Disney has produced some of the most beloved family films of all time. However, dig a little deeper and you’ll see that not all characters get their happily ever after. From Bambi’s mother to Mufasa, nobody is safe!
But which is the deadliest Disney film of them all? We’ve dug through the archives, looking at over 80 years’ worth of Disney releases, to reveal which has the highest body count.
Keep reading to find out who takes the top spot.
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Chief Tui’s friend and 3 other members of the tribe drown in a hurricane, which leads to his fear of the ocean and refusal to let his daughter Moana explore. Moana’s Gramma Tala dies of an unknown illness, with her spirit helping guide Moana later in the film.
The remaining 260 deaths can be attributed to the Kakamora, the savage race of coconut pirates, who face off against Moana and Maui towards the end of the film.
Monstro, the giant whale who can eat ships whole, is shown to swallow Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo and Later Pinocchio whole. However, none of them die because of this. The death count for this film is attributed to the 83 blue-fin tune Monstro eats – none of them make it out alive.
Bambi features another of Disney’s most infamous deaths, when Bambi’s mother is shot by a hunter at the start of the film. The remaining 80 deaths are attributed to the forest fire towards the end of the film, which Bambi luckily manages to escape from.
During The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the wicked Judge Frollo attempts to rid the city of Paris of gypsies, burning 6 separate houses to the ground for failing to comply with his orders. Frollo also kills Quasimodo’s mother earlier in the film, while he himself later falls to his death in a lake of molten lead. Add the handful of villagers killed in the final scene and you get an estimated 47 deaths.
In Frozen, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna drown when their ship is lost at sea, taking an estimated crew of 30 sailors with them. Marshmallow, the giant snow monster, is also destroyed when he falls down a gorge – but he’s revived later in the film. You could also say Anna is seen to die when she’s turned into an ice statue - although she’s also revived by Elsa.
When creating the potion that would grant Ariel’s wish and give her legs, 8 unidentified sea creatures are consumed, and two more crustaceans are eaten by Ursula during her big musical number. 5 fish are dragged to shore by fishermen, and another 9 are filleted and cooked by Chef Louis.
Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula’s sinister eels, are accidentally disintegrated by the wicked sea witch, while she is in turn impaled on the side of a sunken ship before being electrocuted at the end of the film.
While Chicken Little’s fear that the sky is falling down proves to be unfounded, the film isn’t without its casualties. Near the beginning of the movie we see a water tower break and crash through the roof of a cinema, crushing 17 poor, unsuspecting moviegoers.
The Queen of Hearts, the tyrannical ruler of Wonderland, is known for her bad temper, short fuse and habit of beheading anyone who questions her. Her own guards are the most frequent victims of her temper, with four being sentenced to death during the film.
The body count is boosted further during the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter, when 12 oyster children are eaten alive by the Walrus.
Disney increased the stakes in the sequel to Wreck it Ralph, with a higher body count to boot. Pyro burns 2 other racers with a flamethrower in Slaughter Race, the popular, but highly dangerous online racing game.
During the grand finale, a number of users are attacked by the Virus Ralphs, before Ralph finally defeats the giant Ralph monster. Finally, Arthur, the original virus, is deleted from the internet after Ralph’s insecurities are resolved.
Tarzan features another brutal character backstory, with both of Tarzan’s parents being killed by Sabor the leopard. Tarzan does manage to get his revenge, killing Sabor with a spear. Later in the film, Kerchak the ape gets shot by hunter Clayton, who also dies after fighting with Tarzan and getting himself hung from a vine.
Not long after we’re introduced to Kuzco, we see how badly he treats his subjects. After a poor old man disrupts his dancing and ‘throws off his groove’, Kuzco has the offending man thrown from his balcony. We also see the guards fall from the side of the palace, after being transformed into animals using more of Yzma’s potions.
Tadashi Hamada dies in a mysterious fire early in the film, which causes Hiro, Baymax and Tadashi’s friends to band together and catch whoever was responsible. 2 robots are killing during the bot-fighting scenes, with 1 being sliced in half and another being decapitated. Finally, we have to say goodbye to Baymax in the film’s finale, as he sacrifices himself to save his friends.
While Fantasia features Mickey Mouse hacking a sentient broom to little pieces, it always pulls itself back together, so doesn’t count as a death. However, during the ‘Rite of Spring’ sequence, we see 4 dinosaurs die on screen.
In The Great Mouse Detective, we see Professor Ratigan, the wicked crime lord, kill an underling and 2 of his henchmen, one of which was eaten alive by his pet cat. Professor Ratigan later gets his comeuppance though, when he falls from Big Ben to his death.
