The scariest animated movies involve not only horror releases but also regular animated films with disturbing, unsettling storylines and moments. Some animated movies were meant for kids but ended up terrifying them, including some Disney Animation classics like Fantasia, Pinocchio, and even Dumbo.

However, studios began to experiment more with animated horror movies. Since these scary movies were animated, filmmakers could add more disturbing scenes and visuals that weren’t possible in live-action films. There were even others made for adults that weren’t meant for kids’ eyes at all, and remain extremely horrifying.

9 (2009)

9 was one of the most creative animated science fiction films when it came out in 2009. Directed by Shane Acker, the movie was an adaptation of his Oscar-nominated short film from 2005. The movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic alternate version of the 1940s, where the rise of machines has destroyed humanity.

The film follows rag dolls called Sтιтchpunks that a scientist creates and infuses with portions of his soul. However, since each of them has a different part of his soul, they have distinct personalities and atтιтudes. The main hero is the rag doll known as 9, who must find a way to help the world carry on.

The animation was dark with disturbing images and the machines’ automatons that were sent to destroy humanity, and possibly the rag dolls were all scary as well. It was impressive and a tribute to the visual design that a film about rag dolls could create such an uneasy feeling in viewers.

Monster House (2006)

Monster House is an animated supernatural horror movie that is about a young boy who lives across the street from a sentient haunted house. Dan Harmon (Community) co-wrote the script, and director Gil Kenan used the motion-capture techniques previously used in Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express.

The Polar Express was unnerving thanks to its animation, leaving an uneasy feeling when looking into the characters’ eyes. However, with Monster House, it was a much-improved finished product, and the house itself was masterfully animated. Not only that, but the story was solid and remained an intense, scary effort.

Monster House was a fun kids’ horror movie that wasn’t afraid to keep the scares coming, and the haunted house and the spirit possessing it were enhanced by its motion-capture animation.

Perfect Blue (1997)

Perfect Blue is one of the more obscure animated movies, and it’s absolutely terrifying. The interesting thing about this anime is that it isn’t even a horror movie, but is instead a thriller. Mima Kirigoe is a Japanese pop star who leaves her successful J-pop group to pursue an acting career.

However, soon people around her start to die, and she begins to believe that she might be the murderer, but she doesn’t remember killing them. There are plenty of twists and turns in the movie, and it all takes a turn for the worse. There is one ᴀssault scene in the film that is harrowing and disturbing to watch.

This animated film is not meant for kids. However, as an adult anime geared toward adult audiences, this is a very scary anime thanks to its storyline, which is filled with real-world horrors and terrifying situations. Perfect Blue is also considered one of the best anime films of all time.

Pinocchio (1940)

Pinocchio was one of Disney Animation’s earliest movies, and like many of its releases, it had nightmare fuel in it for little kids. The film follows a woodcarver who creates a new puppet that comes to life and becomes his son. However, when Pinocchio makes some poor decisions, he ends up paying for it.

This is where the movie becomes a terrifying story. Pinocchio is sent to Pleasure Island, a home for naughty boys, where all the kids are turned into donkeys. This ends up putting the wooden boy into some terrifying situations, and it was clear this was a morality tale to teach kids watching to behave.

The ideas here were so terrifying that it became something that Guillermo del Toro wanted to explore with his recent stop-motion remake, and that was even more frightening than the original.

The Last Unicorn (1982)

The Last Unicorn isn’t a horror movie, but it is an animated movie with several unsettling elements that gave kids nightmares and visuals that stuck with many kids as they grew up. The story follows a unicorn who learns she is the last of her kind, so she goes on a journey to find out what happened to her kind.

The scariest parts of The Last Unicorn are the villains, which include the Red Bull and the Harpy. The Red Bull is a terrifying force of nature that relentlessly pursues the unicorn, with horrifying chase scenes. The Harpy is at the carnival, and the fact that she kills Mommy Fortuna was unusually dark for an animated kids’ film.

