I'm not sure if anyone's talked about this, but there was a time when cartoons got edgy and dark, yet they were still made for the usual audience of
KIDS. I miss these films, and lately I've been watching some that have made me want to share my thoughts on a couple of my favorites.
Tragi-toons [or whatever they are called; someone on Retro Junk called them that and it's a suitable moniker indeed!] are pieces of animation [either cartoon shorts, cartoon shows or feature-length animated films] that seem cute and happy, but once the story begins, it starts to get dark and worth crying over. You may not see many
"Disney-deaths" here, as usually characters will be killed off for real. Rare moments of happiness in the main character's life are usually drowned by tragedy and depression, though it doesn't stop the character from making friends along the way and learning new things about him/herself. The bad times tend to last most of the duration, but there are times when a happy ending can be found... somehow, if it can be earned. Basically, it's a cartoon that isn't afraid to show death or other painful events that happen in our lives... multiple times.
I can think of a couple of popular animation pieces that could easily fit in this - The Land Before Time, An American Tail [much of it], The Fox and the Hound [from about halfway in 'til the end] and probably some others - but some lesser-known ones have piqued my interest in this genre lately [since I can write some tragic, depressing stuff when I have to], such as Ringing Bell and Scruffy.
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Ringing Bell... Oh man, just
a look on
the cover makes you think this is going to be cute and aww-worthy like a lot of children-focused anime out there, but anyone that's seen it KNOWS that it only plummets downhill after the first eight to ten minutes. Oh, did I mention that the film is only about 45 minutes long? This... I'm not even sure what to call it except for a tragic crash-course of revenge. Here's a
walk-through summary with screenshots of the English version, which isn't that bad. Watch it either in [fan-subtitled] Japanese or in its well-done [1980s] English dub on Youtube, and you'll see what I mean.
And then there was Scruffy, that early-1980s cartoon special that easily looks like it ripped off Disney's "Lady and the Tramp". Actually, it's based on a 1978 book originally titled "The Tuesday Dog" by Jack Stoneley [though it's published in the US with the title, "Scruffy" instead; the original title makes no sense until later, but I'm not giving away anything. Also, there is a sequel to the book but good luck finding that too!], which is also said to be loosely based on a true story. Again,
the VHS cover of this movie will catch you off-guard once the first couple of tragedies hit, including an infamous one that could have been WORSE than the death of Bambi's mother if it was done better. This full special is online on Youtube also, but if you're not interested in watching it, here's a
walk-through summary with screenshots in which the article's title card says everything.
"A beautiful, heart-warming story of love", my foot.
I know that you may know of some others that I haven't been able to watch yet, so tell me! Also, what other pieces of animation have you seen that could be considered as "tragi-toons"? And I mean, the whole movie is a walking piece of sad times to be had by all...
No, I don't think Watership Down should be considered as a tragi-toon. Dark and edgy? YES. Tragic? ...Eh, not really.- Juuchan17
...You know, 
