These Disney characters deserved much better. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most wholesome Disney film characters who didn’t deserve what they had to go through.
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00:00 "Emily was just the same. She was my whole world."
00:04 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 Disney characters
00:10 that deserved better.
00:11 "Cuz for the first time in forever, I'm such a fool, I can't be free."
00:19 For this list, we'll be looking at the most wholesome Disney film characters who didn't
00:23 deserve what they had to go through. Who do you think had the most tragic story of all?
00:27 Let us know in the comments.
00:30 Number 20. Vanellope and Wreck-It Ralph. Wreck-It Ralph.
00:34 From the beginning of the film, Ralph makes it clear he's not very fulfilled with his role as
00:39 the game's bad guy, and even less fulfilled with his after-work routine.
00:43 "No, I'm not going turbo. Come on, guys. Is a turbo to want a friend? Or a medal? Or a
00:49 piece of pie every once in a while? Is a turbo to want more out of life?"
00:53 He lives in the literal dump. Meanwhile, Felix and the Nicelanders get to cozy up in their warm
00:58 homes. Ralph comes to learn that he's not the only one isolated from his own game when he meets
01:03 Vanellope, who also lives in a dump of sorts. As a glitch, she's severely mistreated and ostracized.
01:10 They become the friend the other needs, until Ralph is manipulated by King Candy and destroys
01:15 Vanellope's cart, believing that he's protecting her.
01:19 "I'm going to that race!"
01:20 "No you're not!"
01:21 "Take me down from here, Ralph, right now!"
01:25 "No! I'm doing this for your own good!"
01:28 It's probably the hardest moment to watch, as it puts them each in the roles of victim
01:32 and villain that they're already tired of playing.
01:34 Number 19. Ray, The Princess and the Frog.
01:48 While Tiana definitely goes through it, what with the loss of her father and having to be
01:52 a frog for most of her movie, our pick has to go to Ray. Although everyone thinks he's just a little
01:58 off his rocker, it's impossible not to be charmed by his heart. He's obviously a romantic, even if
02:05 the love of his life is a star in the night sky he's named Evangeline. During the climax of the
02:10 movie, Ray does his darndest to help out, but as a small firefly, he's quickly overtaken. His light
02:16 flickers in and out, which is quite the striking imagery to symbolize how he's on the verge of
02:21 death. "I like that very much. Evangeline like that too."
02:29 When he passes, we learn that Evangeline was never just a star in the sky.
02:33 Number 18. Jim Hawkins and his mom, Treasure Planet.
02:38 Right when Treasure Planet begins, we fall in love with young Jim and his mom.
02:42 They obviously have a very sweet mother-son relationship, and we can't help rooting for them,
02:47 even if we've only just met them. "It's real." "Nighty night, mom." "Nighty night, sweetheart.
02:56 I love you." "I love you too."
03:01 A flash forward 12 years later sees a teenage Jim somewhat pulling away from his mom. It's
03:06 mentioned his father left, which is alluded to be the cause for Jim's new rebellious spirit.
03:11 The worst of it, however, comes when his mother's inn is set ablaze.
03:15 It's everything she's worked so hard to build, and there's absolutely nothing left.
03:20 Here, we see exactly the kind of person Jim is when he volunteers to venture
03:25 off to Treasure Planet and be a hero for his mom. "Jim, I don't want to lose you."
03:31 "Mom, you won't. I'll make you proud."
03:37 Number 17. Bing Bong, Inside Out. "Bing Bong! Riley's imaginary friend!"
03:43 "You really do know me?" "Of course! Riley loves playing with you.
03:47 You two are best friends!" One of the silliest looking characters in
03:50 Disney also gets one of the saddest endings. While Joy and Bing Bong are trying to get back
03:55 to headquarters to save Riley from depression, they fall into the memory dump, where memories
04:00 are forgotten. "Who's your friend who likes to play?" "His rocket makes you yell hooray!"
04:06 "Who's the best in every way and wants to sing the song the same?"
04:13 They find Bing Bong's magic rocket and try to fly out of the hole to save Riley,
04:17 but Bing Bong realizes they'll never make it as both he and Joy are too much for the rocket to
04:21 carry. So, he jumps off the rocket at the last second, sacrificing himself for Riley's happiness.
04:27 "Bing Bong's playing, Bing Bong's playing, BING BONG'S PLAYING!"
04:39 While it's natural to forget your imaginary friends, Bing Bong was a hero,
04:43 and deserved to be remembered by Riley for all that he did.
04:46 "Take her to the moon for me, okay?" Number 16. Ellie Fredrickson, Up.
04:53 "I saw where your balloon went. Come on, let's go get it. My name's Ellie."