The storyline is also scary, as the unicorn learns that she is the last of her kind, and there is a somber feeling that, when she dies, there will be no more unicorns in the world. This is a much darker story than kids were used to in the 1980s.

The Black Cauldron (1985)

The Black Cauldron is a terrifying Disney animated film that fits the form of movies like Fantasia. Like that earlier release, this is a fantasy-horror movie that might be one of Disney’s darkest stories. The Black Cauldron was so scary that it earned the first-ever PG rating for a Disney Animation film.

The movie follows a wicked emperor, the Horned King, who seeks a mysterious cauldron to help him conquer the world. The Horned King is one of the scariest villains in Disney history. With red eyes and a skeletal body, he gave kids nightmares. His unᴅᴇᴀᴅ warriors, which the Black Cauldron raised, were comparable to zombies.

This terror-filled animated movie didn’t let up either. The scene where the Horned King was defeated was extremely unsettling and disturbing as well. Add in Gurgi’s apparent death and the dragon-like Gwythaints, and there was a lot here to scare kids.

Watership Down (1978)

Watership Down is a 1970s animated adventure film based on the novel by Richard Adams. People who read the book knew what to expect, but any parents who took their kids to see the movie left with some traumatized children, and likely nightmares for years to come.

This is not a cute animated movie about rabbits. It is an animated film with shocking moments of graphic violence against the rabbits, including some that are killed straight out, and the violence is visceral, with blood and graphic details when these animals are injured. When the warren is gᴀssed, it is traumatizing and shows pure evil.

The film also plays as an allegory for fascism, and that is something that most parents might not have been prepared to explain to their kids. In all, this was an existential film about death, survival, authoritarianism, and the cruelty of nature toward everyone, even the most innocent. It was terrifying.

ParaNorman (2012)

ParaNorman is a Laika stop-motion animated movie that follows a young boy named Norman who has the unique ability to see and speak to the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. While no one believes him, he soon learns that some zombies might be returning to life to come to his town, and he and his friends are all that is standing in their way.

The stop-motion is masterfully done, which is no surprise for Laika. The zombies are grotesque and decaying, and offer some scary moments for kids. The Puritan ghosts are also very frightening and look great. However, the scariest moments in ParaNorman involve Agatha, the young witch who caused all this.

This is a child witch who was executed by hanging for witchcraft, and her backstory was terrifying and disturbing, making her a sympathetic yet ᴅᴇᴀᴅly villain. When Norman approaches her, the film’s art style changes, and it features some of the most frightening, unsettling moments in any animated kids’ movie.

Secret Of NIMH (1982)

The 1980s were an interesting time for animated films, as several releases were almost meant to traumatize kids rather than entertain them. Arguably, the darkest and scariest animated movie of the 80s was Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH. The story follows Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse, who will do anything she can to protect her children.

The Great Owl was a terrifying villain in the movie, hunting and trying to eat the mouse children, and this creation was pure nightmare fuel for most younger audience members. The scenes with the owl were sH๏τ like a horror film, which was unusual for a movie marketed toward younger kids. Dragon the cat was also a terrifying villain.

However, the scariest villain in The Secret of NIMH was Jenner, a villain among the rats who sabotages other rats, which leads to their deaths. Add in the laboratory flashbacks to show how many of the rats were experimented on, and this animated movie offered a lot of deep discussion for young kids traumatized by the story.

Coraline (2009)

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, Coraline is a stop-motion animated movie that is scarier for more than just scary creatures and jump scares. This film is more psychologically frightening, focusing on a lonely child who seeks a better life, only to find that the “perfect” life is more dangerous than she ever believed.

The fact that the horror is with a character who looks just like her mother is equally terrifying, and when the Other Mother transforms when she doesn’t get her way, it is unsettling and genuinely scary. The ʙuттon eyes and the ghost children in the Other Home also add to the existential terror that Coraline faces.

As Coraline tries to fix things, return to her world, and save her real parents, the stakes are raised, and the race against time becomes intense and terrifying. Laika’s stop-motion animation is brilliantly done, the 3D is spectacular, and Coraline might be the scariest animated movie ever made.