Anxiety & Death: Exploring the Dark 'Children's Fantasy Films' of the '80s
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- Hey everyone,
This is a subject that only really came to light as I started to think about some of the films I watched as a child that traumatized me. I looked into a lot that I had never seen before and found a common thread between them! So, I decided to make a video about it.
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Also, shoutout to this video for The Black Cauldron comparisons
• The Black Cauldron Del...
00:00 Intro
04:20 The Last Unicorn
08:30 The Secret of NIMH
12:00 The Black Cauldron
15:46 Return To Oz
20:20 Labyrinth.?
21:31 The Dark Crystal
26:02 Outro 
Развлечения
"no unicorn was ever born that could regret, and yet, now I do." that still hits like a hammer
Very true
And it was animated by toei, so it's technically anime
@@carlycarmine3858 oh! that explains so much! I’ve always thought the art resembled 70s and early 80s anime haha
@@labellelace ya learn something new every day I guess
20s!
I watched Dark Crystal for the first time when I was around 3. According to my parents, back in the early 90s in my country, there was a TV station that would run the movie every now and then and I would always ask my parents to turn it on. Almost 30 years later and I still adore the world of Thra that Jim Henson created and the theme song never fails to evoke a feeling of both awe and nostalgia whenever I hear it.
And the Skeksis designs still amaze me to this day, they are so complex and effective, it's not just that they show that they are evil, it's how they show it. We see them enact terrible acts on the other creatures but their designs also tell a story: they are old and decrepit yet they clin desperately to the power that they have. Their clothes show this as well: they wear complicated and ostentatious outfits that clearly show their status compares to the other creatures of the world. And yet, just like themselves, despite the finery, some of these clothes also look faded, as if they had been wearing them for too long.
Yes my all time favourite film! And the prequel is just perfect... Its a shame the second season was cancelled though😢.
One thing that should be considered is that when these movies came out, they were intended to be watched as a family. If children had questions, the parents were on hand to answer them. When children reacted in ANY way, the parents were there to be there for them.
At almost 50 years old, I can tell you what it was like to have been shown these children’s shows for the first time in the theater, or on a VHS tape after VCRs and rental stores had finally come about, and also in school after reading the assigned reading book pertaining to said film.
Despite the lack of internet and easily accessible information that we have now, I still miss the 80s and my childhood extensively.
It was the era when my dad had finally earned enough money to buy our first colored television, before that in the late 70s, we had only had a black and white TV.
It was when cable television boxes still had dials like our phones did and the double dials on our TVs for the VHF and UHF stations.
We had to connect our NES system and VCR into the TV with that weird little UV box, which had to be screwed in on the back of the TV along with the ‘rabbit ears.’ This was only because our TV didn’t have the VCR port connector that newer televisions had.
And speaking of video game systems…. Wow! I truly miss our first ATARI 2600. I even miss that stupid little Adam Computer that we had with the cassette tape deck games. And our floppy disk equipped Commodore 64 - followed by the Commodore 128…. I remember when our school got a computer room with these old things and we had to learn how to program in Basic.
Our 25lb. VCRs had to be programmed with those little buttons behind a fold-out panel under the clock. The buttons had no labels, and the VCR came with a large confusing instructional booklet, which led to the joke of the eternal blinking 12:00 in some houses.
My parents were young. My grandparents and great grandparents and all my aunts and uncles were still alive. And time went so slow for me as a kid. It took forever for summer vacation to begin. It felt like a lifetime before Christmas would come.
I miss the 80s.
Thank you for the nostalgia of this video. It really took me back to memories so vivid that I can still remember the smells affiliated with them.
Thanks for the insightful and sweet comment. I'll always appreciate what I hear about this time in history!
The 80s were good times, and bad times. I remember video games, v h s, playing outside a lot. Hanging out with my grandpa. He was like my best friend!!! And then he was no more. He was the first funeral that I went to. I was 4 or 5. I remember the never ending story, the fantom tollbooth, Chronicles of Narnia
@@frankspikes7858 Neverending Story, Krull, Battle Beyond The Planets, The Princess Bride...
For me it was cassette based games on the C64, floppies on the Commodore Amiga and a school full of BBC Micros!
Also, a movie that will never leave me is the CIAfunded 1950 animated film of _Animal Farm._
What I love about Dark Crystal is the fact that lots of the good creatures like Landstriders and Aughra are still a little creepy. It makes the audience empathize with beings that are different to us.
I was obsessed with The Last Unicorn when I was little. Even though it made me cry at the end, every time.
Me too...I spent hours painting the Red Bull and Unicorns in water color after watching it. Fan art at 7.
As a child I was always obsessed with the dark atmosphere of older movies. That's another reason why I struggle to enjoy modern cartoons. I'm only 23 but I feel more related to 80s cartoons than what we have now.
