Hey kids! Time for an unfortunate reality check... Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most sensitive discussions of death in kids’ TV cartoons. Major plot points will be discussed, so consider this your spoiler warning!
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00:00I don't want him to be gone!
00:04I feel... I feel real bad, Daddy.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:10for the most sensitive discussions of death in kids' TV cartoons.
00:13Major plot points will be discussed, so consider this your spoiler warning.
00:17You guys go ahead. Mother's Day is for kids who got moms.
00:21I'll just stay here.
00:24Number 10. The Gulf War. Gravity Falls.
00:27Big Henry only appeared in one episode in a minor role,
00:30but he left an impression nonetheless.
00:32When challenging Pacifica to a golf-off,
00:34Maple and Dipper find out that the mini-golf course
00:36is maintained by a race called the Lilliputtians.
00:39Hello, I'm Franz, and welcome to our home!
00:42What is this?
00:44Yeah, are you guys tiny humans or enormous mini-humans?
00:48Neither! We're Lilliputtians!
00:51One Lilliputtian is named Big Henry,
00:53who lives in the mining-themed hole.
00:55Maple's ball gets stuck in the mining hole
00:57when a deadly gas leak is discovered.
00:59Stop! You can't go in there!
01:01There's been a gas leak! Anyone who goes in there will die!
01:04The only way for the game to go on
01:06is for someone to block up the leak,
01:08and Big Henry volunteers for the greater good,
01:10despite objections from multiple sources.
01:12As he passes out from the gas,
01:14he retrieves a picture drawn by a Lilliputtian child
01:17and sheds a tear.
01:20Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh.
01:24Audiences were pretty teary-eyed by his sacrifice, too.
01:30Simon Laron was one of the main antagonists of the series,
01:33along with Grace Monroe.
01:35Look who came crawling back!
01:38The void that betrayed us all!
01:43I didn't betray anybody.
01:45Oh? Then where's your mark?
01:48They lead a raiding group called the Apex,
01:50and they believed that the train belonged to them.
01:52Although Grace eventually experiences a change of heart
01:55and realizes the evil of the Apex mission,
01:57Simon does not.
01:59What is a void?
02:02What is a void, Apex?
02:04A leader who is no longer fit to lead!
02:07A danger to us all!
02:09He actually sees her change as a betrayal.
02:11An all-out battle follows,
02:13with Simon attempting to kill Grace
02:15and eventually going insane.
02:18Grace soon afterward ends the Apex,
02:20showing that people actually can change for the better.
02:22We can't be the Apex anymore.
02:26Then what are we gonna be?
02:33Guess we'll have to figure it out.
02:38It's hard when a pet dies.
02:40It's harder when that pain is written off by others.
02:43In this episode,
02:44Spock goes back in time to prevent his own death.
02:46I have returned to the past
02:48in an attempt to restore the future.
02:51I am home,
02:53and I had almost forgotten
02:55its beauty.
02:56He ends up helping his younger self
02:58cope with a fatal injury to his beloved pet
03:00Saylot, named Aichaya.
03:02It's too late for a healer to cure Aichaya,
03:04so young Spock faces a choice.
03:06Prolong his pet's painful life,
03:07or end Aichaya's suffering.
03:09It has been too long.
03:11No antidote known will save his life.
03:13Is there nothing you can do?
03:15I can prolong his life,
03:17but he will be in pain,
03:19or I can release him from life.
03:22He chooses to let the pet go,
03:23a difficult but logical choice.
03:25Adult Spock later talks to Captain Kirk about his grief.
03:28Kirk doesn't understand how a pet can mean so much to some people.
03:31One small thing was changed this time.
03:35A pet died.
03:38A pet?
03:39Well, that wouldn't mean much in the course of time.
03:42It might, to some.
03:44But children do understand how important pets are,
03:46and Spock spoke right to that.
03:48Number 7.
03:49ARC Troopers.
03:50Star Wars The Clone Wars.
03:52Did you know there was a clone trooper with disabilities?
03:54Relegated to custodial work in the Kamino clone facility,
03:57Trooper 99 could have been an insignificant extra.
04:00Hey, 99!
04:02Ha, Echo, Fives.
04:05You actually remember us.
04:07Oh, I remember all my brothers.
04:09But he used his extensive knowledge of Kamino's layout
04:12to help during a droid invasion.
04:14When some junior cadets find themselves unable to find the rest of their group,
04:17Trooper 99 quickly directed them to a safe route to the barracks.
04:20We got separated from our group.
04:22Where were they taking you?
04:23The barracks.
04:24Oh, I know the best way there.
04:26He then helps Captain Rex and Commander Cody save Tipoca City.
04:29However, his end came too soon,
04:31as a battle droid shot him while he was trying to get more supplies.
04:34His noble death was commended by Captain Rex,
04:37and his legacy lived on in the name of the Clone Force 99,
04:40composed of other genetically mutated clones.
04:42We lost a true soldier.
04:46He really was one of us.
04:53Before Aang was the Avatar,
04:55a bender from the Fire Nation named Roku was.
04:57Come, Aang.
05:00Where are we going?
05:01To visit my past.
05:03Our shared past.
05:05Roku had been friends with Fire Lord Sozin,
05:07though tension formed between the two
05:09when Sozin revealed his imperialistic intentions.
05:12After years without contact,
05:13Sozin comes to help his friend when Roku's island is consumed by a volcano.
05:17However, as Roku falls into the smoke,
05:19Sozin leaves him to die,
05:21believing it will be an opportunity for the Fire Nation to advance.
05:24Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible.
05:27I have a vision for the future, Roku.
05:30Aang takes this story as evidence of people's capacities for goodness and evil,
05:34as well as their potential for redemption.
