Sad Movies

There are two movies that have made me cry, both times when I was a little kid.

The first one was Superman II, specifically the scene where the three escaped Phantom Zone villains, General Zod, Ursa and Non, engage Superman in a battle in downtown Metropolis. The scene where Superman is sent crashing through a Marlboro truck parked on a street caused me to break down and jump onto my mother's lap sobbing. Yeah, we were in a theater at the time, so I made a bit of a scene there.

The other film was Snoopy, Come Home. I've never quite understood why it caused me to cry a river every single time, although as an adult, I have discovered that I wasn't the only person affected this way. Apparently, there are more than a few people who all are quick to agree that Snoopy, Come Home could very well be the most depressing movie ever made.

You may be familiar with the movie: Snoopy is contacted by a former owner named Lila, who has been hospitalized for a few week. He quickly runs off to see her with Woodstock in tow, leaving Charlie Brown totally in the dark about who this girl Lila is, or what her connection is to Snoopy. Linus Van Pelt takes it upon himself to do a little investigation, and to the shock to both him and Charlie Brown, Lila is revealed to be Snoopy's original owner.

After Snoopy's visit, he makes the decision to return to Lila, who had to give him up after her family moved into a new apartment building, one that doesn't allow dogs ("No dogs allowed" is a recurring theme through the movie). There's an emotional going away party complete with tears and presents, and Snoopy departs with Woodstock to live with Lila full time...until he discovers that Lila has a pet cat. Snoopy hates cats. Noticing that the apartment building still doesn't permit dogs as pets, Snoopy races back to Charlie Brown's neighborhood. All is well, the end.

Amazingly enough, when part of this plotline first appeared in Peanuts close to forty years ago, it ended after Linus told Charlie Brown about Lila's role in Snoopy's past, and it was decided that Snoopy wouldn't want to return to Lila because he "wouldn't be happy in an apartment". The final panel showed Snoopy as the World War I flying ace, atop the doghouse, and pursuing the Red Baron. Lila was never mentioned in the comic strip again.

Still, when I was a kid, Snoopy, Come Home never failed to make me cry, and apparently, I wasn't the only one.

Now, as a somewhat amusing ancedote from the fall of 1994, my mother once rented Snoopy, Come Home for my nephew when he was four years old. I couldn't believe it, since I didn't think it was a good idea for Mom to rent something as depressing for a four-year-old, cartoon or not. So, I took it upon myself to hide in my room until it was all over (I was eighteen at the time). It turned out that my nephew handled it much better than I ever did when I was closer to his age, and I was glad he did.