What Makes Adults Cry Watching Cartoon Movies?
Having a good cry during cartoons
The latest of the Toy Story movies was talked about mostly for its ability to make grown men cry. The actual storyline — that of any run-of-the-mill escape movie — weren’t all that original. And you knew that, like any other Disney or Pixar movie, the toys would survive and be OK.
So why the water works? Especially on behalf of the humans in the film? How did watching Andy playing one last time with his favorites leave so many of us weeping behind those ridiculous 3-D glasses?
One word: Prolactin.
And also some expert emotional manipulators. But first with the breastfeeding hormone:
Studies have found the presence of prolactin in tears. Remember, prolactin is the hormone that, when enough of it is released, gets the milk factory going. Men produce prolactin, too, just not usually enough to feed a newborn.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women are known for their easy tears, so maybe prolactin has something do with that. But men, who famously cried during Toy Story 3, don’t have that excuse. So what gives?
Well, the filmmakers know how to get people going. During that scene in Toy Story 3, when we were just sure all the toys would be incinerated? Director Lee Unkrich tells Time magazine that he imagined what it would be like to be on a crashing airplane with his own children.
Buttons pushed, triggers pulled. Dad, Mom and every other grown-up who has ever loved another is emotionally primed. Cut to the cartoon humans coming of age, saying good-bye, no longer looking back and, cue the tears: you’re a goner.
I get a little misty just thinking about it.
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Photo: socialcrisis.net
I never, ever cry at movies. But when I saw Up I cried like a baby through a lot of the movie. (Especially that early montage of him and his wife and their life together. Major waterworks!)
The beginning of Up was killer. Haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet. The animated film that wrecked me the most was the Iron Giant.
My nephew – the senior in college – said that he was very near tears during Toy Story 3 and I better not watch it with my daughter because I will “be a mess” – he knows how easily I cry.
I cried a little watching Up, and I was pretty much a mess watching the Iron Giant. I tend to cry easily, though.