I watched “The Secret of NIMH” for the first time when I was five (I’m a 2000s kid btw) and I honestly wasn’t afraid at all. It’s actually one of my favourite animated films of the 80s to this day and I’m actually a fan of most of Don Bluth’s films since then. I’ve actually never seen “The Black Cauldron” but I’ve heard of the many deleted scenes and I really hope the full cut will be released someday. There’s less surviving from the deleted scenes for “The Land Before Time”, but hopefully there’s still more material out there from that film that might be yet to be discovered. More people even today still need to realise that animated movies aren’t all sunshine and rainbows.
I remember watching The Black Cauldron many times when I was 5 on VHS (I'm also a 2000's kid too) because of how bleak and dreary it looks, but luckily I didn't get scared as everyone thought it was because I'm so used to see Disney animated movies many times through multiple rewatch. But my biggest problem is Taran is such a weak protagonist and I say to him "act like a brave hero you moron and be more like Prince Phillip", also the Horned King is such a distinctive villain because he's the only Disney villain who don't have that evil smile trope which I got really tired from. But yeah this movie overall is kinda sad when it sets up in something that could've been great but no, time will never tell.
I watched a heavily edited version of it on disk when I was a teenager, the only objectionable material that was still in there was the big fight near the climax of the film
The secret of the National Institute for mental health. Nimh
Exactly
You were scared when the owl appears 🦉😮
My thoughts on the movies mentioned here:
1. The Last Unicorn needs more appreciation as an amazing non-Disney classic, with the animation having an 80s anime-feel. And Christopher Lee is in that movie as the big bad. Truly felt genuine for animated films for kids to have the main villain played by Saruman.
2. Secret of NIMH was the major "Fuck you" to Disney when they concerned the themes of loss while Don Bluth was co-developing Fox and the Hound. Too bad the sequel was so saccharine, that it missed the point of it's predecessor.
3. The Black Cauldron was represented more via Disneyland Tokyo's Halloween attraction at Cinderella's castle, with the Horned King as host. Would be awesome to see Black Cauldron in the Kingdom Hearts series.
4. Return To Oz, like the previously mentioned is an underrated gem. It captured the second book in the Oz book series perfectly with a darker whimsy, but I'll take that sequel over Legends of Oz since it wasted the talents of many celebrities presented, and was handled by scam artists.
5. Labyrinth may be more lighter-hearted than the final entry, but the movie still had it's dark moments. And thus was the Japanese game industry's obsession with the Goblin King played by David Bowie, and I can see the inspiration for the Emperor of Final Fantasy II's appearance in the Dissidia Final Fantasy spinoff series.
6. The original cut to The Dark Crystal was changed due to negative feedback from test audiences. The Skeksis didn't speak, and there was no narration. But for the Netflix prequel series, I'm still frustrated that it didn't get a second season. Hopefully it will, but remember this: Dark Crystal scared the shit out of children to this day.
I was surprised when you said that "The Last Unicorn" doesn't touch on death. While it's true that none of the main heroes actually dies, the theme of mortality is addressed constantly throughout the movie. Characters like Mommy Fortuna are obsessed with gaining some form of immortality. Mommy Fortuna does this by capturing the harpy, stating that the harpy will remember her forever. When the unicorn becomes a woman, she cries out that she can feel her new body dying. Later on, she declares that she wants to die with Prince Lir rather than live forever without him. No one in the movie dies that don't deserve it, but the threat of death hangs in the air.
Very good point!
I was thinking the exact same thing while he said this. Mortality was a big deal that was brought to the forefront.
I read the book in grade school and was totally terrified, yet, this was the only story resonated with me. I was in my early 20s when I realized the story was about the loss of virginity. Grieving that loss and blossoming in spite of it. It truly is a profound story. The unicorn may be ancient, but she’s never left her forest. She doesn’t know danger, fear or loss. Then she leaves, the first tearing away. She is hunted, mistaken for something common when she believes she is special. Doesn’t every little girl believe she’s a princess? Then she is exploited, a cheap disguise is given to her to point out what she truest is. Schmendrick has been made a virgin, mocked because he hasn’t attained his true form. Molly goes from being a used up, old hag to reversing time and blossoming against all odds. The only one to have actually won in this story is Molly Grue. All of them had something ripped away. They were once young, perfect, full of potential, but arrogant and childlike. The Lady Amouthia realized that and thanks Schmendrick for it.
This is a very insightful comment. Thanks.
It's just the fact king Haggard wasn't a "I'm gonna destroy the world mwahahha!" villain but a legit depressed character who has no happiness whatsoever in his life except for one specific moment. And he keeps trying to recreate that feeling, not caring if keeping the unicorns for himself harms them and those around him
The Last Unicorn is definitely about death - when she is turned human, the first thing she does is cry out in terror “I can feel this body dying all around me!”. Haggard is hoarding the unicorns to try and feel young; while Fortuna captures the Harpy so she will be remembered; even at the cost of her life. The unicorn regrets because she has experienced what it is to be mortal, and to lose those around you to death, and care.