05:00 Watching Ellie's life pass by with Carl is sure to bring tears to anyone's eyes.
05:04 And while Carl certainly had a sad story, and we wish he had lived a longer life with his wife,
05:09 Ellie truly deserved better. While ultimately she lives a happy life with Carl, two of her
05:14 greatest dreams are never achieved. Ellie's told she can't have children and seems to undergo
05:19 depression after that. Her other big dream is to move her clubhouse to a cliff overlooking Paradise
05:24 Falls. And though she and Carl save up for it their entire lives, she passes away before she
05:29 can achieve this dream. The house eventually made its way to Paradise Falls, but Ellie deserved to
05:34 be there as well. Number 15. Nick Wilde, Zootopia.
05:49 "If the world's only gonna see a fox as shifty and untrustworthy, there's no point in trying
05:55 to be anything else." Nick's backstory not only says a lot about Zootopia and the prejudice that
06:01 runs rampant through it, but also makes shrewd commentary about the ways we show up in the world
06:06 being informed by the ways others perceive us. It's a lot for a movie about anthropomorphic
06:12 animals. Either way, immediately upon seeing adorable baby Nick in his bright-eyed excitement,
06:17 we're making pledges to protect that child with our lives. Unfortunately, we're forced to
06:22 accompany the character at his young age as he faces prejudice firsthand in a horribly visceral
06:27 way. "Please tell me what did I do wrong! What did I do? Stop!" "If you thought we would ever trust a
06:35 fox without a muzzle, you're even dumber than you look." It leads us to believe that this incident,
06:40 and probably many others along the way, were the catalyst for the swindling lifestyle Nick
06:45 would grow to lead. Number 14. Jessie - Toy Story 2. Meeting Jessie is the first time we really
06:52 consider the idea of a kid getting too old to play with their toys, and what that fate means for the
06:57 toy. Jessie's backstory is sad enough, never mind when she loved me playing over the scene.
07:03 "Everything was beautiful. Every hour we spent together lives within my heart."
07:14 What is perhaps even sadder than being a forgotten toy, however,
07:18 is the trauma Jessie has from being in storage for so long. This is fleshed out a bit more in
07:23 the short Toy Story of Terror when Jessie finally faces her fear. But for a while there, the
07:28 prospect of being trapped in a box was enough to bring about a panic attack. "No, I can't go.
07:34 I can't do storage again! I just can't!" "Jessie! Jessie!" "I won't go back in the dark!"
07:40 Jessie is so full of life and joy, it's sad to imagine everything she's been through.
07:44 Number 13. Marlon - Finding Nemo. So yeah, Nemo is the one who gets lost,
07:52 but Marlon is the worried parent who has to suffer the loss. Not only that, we learn very early on
07:57 of the devastation Marlon has suffered. Losing your wife and all but one of your newborns,
08:03 in a horrific barracuda attack no less, has to make for a certain deal of trauma. "It's okay,
08:08 daddy's here. Daddy's got you. I promise I will never let anything happen to you, Nemo."
08:21 While Marlon is certainly overprotective by the time Nemo's first day of school rolls around,
08:26 we'd say he's doing a stand-up job given all he's had to endure. Unfortunately, his greatest fear
08:32 comes to fruition. The one remaining member of his family is taken from him. Seeing the anxiety
08:38 and distress that lives in him for the entirety of the movie really tugs at the heartstrings.
08:43 "No, it won't." "Sure it will, you'll see." "No, I promised him I'd never let anything happen to
08:51 him." Number 12. Mrs. Jumbo - Dumbo. "Straight from heaven, up above, here is a baby for you
08:58 to love. Sign here, please." It's hard to be a mother. Though it would be fair to put both Mrs.
09:08 Jumbo and Dumbo on this list, the mother elephant gets the spot for being punished for following her
09:13 motherly instincts. After watching Dumbo get abused and bullied for his large ears, Mrs.
09:19 Jumbo goes berserk trying to defend her son. As a consequence, she's put in solitary confinement
09:37 and kept away from Dumbo. No animal deserves the treatment they get in the circus, but one can't
09:42 help but feel particularly bad for Mrs. Jumbo, who just wanted to protect her baby.
09:52 Number 11. Bambi's mother - Bambi. This deer was taken from her baby far too soon. It's hard to
10:00 watch Bambi to this day and not feel tremendous sadness and anger at hearing Bambi's mother be
10:05 shot by hunters. As with Mrs. Jumbo, seeing a mother suffer trying to help her child is
10:13 heartbreaking. But what's worse in this case is that Bambi's mother never gets to see her child
10:17 again. Her death is sudden and unfair, as all we see of her is how caring she is towards her child.
