an adult, you definitely have no heart. Also, The Avengers totally stole this ending, simply replacing the giant with a man.
Toy Story 2 (1999)
I'm so sorry, Barbie.
Rugrats in Paris (2000)
Remember that scene when you learn that the Rugrats' parents aren't just criminally negligent, but horrible monsters who exclude the motherless child who hangs out with their own children? No, you remember Reptar. That's what Nick was counting on.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone(2001)
When you watched this as a kid, the first half hour or so was quickly swallowed up in magic, followed by jealousy (which is why twenty- and thirtysomethings still refer to "their" Hogwarts letter with longing). But before this becomes the tale of a boy wizard, it's the story of an orphan living with abusive relatives who has to create his own birthday cake, in the dirt, in the dead of night. Forget the parade of deaths that come afterward, that is totally sob-inducing.
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