I didn't grow up in the 80s but I did grow up watching Sesame Street and a lot of Jim Henson Properties but man I was fascinated by The Dark Crystal when I watched the trailer on a Fraggle Rock DVD. Then one day I watched it on Netflux during my early teenage years I fell in love with the world of thr Sketsis,Mystics,and Gelflings! The lore is really good in the movie itself.
I watched all of these as a kid. The sacrifice Gurgi made was so noble. He wanted so badly to matter, and do something good for someone; it showed a totally different kind of hero.
I will never forgive Netflix for canceling the Dark Crystal series. It was such a labor of love with so much potential
I'm a little sad to not see Return of the King and Flight of Dragons on this list! ❤ Both of those films were dark and aimed for children; yet showcased mature material that can be appreciated for older audiences! Also Rankin Bass productions and fantasy based!
Hey, funny you mention both of those. I considered including both of them.I can see myself making a Rankin Bass Lord Of The Rings video in the future so I decided to wait on that one. For Flight of Dragons, while the mature concept really intrigued me, I felt the themes of the movie weren't quite what I was looking for, but I can see myself talking about it in the future :)
@@unslashcultured cool I appreciate that! If I could offer a suggestion;
Mention Omadon was so diabolic to use humanity, he's willing to use an atomic bomb as means to get his point across to his fellow wizards!
Or the evil the world could muster in ROTK; feom Gollum, who was briefly mention he isn't dead and becomes an obstacle later, to the nazgul, watchers and even GRON !
The original Land Before Time, Never Ending Story, Goonies, Batteries Not Included, and more could also have been included do to their mature themes of Death, Isolation, Abuse, Mental Illness, Betrayal, and Loss. Perhaps the last of these movies, Muppets' Christmas Carol, is a timeline outlier, as was your first, but seems to have been the last of that era of dark films directed to children, and I have heard others that they remembered being a very powerful memory from their childhood.
I actually considered both The Land Before Time and The Neverending Story for this video, but as I went back to rewatch, I found the grim aesthetic and dark mood to not be as present throughout the entirety of those movies, mostly just the beginnings or endings, or only during particular scenes, however you're right. All of those would be great inclusions.
And yeah, maybe a follow up for the 90s and early 2000s could be in the future, as there are still a lot to talk about!
That damn wolf at the end of The Never Ending Story haunted me in my dreams for weeks. I was terrified of that thing. I also thought the concept of 'the nothing' was one of the coolest and most terrifying ideas. There is something about a formless evil, that is way more scary. There's no bargaining with it or fighting it... It just is.... So freaky. Of all the 80s kids movies that one was probably my favorite. That or Die Hard... lol... back when an R rating was a suggestion routinely ignored by parents. God, I miss those days.
Flight of the Navigator and Cloak and Dagger really did me in as a kid. FOTN because it bothered me that his family just went on without him, and Cloak and Dagger because Dabney Coleman dies. I think I might have been too young to understand the second one fully. Watership Down was disturbing but I don't remember not liking it. Mr Boogedy on the other hand...
batteries not included ,the last star fighter,cocoon,baby the last dinosaur
also Never ending story was super dark! hello atreu lost his horse to a slow death in quick sand!
There WAS follow-up to Gurgi’s death. His friends were so distraught over his death that they bargained with the witches to bring him back to life.
I grew up in the 80's and saw all of these films as children. The thing is, since we didn't have the internet, we'd go to libraries, where we had access to everything from the Brothers Grimm to Stephen King. I read Watership Down in the 3rd grade, but I had already seen the movie, because my mom loved it. We also had the album. There was also the animated Hobbit, and The Point by Nilsson. I checked out and read most of the Oz books before 7th grade and let me tell you Return to Oz is the more faithful adaptation of the material. Oz is a weird and often dark place! I saw Heavy Metal and Dark Crystal in the theater. I grew up watching Wizard of Oz, Planet of the Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey every year when they aired on TV (we didn't have cable). I'm an avid horror fan to this day LOL My kids are also drawn to darker stories, I think it's very normal. Kids feel a sense of safety when they can confront something scary in a safe environment. They sometimes headcanon friendships with monsters and I think that makes them feel powerful and in control of their fears. While I don't show my kids media like this before I feel they are ready, I don't withhold it from them forever either.
Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, The Secret Of Nimh, and Return To Oz are four of my all-time favorite movies!
I remember my dad taking me to the theater to see the Dark Crystal at 5 years old. It was the most wonderful thing I experienced as a child. There was nothing like it and it made me so happy. This film the last unicorn and the black cauldron made me want to draw. I now have many sketchbooks full of the my favorite characters like Ogra.
You hit all my favourites. I also saw Rock N Rule (Not for kids - but my parents didn't realize.), and the Little Mermaid - pre Disney version. I watched them all by the age of 5. I remember seeing them in our country home. I would hide under the plaid sofa and peek through the curtains. Yeah, the old couches had cloth to cover the legs. We then moved to the big city and enrolled me in Kindergarten... So, I was super young, but I remembered. Re-watched them all later on DVD.
