Because of their target audience, animated movies are often thought of as lighthearted comedies and feel-good family films; and with the slapstick TV episodes and mawkish films that now dominate the Disney Channel, much of that seems true. But despite their anthropomorphic characters, some animated films--because of the way they tackle very grown-up themes--make us feel as if we're watching dramas. I'm not sure if the sight of talking toasters makes us more cry-ready or if filmmakers use animation as a way to surprise and trick us into watching a film that calls for bolts of tissues when we really wanted to watch something that'll make us laugh loud enough to forget our own baneful existence. Whatever the reasons their conception, I strongly believe these films should have been flagged as dramas.

1. Bambi

Widely considered the classic of all animated films, "Bambi" tells of the coming-of-age of one young fawn and his animal friends as they struggle to survive in a world of danger. Although the film was originally boycotted for its portrayal of hunters, man, the huntsman and--as if I remember correctly--the only human character in the film, is the primary source of conflict and sadness. Needless to say, if he didn't try to maim and kill Bambi and his friends, the film would probably not enjoy the popularity it has today.

2. Grave of the Fireflies

I first saw this film just as I was tethering into adulthood and that was probably for the best. I don't know how much animated gore a younger me could have handled. But even more upsetting than the physical suffering of Seita and his young sister is their relentless hope and love for each other as they struggle to stay alive and together in the wake of a U.S firebombing in Japan.

3. The Land Before Time

Before there was "Jurassic Park", there was "The Land Before Time", which might just be Spielberg's first dinosaur film--although it was one he coproduced, not directed, with "Star Wars" creator George Lucas. Littlefoot, a young Aspastagosoraus sets out to find the fabled Great Valley after losing his mother in a deadly fight with a Tyrannosaurus that he blames himself for causing.film you watched when you were too young for "Jurassic Park", and it sure as hell made you cry a lot more than Spielberg's later Scifi.

Oddly, although Littlefoot grapples with understanding and challenging the prejudice between dinosaur species, the Tyranosourraus Rex is still typecast as the villain--I guess someone has to be the bad guy. Admit it, you kinda also cried for the sharptooth.

4. The Iron Giant

This could've easily been a listicle for why "The Iron Giant" is the most depressing movie ever made--since I can't talk or write about this film without getting misty-eyed. The film was nominated for a dozen or so awards but wins big for making us feel empathy for "a piece of hardware" who befriends a lonely and bullied 9-year-old boy. Together the iron giant and Hogarth read and reenact "Superman" comics and form a strong bond as a result. The saddest thing about this has to be the complex life lessons that Hogarth teaches to his new friend and that he repeats to himself when he's alone.

5. An American Tail

Much like Art Spiegelman's "Maus", "An American Tail" uses animal characters to depict the dangers of being a Jew in WWII Europe and the challenges immigrants face in their adopted country. Fievel Mousekewitz, the film's central character, desperately searches for his family after their separation at sea. Don Bluth milks our sympathy in this one with poor Fievel's oversized outfit--a shirt he never grew into and a cap gifted to him by his father--which seems to be a metaphor for the overwhelming city.

6. Goldtooth

I literally typed cartoon where man turns into cockroach into my search bar in trying to find the name of this film--turns out it's not so much a movie as it is an educational film. If you grew up in the Caribbean, like I did, then you probably spent a few Saturdays watching this anti-drug cartoon. Although the man turning into a cockroach bit may make you now think of Kafka's "Metamorphosis", the film shares little with that famed short story. OK, they're both salesmen (in a sense). But that's all the comparison the plot really allows.

Instead of centering on the cockroach man, "Goldtooth" follows a young Karate's descent into a life of drugs and crime. If the child prostitution, addiction, and arson weren't enough to keep us away from drugs, then Goldtooth's gross metamorphosis into a cockroach sure did the trick.

7. Toy Story

"Toy Story" was the beginning of one of Disney's most iconic duos--and also the start of our childhood paranoia of worrying whether or not our toys were really sentient beings. We probably cried as much for the toys we neglected as we did for Buzz and Woody--and the tortured toy's in Sid's room--as we watched them worrying about being replaced and trying to make their way back to Andy.

Walt Disney broke our hearts again in 2010 with the release of "Toy Story 3"--now we felt guilty for leaving our toys in the attic when we moved away to college.

8. Shrek

Not your average fairytale, "Shrek" followed the unlikely friendship between an ogre and a donkey and their separate but equally bizarre romances. Along with taking aim at Disney's fairytales, "Shrek" also taught us some useful life lessons about friendship and being comfortable in your own skin in its many dramatic scenes and soundtracks. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to set Shrek and Donkey's reminiscing to a Leonard Cohen song?

9. Monsters Inc.

Watching tough guy Sulley call himself kitty as he says goodbye to Boo, the tiny human who slips out of the scare factory, sure did it for me. After humanizing our toys, Pixar moved on to the next logical thing--humanizing the monsters under our beds--and then they made us wait 12 years to see more of Sulley and Mike, but they still show us what happened to Boo.

With the numerous animated films Disney and DreamWorks now churn out, we get a chance to relive out childhood pastime of crying to cartoon characters. "Moana" is now in theaters and "Boss Baby" comes out early next year, but I doubt they will be as heart-wrenching as "The Iron Giant."