10:24 She deserved so much better than the undignified end that she got. "We made it, mother! Wait...
10:32 mother! Mother!"
10:38 Number 10. Megara - Hercules. Megara once had a heart so kind and selfless,
10:45 she sold her soul to the god of the underworld in exchange for the soul of her dying boyfriend.
10:50 The moment he was healed, he ran off with another girl, leaving Megara trapped under Hades' command.
10:56 "That's what got you into this jam in the first place, isn't it? You sold your soul to me to save
11:00 your boyfriend's life. And how does this creep thank you? By running off with some babe."
11:07 That's tragic enough, but when she begins to fall for Hercules while working for Hades,
11:12 things get even more complicated. We can't imagine the conflicting feelings of being
11:16 forced to obey someone who wants you to hurt the person you love. More than that,
11:20 Megara actually, sincerely, and truly dies in this movie. Even if it's not a permanent death,
11:26 she definitely should have been dealt a better hand. "Why, why, why didn't you...
11:30 you didn't have to... People always do crazy things...
11:35 when they're in love." Number 9. Maleficent - Maleficent. You heard correctly, the mistress
11:44 of all evil deserved better. "I saved your life." The movie starring Angelina Jolie gave us a new
11:49 look at Sleeping Beauty's villain, and the retelling makes it clear that Maleficent was
11:53 subjected to one of the cruelest fates imaginable, betrayal.
11:56 The man she's loved since she was a young fairy, Stefan, drugs her and chops off her wings to
12:08 present to the king, so that he may become the new ruler of the kingdom. To be violated and
12:13 betrayed by someone she thought she could trust and even love is a fate that nobody deserves.
12:18 She certainly seems less like a villain after watching this flick. "So you see,
12:22 the story is not quite as you were told." Number 8. Elsa and Anna - Frozen. For all the magic
12:30 in Reindeer and Talking Snowman, Elsa and Anna's story is actually really quite tragic. Firstly,
12:36 Elsa's powers make her the problem child. The consequences are dire for both sisters. Anna is
12:42 accidentally injured so badly she's nearly killed, and as a result, her memories of her sister's
12:48 ice powers are erased. "Do you want to build a snowman? Or ride our bike around the halls?
12:54 I think some company's overdue. I've started talking to the pictures on the walls."
13:00 When the two end up orphaned, instead of being able to lean on each other for support,
13:05 they spend years apart, with Elsa forever afraid of hurting Anna, and Anna never really knowing
13:11 why her sister's shutting her out. Neither of them deserve those years spent in isolation and
13:16 uncertainty, and it's especially devastating knowing how close they once were. "What did I
13:21 ever do to you?" "Enough, Anna." "No, why? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out?
13:27 What are you so afraid of?" "I said enough!"
13:30 Number 7. Rapunzel - Tangled. "Yes?" "Don't ever ask to leave this tower again."
13:45 "Yes, Mother." This is essentially the tale of a child kidnapped and forced to live with her
13:51 captive her whole life, never knowing her true family. Well luckily it wasn't Rapunzel's whole
13:57 life, but it was enough to cause some real damage in anyone. Mother Gothel's passive aggression,
14:03 manipulation tactics, and negligence definitely constitute abuse, and it's a miracle Rapunzel
14:09 is even half as bubbly and well-adjusted as she is. "No! I won't stop for every minute of the rest
14:16 of my life. I will fight. I will never stop trying to get away from you." The reunion with her parents
14:22 is enough to make anyone emotional. They're a couple who absolutely did not deserve to mourn
14:27 their daughter for 18 long years. Number 6. Hector - Coco. "You need to clean up your act,
14:34 amigo." "Amigo? Oh, that's so nice to hear you say that because I've just had a really hard
14:41 Dia de Muertos and I could really use an amigo right now." The theme of betrayal is an important
14:46 one in this list. For Hector, it cuts deep. When he tells his partner Ernesto that he wants to go
14:52 home and return to his family, Ernesto murders him and steals his music, so that audiences the
14:57 world over will remember the name Ernesto de la Cruz. "To our friendship, I would move heaven
15:03 and earth for you, mi amigo. Salud!" "You walked me to the train station, but I felt a pain in my
15:14 stomach." Hector is forgotten by all but his daughter Coco, now an elderly woman. And as her
15:20 memory fades, so too does his last bit of life in the land of the dead. "It's Coco. She's forgetting
15:27 you." His life and undeath were both almost taken from him due to jealousy, and he really didn't do
15:32 anything to deserve that. He just wanted to see his little Coco again. "Each time you hear a sad
15:39 guitar, know that I'm with you the only way that I can be." Number 5. Tadashi Hamada, Big Hero 6.