Opps. Didn't see Secret of NIHM until about 8 or - but in aTheatre - Now converted into a Gospel Church. Black Cauldron too.
I also saw scenes from rock N Rule as a very young child, and they were etched on my mind. To this day it's one of my favorites.
As a kid in the 90s I've watched all of these films and I think they determined my taste in movies growing up.
MGM's Wizard of Oz is incredibly tame compared to its source materials. Return was incredibly faithful to the tone of the original Oz books.
Seriously, people are SLEEPING on the potential of a faithfully adapted Oz as a rebooted series in the vein of Netflix's She-Ra.
As an adult so glad I was allowed to grow up in the 80s and 90s. So many lessons learned.
I was lucky to be born during the 80s.
At 22:05 - Jim Henson considered "The Dark Crystal" to be his Magnum Opus. It was what he used to impress David Bowie to convince him to participate in "The Labyrinth."
I was a 2000s kid who grew up with a lot of these movies. The Secret of NIMH and the Dark Crystal were some of my favorite movies as a kid, and they're still some of my favorites today. I was especially obsessed with the Dark Crystal, mostly because of its unique species and high fantasy aesthetic, especially the horror parts. I distinctly remember being about five years old and bringing my VHS of the Dark Crystal to show at daycare. I was so sure that the other kids would love it as much as I had, and felt so disappointed when they got scared at the teacher had to turn it off. I still feel like it's underappreciated.
I checked Watership Down out (on VHS at Blockbuster) when I was 4 not knowing that it was meant for adults because it was animation and it traumatized me and yet I continued to check it out after on various occasions because it made me feel things I had never felt before. It was a movie I hated yet loved. I found out years later, basically by the time I was 26, that it was a movie meant for adults lol
The book was written for adults but the movie was just made as an animated movie and in the early 80s was absolutely advertised as coming on TV for kids to watch. They used to play it on Easter, I think, and some local stations might play it as a Saturday afternoon movie sometimes as well. I remember watching it when I was very young and while the battle scene is always remembered, it doesn't stick out to me any more than anything else violent I saw as a kid. No, what stayed with me for the past 40 years is 2 scenes- first being when the blood started kind of overtaking the field. It's not actual blood, just a red color kind of washing over everything but I've been able to see that at random times in perfect detail since I was 4. The other scene has caused me some anxiety and a lifelong phobia. The scene where a rabbit (more of a suggestion of them because it's kind of dreamy looking at that point) gets down I the hole and all the other rabbits pile in on top, packing in there and filling the space and squishing each other. I'm extremely claustrophobic and if I'm ever in a tight area where the panic actually starts to set in, I kid you not, that scene is all I can think of.
Hey everyone, few comments I wanted to make in response:
1. Very much appreciate the comments. This video was more successful to me than I could have ever imagined, so thanks!!
2. I messed up with the VHS filter and some audio. Apologies. I am new to editing, won't happen again.
3. A couple people pointed out some mistakes I made so heres some quick edits:
- Henwen in Black Couldron is Telepathic, not telekinetic
- I say "toe the line of being films for children" when i mean to say "walk the line". Maybe i was thinking "tip-toe" like on a tightrope.
- I say "animal negligence" instead of "animal neglect". Not sure if animal negligence even makes any sense.
Finally, yes I left out a lot of films from the genre. This is because they weren't "fantasy" enough or I felt they didn't quite meet the theme I was going for. If I ever do a follow up, hopefully you see the movie you like there!! 😊
Peace and Love
U\C
"toe the line" is a real phrase. Kids just don't hear it often nowadays. "Ride the line" and "tip-toe the line" are all variations on the same phrase.
@@ChainsawBunny92Funny I always thought it was tow the line, like towing a fishing line I guess but now I realize I've always had it spelled wrong in my head!
You should also put Brave Little Toaster in this list.
Also I wouldn't say of these movies are traumatizing, since I watched them over and over again. They're adventure stories, and adventures need relatable stakes. And death and mutilation are relatable stakes
I did consider Brave Little Toaster. Maybe if i make a follow up!
And yes, I don't think any of these movies are actually legitimately traumatizing, just exposing children to darker themes.
I have a few mental scars from that one too. The crushing machine with the depressed appliances 😢
There was a lot of anxiety and death in the media of my 80s childhood, but my mother had cousins and classmates dying around her like the Gashlycrumb Tinies, on several occasions right in front of her, from things I was protected from. I appreciate the lessons I learned in fantasy movies, and am really glad I didn't have to learn them from real life.
There is no film nearer and dearer to my heart than The Secret Of NIMH. Mrs. Brisby is truly one of the most underrated characters. As an 80s/90s girl, there weren't many female protagonists for me to look up to. Brisby was the first I was made aware of, and a very important one.