Beauty and the Beast is another Disney film which features its villain falling to their death, this time with Gaston falling from the top of the Beast’s castle. Earlier in the film, we see two characters killed by the anthropomorphic furniture, with 1 being eaten by the treasure chest and another crushed when the wardrobe jumps on him.
Frozen 2 has a much lower body count than its predecessor, racking up just 3 deaths compared to the original’s 34. In this sequel, we see King Runeard fall to his death while fighting with the Nothuldra. Later, we watch as Elsa freezes in the Ahtohallan river, which then causes Olaf to disintegrate. It’s not all bad though, as they both come back in the end.
In the thrilling finale to Oliver and Company, Bill Sykes’ dogs Roscoe and DeSoto are both electrocuted after falling off their car onto electric tracks. Bill Sykes narrowly escapes, only to be hit by a train moments later.
In Wreck-it Ralph, 2 of the deaths come from Sergeant Calhoun’s backstory, when her fiancé Brad is killed by a Cy-Bug, just before they were to get married. Calhoun then takes her revenge and kills the Cy-Bug. King Candy (aka Turbo) faces a similar fate, being permanently deleted from the system after dying in a game that wasn’t his.
Make Mine Music is another of Disney’s musical anthology films, but that doesn’t mean its characters all get to escape unscathed! In ‘Peter and the Wolf’, the titular wolf is killed following a hunt.
Then in the finale, ‘The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met’, Tetti-Tatti kills Willie the Whale, after becoming convinced he has swallowed 3 opera singers, due to his incredible singing voice.
Captain Hook is shown to be cruel and ruthless in Peter Pan, with little regard for anyone, even his own crew. Both deaths are attributed to him, and both come from his own crew. He casually shoots 1 pirate because of his singing and throws another overboard later in the film.
Despite being the ‘Mistress of All Evil’, Maleficent doesn’t cause any deaths in Sleeping Beauty – although she does plot to kill the Princess. Her pet crow Diablo gets turned to stone and she herself dies in the finale, after being stabbed in the heart with Prince Philip’s sword.
The first Disney animated movie to get a PG rating, The Black Cauldron featured some scary scenes! None more so than during the finale, when Gurgi sacrifices himself to save his friends, by jumping into the cauldron, which in turn consumes the Horned King.
In The Rescuers Down Under, Percival McLeach, a local poacher, admits to killing a rare golden eagle, and plans to kill another. Luckily, he doesn’t get the chance, and falls to his death from the top of a waterfall.
A jealous Jack-in-the-Box is the only character to die in Fantasia 2000, during the ‘Steadfast Tin Soldier’ segment. After trying to fight the Tin Soldier, the Jack-in-the-Box gets knocked into the fireplace, where he quickly burns to ash.
Another film with only one death, Tramp kills a rat which has broken into Lady’s home and is attempting to kill the family’s new-born baby.
In a climactic scene, Kocoum attacks John Smith, after becoming overwhelmed with jealousy when he discovers Pocahontas and John kissing. During the ensuing fight, Thomas, one of John’s fellow soldiers, shoots and kills Kocoum.
While Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs only features one death, it manages to stick with the tradition of villains falling to their death. In the finale, the Evil Queen falls off the edge of a cliff, after its struck by lightning.
Tangled puts a slightly new spin on the ‘villains falling to their death’ theme seen in a number of Disney films. After Rapunzel’s hair is cut and its magic is destroyed, Gothel starts to age rapidly. While she may trip and fall out of the tower window, she turns to dust before she hits the ground.
At the end of The Princess and the Frog, Dr. Facilier finally gets what’s coming to him, being dragged down to hell after failing to keep up his end of the bargain with his ‘friends on the other side’.
The Rescuers only features one death, when Madame Medusa is eaten by her own crocodiles.
There are no deaths in Bolt.
There are no deaths in Cinderella.
There are no deaths in Dumbo.
There are no deaths in Fun and Fancy Free.
There are no deaths in One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
There are no deaths in Robin Hood.
There are no deaths in Saludos Amigos.
There are no deaths in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
There are no deaths in The Aristocats.
There are no deaths in The Fox and the Hound.
There are no deaths in The Jungle Book.
There are no deaths in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
There are no deaths in The Sword and the Stone.
There are no deaths in The Three Caballeros.
There are no deaths in Winnie the Pooh.
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For the purposes of this study, we looked at all 58 feature-length films produced by Disney Animation Studios. The list does not include films produced by Disneytoon Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Blue Sky Studios or 20th Century Fox Animation.
The death counts for these films were sourced from Fandom, YouTube, Netflix and Wikipedia. Deaths were counted if they were either shown on-screen, directly referenced or heavily implied.
Please note, this information is purely for entertainment purposes and may not be 100% accurate or definitive. If you think we’ve missed anything off, let us know!