15:51 Lives taken young are difficult to digest, even if they're only animated. Tadashi was a fantastic
15:57 older brother and seemed to always have his heart in the right place. He created Baymax with the
16:02 goal of helping people, and even before he jets off into his burning school to save Professor
16:07 Callahan, he says, "Callahan's in there. Someone has to help." It's a true testament to his character,
16:14 which makes the loss that much more devastating. He leaves behind Hiro, who has now lost both his
16:20 parents and his brother. It's just so incredibly sad for everyone who knew both boys. The worst
16:26 part is the nauseating twist revealing that Tadashi's death was completely in vain. "Tadashi,
16:32 just let him die." "Give me the mask, Hiro." "He went in there to save you." "That was his mistake."
16:40 Number 4. Nani Pelakai, Lilo & Stitch. "Gangs, mahalo plenty. You won't be disappointed. I'll
16:46 show up early to help with the morning delivery." "Oh, don't turn left." Raising a rambunctious kid
16:56 is hard enough, but Nani's got a lot more to deal with. She has to take care of her younger sister
17:01 with no parents helping out, social workers threatening to take custody of Lilo, and an alien
17:06 dog making a mess of things. Nani has it rough, and while Lilo herself doesn't lead an easy life
17:12 by a long shot, it's so easy to sympathize with Nani's plight. "She don't know what you're doing.
17:17 She needs me." While Lilo often sees an overbearing sister who doesn't understand her,
17:22 it's clear that Nani loves Lilo with all her heart and is trying her best to raise her properly,
17:27 constantly being thrown for a loop and disrespected by others when things don't go as planned.
17:32 "Hana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." Nani Pelakai is my hero.
17:44 Number 3. Mufasa, the Lion King. "Help! Somebody! Anybody!
17:55 Help!" Long live the king. Well, not if Scar has anything to say about it anyway. Mufasa rules the
18:05 Pride Lands with a level head and serves as a great father figure to Simba. Unfortunately for him,
18:11 he's got a conniving brother who wants to be king. "Scar! Brother, help me!" Scar's betrayal is an
18:20 iconic scene because of how heart-wrenching and dramatic it is, but one can't help but
18:24 wonder what could have been if Mufasa had lived to pass on more wisdom to Simba. "Simba, you have
18:31 forgotten me." "No. How could I?" "You have forgotten who you are and so forgotten me."
18:38 Mufasa is an incredible presence and the reason for the prosperity and stability of the Pride
18:42 Lands, and all his hard work and dedication to being a good king is thrown away by his jealous
18:48 brother. Plus, Sarabi would have spent years believing both her husband and son were gone.
18:54 "It's me." "Simba, you're alive. How can that be?" "It doesn't matter. I'm home."
19:04 Number 2. Cinderella, Cinderella. We all know how badly Cinderella was mistreated by her
19:10 stepmother and stepsisters, but her story is so frequently told that it can sometimes lose
19:15 its punch. When we first meet her, Cinderella has just lost her mom, and her father decides to
19:21 remarry. "Although he was a kind and devoted father and gave his beloved child every luxury
19:26 and comfort, still he felt she needed a mother's care." Soon, however, she also loses her father,
19:33 and that's when the real characters of her stepfamily begin to show. They take over her
19:37 fortune, reduce her to rags, have her become their live-in servant, and treat her about the same as
19:43 they do the mice. We see, on more than one occasion, how caring Cinderella is to those around her,
19:49 and it makes it obvious she was deserving of the life she eventually got in the palace all along.
19:54 "The dream that you wish will come true."
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20:21 Number 1. Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
20:25 "Out there they'll revile you as a monster. Out there they will hate and scorn and jeer."
20:32 Suffering abuse at the hands of his mentor Claude Frollo for his entire life,
20:38 the Hunchback of Notre Dame finally decides to spend a day out there among the people of Paris.
20:43 Things seem to go well for Quasimodo, at first. Though initially shocked by his appearance,
20:48 the townsfolk laugh along with the Hunchback, and they even crown him the King of Fools.
20:53 Everything turns sour though when some of the guards start to pelt Quasimodo with tomatoes.
20:57 "Think he's ugly now? Watch this."
20:59 "Now that's ugly!"
21:06 Quasimodo gets degraded by the entire town square while his supposed "protector" watches.
21:12 This is just a part of the abuse Quasimodo must face in his daily life,
21:16 and he's too gentle and sweet a person to be treated this badly.
21:19 "Take him back to the bell tower, and make sure he stays there."
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21:33 [Music]