She nobody's idea of a hero. She's a struggling mother faced with a dire situation: protecting her family from danger, while trying to keep her son from dying of illness. On top of that, she's reeling from the unexplained death of her husband, unable to cope with that loss of stability. And on top of THAT, she discovers an underground society her husband belonged to, and his name affords her a position and power she can't understand. To say Brisby is in over her head is an understatement!
But what's crucial about this character is not what she deals with, but how she deals with it. Her struggle, emotionally, is very relatable and human. She goes into every situation heavy with fear, doubt, and insecurity. She is unsure of what she is doing and can't believe the choices she makes. She is meek, and constantly undermined by other characters. Yet she heads into the dark unknown and does what must be done to save her family. Her strength isn't fearlessness but love, which weilds the greatest power.
Mrs. Brisby still remains a true inspiration for me. She helped me feel it was okay to have self doubt; that being emotional wasn't a weakness; that we can come up against intimidating things not feeling brave, but still having courage. I am grateful to have had her as a childhood hero.
I grew up watching all these movies, and they're all still some of my favorite movies decades later as an adult. I wish they still made films like these.
As a kid in the 80s it was accepted by the adults around us that the world is scary at times the world is violent and sad and it served no one to hide these things from children it was better in fact to expose them to the terrors of the world but in a way that they could process. Having nightmares is part of being a child, to try to protect children from fear from the fuel for nightmares we only raise them to live in a world that does not exist
Watership is the greatest accidental horror movie of all time. That shit was terrifying for kids and traumatized entire generations
And this is why Gen X grew up hard 😁👍
Have a wonderful day everyone ❤️❤️
The Black Cauldron and Dark Crystal were some of my absolute favorites.
One movie that I loved as a kid was All Dogs go to Heaven. Watching it as an adult with my own child hit me so hard. Especially the ending.
As a child, all of these movies gave me great joy. (Except for Return to Oz, I don't think I watched that one.)
I'd like to bring up, The Neverending Story. I'm sure, that when people think of that movie, they think of the Ivory Tower, but that movie did have quite a few dark themes. Artax's death, Fantasia being destroyed, Rockbiter's scene where he looses his friends to the nothing, Gmork, The Sphinxes(one of the few scenes in any childhood movie, where I was scared.)and Sebastian dealing with the death of his mother. I think people often forget that one.
Since you said Dark Crystal is a favorite of yours, I have to point out someone restored the original vision with the workprint audio and deleted scenes all cut into the film as intended by Henson before unintelligent test audiences complained that it was too confusing. They go all-in with the fantasy elements by having the Skeksis speaking their own language when not addressing someone else. Only the Gelfling speech is translated to English and serves as the "audience's language equivalent." The unneeded inner monologues and narration that just state what is happening on screen also don't exist in this version. Augra also speaks her own language, and the scene with her and the well-read Skeksis implies their long history together as they argue in each other's languages back and forth.
This sounds very strange. I need to see it.
I really enjoy the VHS quality in the film clips, the music and most all these films, excellent video!
Thanks, i listed the music source in the bio if you're looking for more of it!
I was born in ‘04 and grew up watching The Last Unicorn because it was my aunt’s favorite movie when she was young. To this day, it is my favorite movie, and we’ve watched our physical copy of it to death. I wish more people passed on generational media favorites, even if the graphics aren’t “state of the art” in the current era.
The fantasy movies may have been dark in the 80s, but at least they've been trying to show and prove that animation is not just for kids, but for teens and adults too.
Don't run from eternal things. It will only gather their attention.- The Last Unicorn
The dark crystal was one of my favorites growing up! It wasn’t until I was an adult that it started to creep me out.
While there were plenty of dark and disturbing fantasy films of the 80s-(I’m noting the strange absence of The Neverending Story)-the one scene that haunted me most was from the The Dark Crystal
It wasn’t that the Garthim were these monstrous beetle-crab soldiers, but how in the end they collapse as empty armor. There was something dreadful and existential about these things being soulless spite-driven automatons that I wasn’t ready for
What sucks withe dark crystal prequel is that it was cancelled after 1 season, it was great to watch.
I really liked it too, but as it was Netflix it was bound to be canceled. The inclusion of more characters and better puppetry made it a much better watch than the original which was more like a vast wasteland. I did miss chamberlain, though
@@mae8646 mmmmhhhhmmmm
@@berniekatzroy??
@@mae8646 what? Thats the sound Chamberlain makes
@@berniekatzroy Ohhhh hahaha I'm just being smooth brain
The Dark Crystal is this 80s kids fave movie.
I saw "The Never Ending Story" in the theater when I must have been about 6 (was born in '78). During the opening scene, with the rock eater dude pushing his dozer through the forest, the sound from the speakers in that theater was absolutely deafening. I remember this very vividly 40 years later. I was absolutely mesmerized from that moment till the closing credits. They truly don't make them like they used to.
