Top Nine Most Emotional Pixar Moments

2008’s WALL-E may be Pixar’s greatest achievement, as it managed to get an audience emotionally invested in two robotic characters who spoke almost no dialogue. The romance between trash-compactor robot WALL-E (Ben Burtt) and sleek, robotic probe EVE (Elissa Knight) takes several twists and turns along the way and, in the end, it is that love that saves WALL-E and restores his memory. After repairing WALL-E, EVE discovers that his memory has been wiped. EVE tries several tactics to spark WALL-E’s memory, but to no avail. After nearly giving up, EVE touches WALL-E’s hand with hers and gives him a goodbye kiss. Finally, WALL-E’s eyes light up with recognition and his memory is restored. It is a touching reminder of the power of love and how it can often heal those we believe may be broken.

“Take her to the moon for me…” The 2015 Pixar film Inside Out is a roller coaster of emotions, which you might expect from a movie built around dealing with emotions and how those emotions make up one’s self. Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), an eleven-year-old girl, has been uprooted from her home in Minnesota and moved to a new one in San Francisco with her family for her father’s new business. This causes an upheaval in Riley’s emotions, which we see depicted through personifications of her various moods. One of the emotions, Joy (Amy Poehler), is attempting to escape Riley’s memory dumps with the aid of Riley’s imaginary childhood friend, Bing Bong (Richard Kind). After several attempts to leave via Bong Bong’s wagon rocket, Bing Bong, who has begun to fade away, sacrifices himself so that Joy can successfully flee via the wagon. Bing Bong then fades out of existence and is forgotten. It is yet another example of how we sometimes have to let go of childhood possessions (or in this case, ideas/memories) in order to move forward. But as we learn here, that is often easier said then done.

“You think you can do these things, but you just can’t, Nemo!” This scene, which sets the rest of the events of 2003’s Finding Nemo in motion, is emotionally heart-wrenching on several levels. In it, clownfish Nemo (Alexander Gould) attempts to swim out to a boat (“He touched the butt!”), but is stopped by his father, Marlin (Albert Brooks). After scolding Nemo for trying something so recklessly dangerous, Nemo takes advantage of a diversion and does indeed swim out to the boat in an act of defiance. However, things take a turn for the worst when Nemo is captured by a scuba diver and taken away on that same boat. As a child, it is terrifying to think of being ripped away from your family. And losing a child, due to abduction or death, is every parent’s worst nightmare. So this scene is an especially scary one for both parents and children. But it is also about having to learn to trust your children to make the right choices and how, as hard as we may try, we cannot always protect them from the dangers of the world. All we can do is teach them and prepare them as best as we can for what they may encounter.

“So long, partner.” The third installment in the Toy Story series was released in June 2010, 15 years after the original. Over the course of those 15 years, many of the fans of the franchise had grown from childhood to young adulthood, right along with the movies’ main human character, Andy (John Morris). As Andy is preparing to head off for college, he decides it is time to pass on his beloved toy collection to someone else, a young girl named Bonnie (Emily Hahn). While he is introducing Bonnie to all the toys in his collection, Bonnie notices that he forgot one in the box: Woody (Tom Hanks), Andy’s oldest, and most cherished figure. Andy is surprised to find Woody in the box, as he hadn’t planned on giving him away as well. But when he sees the look on Bonnie’s face, he realizes that it is time to move on from his childhood possessions. It also deals with saying goodbye to old friends (and if you are a parent, your children) and moving on to the next phase in our lives. It is a harsh reality that all of us must face at some point.

“Goodbye, Boo. Kitty has to go.” The best part of Monsters, Inc is the relationship between the overachieving blue monster Sulley (John Goodman) and the adorable toddler girl “Boo.” After Boo (Mary Gibbs) inadvertently wanders into the scream factory where Sulley and his partner Mike (Billy Crystal) work, they encounter multiple obstacles as they attempt to return the little girl back home. Unable to pronounce his name, Boo refers to Sulley as “Kitty” and the two develop a father-daughter-like bond over the course of their adventure. When Sulley finally succeeds in returning Boo, he is forced to say goodbye to the precious young girl he has grown so attached to. It is a heartbreaking scene made even more so when Boo rushes to the closet door that Sulley entered only to find that it is empty and he is gone. Once again, Pixar cuts to the core when it comes to the struggle of having to say goodbye to a loved one.

After being erroneously donated to a daycare center, Andy’s toys are finally reunited with Woody and have seemingly made their escape. Unfortunately, their escape doesn’t go quite as planned, as they end up at a landfill and then on a conveyor belt that deposits them in an incinerator. As the toys attempts to flee fail, they resign themselves to their fate and join hands in unity as they head towards the inevitable. Of course, they are saved at the last second by “The Claw”, but the emotional impact of a group of friends who love each other so deeply that they bond together as a fiery death approaches left an indelible mark on all who have watched it.

“Papa was a musician. When I was a little girl, he and mama would sing such beautiful songs.” Yet another scene that is impossible for me to watch without tearing up. In the scene, young Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) plays Hector’s (Mama Coco’s father) song “Remember Me” to his grandmother, Mama Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguia) in a last-ditch effort to get her to remember him. As we see the smile spread across her face as she begins to sing, we know that Miguel has succeeded. She remembers her papa and all the poems he wrote for her. And we all realize how important family is. For anyone who has lost a grandparent (which is most of us), and especially for those who have known a loved one who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the scene is especially poignant. My grandfather had passed away just a few months prior to the release of Coco (he was about the same age as Mama Coco) and both my grandmother’s had also passed away previously, one from Alzheimer’s. This scene brought up so many memories and emotions that I can’t help but think of them when I watch it. I know many of us can relate.

“You never forget kids like Emily or Andy. But they forget you.” I swear, I have seen this scene probably two dozen times and it still gets me. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. In the scene, Jessie (Joan Cusack) explains to Woody her issues with abandonment and being forgotten when he tells her he has to return home to Andy. Like Woody, she too once had an owner, Emily, who grew older and then had no more need for Jessie, ultimately donating her. The combination of Sarah McLachlan’s graceful ballad “When She Loved Me” and the soft lighting of Jessie’s flashback create such a powerful sense of melancholy and loss that you would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the scene. Just about everyone can relate to Jessie’s feelings of being abandoned and forgotten at some point in their life. It’s been 20 years since Toy Story 2 was released and yet this scene still resonates so strongly that it is still talked about as a standout moment in Pixar’s history.

Truly, one of the most touching, emotional sequences of cinema you will ever see. The completely wordless four-minute montage, beautifully scored by Michael Giacchino (Lost), effortlessly tells the life-long love story of Ellie and Carl in a way that most full-length films have never been able to do with their respective subjects. We can’t help but smile as we see the two united in marriage. Our hearts warm as they move into a run-down, old house that they renovate together to make their own, making plans for the future along the way. But then we are crushed to learn that, despite their deepest desires, having children does not seem to be a possibility for them. Finally, their journey concludes, as their fifty-plus year marriage ends with Ellie’s health-related death. A somber way to start the film, no doubt, but it set up the rest of the film’s events magnificently.

Which of these emotional Pixar moments makes you reach for the tissues? Let us know on social media!

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