05:36Jett is another character who was once merciless,
05:39but who changed for the better.
05:40Unfortunately, he gets brainwashed and then killed,
05:43leaving his friends and the Core Gang to mourn over his end.
05:46I'm sorry, Aang.
05:48Don't be.
05:53The story of Cubone and its mother, Marowak,
05:55is old news for Pokemon fans,
05:57but viewers got many more details about them in this 2013 episode.
06:00When Cubone was a baby,
06:02two Team Rocket members tried to capture it
06:04and Marowak for their evil purposes.
06:06That does it.
06:08You dare to get in our way?
06:11You'll pay for that!
06:13Marowak fought off the enemies long enough for her child to get away,
06:16but Cubone saw Team Rocket retaliate by killing Marowak.
06:19Cubone, understandably, has trouble trusting others after this.
06:22Sometime later, Pokemon trainer Red saves Mr. Fuji,
06:25the man who adopted Cubone, from Team Rocket.
06:28Who are you?
06:29My name's Red, Mr. Fuji.
06:31That's right!
06:32Red is the one who defeated Team Rocket in Pokemon Battle!
06:35Well, then, I owe you my gratitude.
06:37Seeing that her child is finally safe,
06:39Marowak's spirit passes on.
06:41Cubone calms down,
06:42and people begin to visit the once-haunted Pokemon House
06:45to pay respects to their dead Pokemon.
06:47I came here to pay my respects for Clefairy.
06:50I just can't stop crying, though.
06:52Oh, my Growlithe, I miss you so.
06:58Hamato Yoshi, better known as Splinter,
07:00was the sensei and adoptive father of the Turtles.
07:03I knew even when you were a small boy
07:05that you would one day grow up to be the leader of this team.
07:08And when I pass on, to be like a father as well.
07:11He imparted great wisdom to the brothers,
07:13including telling Leonardo
07:15that he will lead the Turtles from the heart one day.
07:17But during an intense battle with Super Shredder,
07:19Splinter is fatally stabbed.
07:21Hamato Yoshi...
07:23dies!
07:25The team carries his body to the Shell Razor,
07:27while a montage of cherished memories appears on the screen.
07:30It's a heartbreaking farewell,
07:31reminding us of all the good times.
07:33In the final season of the series, however,
07:35everyone gets to say goodbye to Splinter's spirit
07:37before he returns to the afterlife for good.
07:40Goodbye, my family.
07:42I love you all.
07:47This episode opens with Grandpa narrating
07:49the adventures of Arnold's missing parents.
07:51Then, Parents' Day Tournament weekend comes around at school,
07:54and Arnold is upset because he only has his grandparents.
07:56I don't think I wanna go, though.
07:58Huh? Why not?
07:59Everyone's gonna be there with their parents,
08:01and I've just got my grandparents.
08:03His friends and his grandparents' enthusiasm about the tournament
08:05can't get him excited.
08:07Grandpa eventually tells Arnold the truth about his parents.
08:09They went to save a group of sick people in Central America,
08:12but their plane was lost, and no one saw them again.
08:14What happened to them, Grandpa?
08:16They never came back.
08:18Never heard from them again.
08:20What about their plane?
08:21It was never found.
08:24So they could just be lost,
08:26and maybe someday they might come back.
08:29Although upset by this news, Arnold is grateful for the truth
08:32and realizes that his grandparents' love is actually enough for him.
08:35In a TV movie released in 2017, though,
08:38we learn that his parents did survive, and they all reunite.
08:41Hey, Arnold.
08:48Number 2, The Music, Bobby's World.
08:50Abe is the crossing guard for Bobby's school,
08:52and he quickly becomes a positive influence for Bobby.
08:55All clear. Come on, Bobby.
08:57How's my best buddy today?
08:59Fine.
09:00Specifically, he tells Bobby that he can find beauty
09:03in seemingly trivial things.
09:05One day, Abe isn't at his job.
09:07The new crossing guard tells Bobby that Abe died,
09:09leading the boy's father to explain that Abe is sadly gone forever,
09:12but his memory will live on in what he taught Bobby.
09:14Even though Abe won't be coming back,
09:16in some ways, he isn't gone.
09:18He isn't?
09:20No. No, because the people we love never completely leave us.
09:24As long as we remember them, a part of them is still with us.
09:27Thanks to Abe's lesson,
09:29Bobby is able to face and pass a difficult test.
09:31While death is sad, this episode teaches kids
09:34that the memories can also be beautiful.
09:36There's music everywhere!
09:42Hey, they're playing my song.
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10:01Number 1. Mother's Day.
10:03Rugrats.
10:04Chucky's father was a prominent character on the show,
10:06but where was his mother?
10:07Her absence was obvious.
10:09I wish I could remember stuff like that.
10:11Don't you remember ever having a mom?
10:14Nope.
10:15Sometimes I dream about having a mom, though.
10:18We don't get an answer until the fourth season.
10:20While the other babies are working on gifts for their mothers,
10:23Chucky is sad because he doesn't have a mother.
10:25This leads the group to look for one for him,
10:27which of course doesn't work out.
10:29Chaz, I think it's time you shared these things with Chucky.
10:33Well, I'm just afraid he'll miss her.
10:36Then you can miss her together.
10:38We later learn that his mother had a terminal illness
10:41and died shortly after Chucky was born.
10:43However, she is still with Chucky in all the good things,
10:46like the trees, the wind, and the grass.
10:49It's alright, Chucky. Don't be scared.
10:51Did any TV shows help you grieve?
10:53Let us know in the comments.
10:55But I promise this is a happy ending.
10:57Take care of each other.
10:59Goodbye.