Actually being a child in the 1980s, no matter how odd or observate I was, I'd no reason to know this was considered something of a new think on the part of doctors and such to use media in such a fashion. I watched older movies which seem to me no different in some ways to the movies that were new. I've no desire of the moment to get into my brain about the effects of the Cold War or other things in my life at the time had on my reaction to these things. What I will say however I recall particularly on turning 10 in 1989, that I had a feeling of feeling trusted to have experienced the movies and tv show I sawr and the books I read. For any moments that were too much emotionally or things that I wouldn't revisit again in the million years (I'm looking at you Return to OZ), I don't regret that they were there.
I watched Return to Oz religiously as a child.
Omg it still holds up.
I’m such a glutton for dark fantasy animation 😩 I’ve seen most of these. For months I had that stupid mhMMM sound the skeksis would make stuck in my head 😭😭😭
Is this is why I'm an anxious woman? Probably a little.
As a kid who grew up in the 70s and 80s it was a dark time to be a kid...and I loved it 😏
The Black Cauldron was Awesome! I honestly do not know why so many people hate it! The story was good, the hero and the heroine were quirky and likeable, and the voice acting was great. Also the voice acting cast included Andy Serkis and John Hurt!
watership down, I watched it as a child, it didn't traumatize me at all, but made me sad and more compassionate towards animals.
Good video, but when talking about darkness in fantasy movies in the 80’s, I think there’s one important influence you should have mentioned: the Cold War. When I was in school we were taught that an “evil empire” run by literal madmen was trying to snuff out all goodness in the world, and if they couldn’t do that by conquering it then they’d do it by blowing the world up. I think it’s easy to see various ways that was reflected in 80’s fantasy films.
I think you could say that every era of films is informed by real life events go on around it. That's an excellent point.
Let´s not to forget the situation about global and local sociopolithical and econommical changes during the 80s which helped to set the overall gritter and darker realistic tone during the fantasy for children and younger audiences at the time:
- Most of the decade it was during a Republican and conservative right-party rulling on by Ronald Reagan since 1981 to 1989, and actually continued at the same - yet happened outer changes which made a transition towards brightier ways during George W. Bush Sr. period on 1989 to 1993.
- At the same time for most of the decade since 1980 till 1988 happened to be a global economical crisis which set up the whole mood and tune on conservative gloomy tones on sociocultural perspectives and yet at the same time the Cold War against the URSS still happened untill late 1989 when the Berlin Wall got broken and then in middle 1991 the URSS itself was also totally gone, so overall adding up to the conservative right-side governnment trends and the global economical crisis it was totally set up to make the younger audiences back then to kinda grew-up earlier on not being so lost on idealistic trends as the countercultural movements of the 60s and 70s faded on early 80s after Jimmy Carter´s failure to reelection and the rising on AIDS pandemic too.
- Still the darkest time on the 80s era happened about 1982 to 1985 as there was a higher rising up a furtherly active setting of animosity between URSS and USA as that was the Yuri Andropov and then Konstantin Chernenko periods as main leaders of the URSS and they weren´t as much proper diplomatic stable ones as the long-lasting former period of Leonid Breznhev (1964 - 1982) and the upcoming Mikhail Gorvachev (1985 - 1990) had and will became.
So overall the 80s could be happened to be splitted on three or four distinguishable periods:
- 1980 -1982: The dark tunes were rising up as conservative party trends and global economical crisis and the AIDS pandemic came on foiling the joyfull optimistic and idealistic trend of the 70s before it. This could have even stared earlier as Margaret Tatcher also very conservative got elected since 1979.
- 1982 - 1985: The total takeover and darkest tunes as the overall environment adds up furtherly tensions as Andropov and Chernenko leadership on the URSS made a constant threat adding up anxiety elsewhere.
- 1985 - 1988: A bit of former darkest tension of the previous time got lifted yet overall all keeps being very gloomy and yet happens to be a lot of focus on blending hope and a message for resilience so things might got better eventually as indeed the global crisis got over.
- 1988 - 1989 (and actually kept going untill 1992 somehow): Transition to ending the dark glommy grittier ways into a new brightier optimistical way as meanwhile Cold War and URSS were gone too and also the Republican government wasn´t needed furtherly either way. The overall ending of all was somewhere on 1990 as Margaret Tatcher was also gone and well this closes the whole decade starting since the global crisis of 1980s was totally gone.
Adding up all that, makes perfect sense why fantasy tunes on younger audiences were those dark, grittier and glommy-grimm than before and after that since there was so much setting up on the tensing situation for reality in the world back then. Children were needed to be growing up faster and giving up the idealistic hopefull trends which happened before that - and it remained lasting the trend everafter eventhough since the 90s a newer optimistic idealistic trend rise up and yet not so naive as before but blending realistic with idealistic.
Very informarive and true comment. No wonder the movies were so dark
Crime rates peaked around 1992. Grunge and gangsta rap became a big thing around 1991-1995. I wouldn't say things were that upbeat in the early 90's (surveys of the time also show that most people were disillusioned with politics and the overall culture of the early 90's).
@@ryanjacobson2508 that´s why I stated the late 80s and early 90s were some time of buffer transitional time when some things got into their darkest at times, before getting better or getting a proper way or treating it, and yet also overall other stuff changed from the gloomy-repressive state before overall of the 80s to something brightier. It much depended on different aspects of social themes, but overall it was a general broader sense of things on the 80s worst and gritiy-grimmier than on the 90s.
I would really love to see a more faithful adaptation of the Chronicles of Prydain series which The Black Cauldron was based on because of the well-done character development Taran and Eilonwy go through throughout the five books, with Taran having to forge his own path in life when he realizes he’ll never find out where he truly came from, while Eilonwy reconnects with her heritage of magic-wielding.
I first saw Watership Down when I was about 4- which would be 40 years ago. And sure, the battle scene is a bit much for young kids but that never bothered me. What did was 2 scenes- one was the blood/red color washing over the field. I've been able to just see that for years and for a long time couldn't even remember where it came from, just that it made me uneasy. The other gave me a lifelong phobia that still hits hard to this day. The part where the one rabbit runs to hide down in the hole and the others pile in on top until the space is totally filled and they're all squished. I'm extremely claustrophobic and I think this may have started it or added to it because every time I find myself in a tight spot, especially with another person/people, if I start to panic, that scene is all I can think of. It just takes over and I'm unable to be logical in any way until I have space around me again. Just thinking about it right now is starting to freak me out a bit and I'm generally pretty calm and logical. It's just something about those things that take hold in early childhood.
I do remember one movie that made me totally sad, at least for part of it, and that was An American Tail. The fact that Fivel was just a little kid and was separated from his whole family and on his own thinking he had no one, I remember feeling really bad for him. Also The Fox and the Hound. When that old lady had to abandon Tod in the woods and he was all by himself with no food or shelter and didn't know how to take care of himself, it was just awful.
A substitute teacher showed up Watership down in 6th grade. Needless to say everyone was deeply disturbed. He brought it from home. Now looking back…I feel like that guy was a total serial killer lol.
In place of Secret of NIMH you could also place around half of Bluth's other movies like All Dogs go to Heaven, Land before Time or An American Tail and others. I grew up with those and a lot of Disney movies that time had deaths or assumed deaths in their plot like Bambi's mother, Todd's mother, Yello, it seems as if Oliver had died after the gang beat Sykes, and so on.
I’m satisfied that I’ve seen all of these movies in my childhood
I was born in 1980 and I have seen a lot of the fantasy movies of that time.
I always loved the fantasy and that they were a little scary.
the movies you named are still some of my all time favorites to this day.
some other movies I loved (and stil love) are
the witches... Willow... Legend... Time bandits... the neverending story
the Princess bride... the land before time... who framed Roger Rabbit
Gremlins... the adventures of Baron Munchausen... Jim Henson's Storyteller
Conan the destroyer... beastmaster... Indiana Jones (and the temple of Doom)
The secret of NIMH is my favorite and I also love labyrinth
I'm happy that I saw most of the movies on this list when I was little.
As one who watched all these classic '80s films in the good ol' early '90s, I must tell you that you missed the biggest anxiety-inducing film yet produced for children - AN AMERICAN TAIL! That movie gave kiddos the chance to experience such grownup feelings as anxiety, heartburn, chest compressions, and all as Fievel went through hell and back just to be reunited with his family.
I'll have to make a follow up!
This is so good. I grew up watching all of these. I remember return to oz and I saw it in the theater. The screaming heads scared the hell out of me. I still love this movie today, but the heads are still disturbing.
The Secret of NIMH actually has a loose connection to real life. There was a facility in Britain in the 50s called The National Institute for Mental Health that conducted a series of social experiments on rats. Most notably was a rat 'utopia', in which a habitat was set up for a large group of rats where they would not need to work for anything and all their needs were met. There are a couple of good videos around RUclips that go into detail on the experiments.
The more disturbing aspect of SoN is that the story was inspired by actual experiments performed on rats. NIMH is not a corporation, but rather a real government agency within the National Institute of Health (NIH). I did not learn this until much later in life, and actually made the movie even darker than when I was a child.
The Secret of Nimh reminds me of *Faivel* , which is also dark and traumatizing like *The land before time*
15:04 that right there enthralled me about the movie. That’s like charlottes web mixed with MaSToDON in WALES!
Thank you for kicking your video off with Watership Down! A haunting and fantastic movie!
I watched Watership Down as a child. Yes, I was traumatized by it. I am also VERY sensitive, which didn't help, either. I sure won't forget it.
great points regarding gurgi's demise, respect
The Last Unicorn is my fave film in general, but Dragonheart is still high on the list.
I don't recall when it came out, but this damn movie will forever be among my top ten childhood faves for sure. Dragonheart had it's darkness despite not being on par with other films in that department, but at the same time it was a grounded darkness. Easily understood or just easily digested into the brain without much fear. It's also through this film that Draco is my permanent favorite Dragon in any film or media. Also imo, the series really went downhill after the second film(which is...fine, not great but not horrible).
I feel the same for the Scorpion King franchise as well, only the first film is the only truly good film compared to the others. I can enjoy myself with the first, but honestly the others make me cringe hard. They takes themselves way too seriously whereas the first film knew it was a ridiculous fantasy action movie and played to that strength. Anyway that's all I got, toodles.
the Wheelers where part of what made me get really into roller blades in the 90s later
My favourite Canada fact. Ask any millennial about watership down and they’ll flinch. Every year CBC plays it on Easter multiple times and it is not an Easter movie. Canadian children traumatized year after year.
Excellent video. I was there, but didn't see many of these until I was an adult.
I'm surprised The Neverending Story didn't make the list; I don't know anyone my age who wasn't traumatized by the death of Artax.
I remember watching the labyrinth when I was little and being absolutely terrified. I don’t remember much about it but I just remember actually being scared of it.
The Plague Dogs, the Hobbit and Return of the King and The Neverending Story.
video talking about all the movies that my 80's parent traumatized me with because they traumatized them??? Sign me tf up!!
Omg Watership Down! My parents rented that movie out for me when I was around 8 or 9 because I loved the song Brighteyes…it was one hell of a horrifying movie! But I got off lightly (and my parents - mum - STILL hasn’t learnt to read the back). My little brother, then aged 3 or 4, got the movie Critters hired for him because we had all loved the movie Gremlins and, according to mum, Critters seemed very much like it…from the cover of the video rental. Yeah, as you can imagine, my poor brother was terrified of going to the toilet for the longest time. 😬
I'm sure it's been mentioned already, but how about The Neverending Story? The Nothing is dismantling the world. Un-creating it while we are just being introduced (my personal allegory for growing up in the decade where Nuclear Armageddon could happen tomorrow). Nice presentation though, thank you. Maybe the powers that be (at the time), were a product of WWII. Just like my Grandfather who sought to toughen me/us up a little, because the world wasn't Rainbow Brite. Thanks again.
Awesome video! I really like this kind of movies
return to Oz reminded me of when i tried to re dream awesome dreams,forcing the magic to repeat,never worked
The childhood PTSD that bubbled up as Watership Down zoomed towards the screen.
Great vid my man, subbed.
My Favorite Disney Movie Is The Black Cauldron. I Loved The Horned King He’s My Favorite Disney Villain.
This was the first time I have come across your RUclips channel to say that I am extremely impressed with how you approached this subject matter and made this video would be the understatement of the year. Holy sh*t this went waaaaay deeper than I expected and therefore hit a lot harder than I was prepared for but I loved every second of it and will be exploring your content more diligently from this moment forth. Excellent, excellent, excellent job on this bro 🤘🏼
Very much appreciated! Hoping to improve and find new things to talk about as I go!
Such an all around amazing video! It's only a matter of time before you blow up! Keep it up
Very much appreciated!!
Oh my god, right at the point the Return to Oz character said "Come back chicken!" I got a Tyson chicken and. Perfection.
Saw this posted on reddit. Great video, man
Thanks for the kind words!
Two films I remember from my childhood is one film that wasn't from the 1980s, but was created by Ralph Bakshi and that was _Wizards,_ which I remember from the villains literally bringing back the Nazis, genuinely using actual Nazi propaganda to push their ideals... but more importantly, Elinore. When you're a young boy, you don't forget Elinore...!
Another film that raises the issue of animal cruelty more vividly than any I've seen came from the same producers, director, and animators as Watership Down and that is _Plague Dogs,_ the _Threads_ of 1980s children's films.
I thought about including Plague Dogs in this video, but decided to stick moreso to dark fantasy. However, could talk about it in another vid!
Also there are a lot of great video essays on Bakshi. Thought about doing one myself, but with the quality and quantity of them already, who knows.
Wizards and Ralph Bakshi inspired Wendy Pini, one of the creators of ElfQuest.
Amazing. First video of yours I’ve ever seen. Subscribed.
Thank you very much!
Fantastic video! Hope this gets picked up by the algorithm and makes this channel explode with growth, so as to make the time you must have invested in this worthwhile!
Love to see The Dark Crystal get some well deserved attention too! It had a real impact on my childhood, at the creature designs are just gorgeous, especially the Skeksis. The Netflix series was astonishingly beautiful, and a breath of fresh air in the Netflix production machine, which also accomplishes to tell a profound story with great characters, where one might say the original film was somewhat lacking as you mentioned. Would love to hear more from you about it in a potential future video! :)
Appreciate the kindness! Would love to talk more about TDC later...we will see!
Proof that some G-rated films can be more scary than an R-rated horror film without being technically inappropriate.
Yes. Very important to always outrun your prey!
Just not when you are the prey and an herbivore.
0:53
Aye don’t forget The Never Ending Story, that horse scene traumatized me as a kid.
I loved all of these movies growing up and still do. They showed WaterShip Down to us in second grade in 86, I was transfixed the other kids were crying their eyes out lol.