History TearJerker / PixarShorts

* "Twenty Something" has a [[{{Symbolism}} metaphor]] about [[spoiler: a 21-year-old woman named Gia struggle with 'adulting' through life, despite being [[{{Manchild}} a kid at heart]] (and also a baby and a teenager). When the story climaxes with all three of Gia's personas [[DespairEventHorizon exposed]] on the dance floor of the club her sister takes her to, all three run to the bathroom in humiliation. As the three Gias sulk in the bathroom, baby!Gia starts to cry, which grows poignant as [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness the usually optimistic kid!Gia]] ''and'' [[NotSoAboveItAll eldest teen!Gia]] follow suit.]]

* In ''Sanjay's Superhero Team'', from the father's perspective, he tries his best to get his son interested in the family's Hindu traditions, only to see him using the meditations just to get his toy back. The disappointed look on the father's face as he lets his son go back to watching TV is heartbreaking. [[spoiler:But then he sees Sanjay drawing the Hindu deities as his new superhero team, leading to a happy ending.]]

* "Twenty Something" has a [[{{Symbolism}} metaphor]] about [[spoiler: a 21-year-old woman named Gia struggle with 'adulting' through life, despite being [[{{Manchild}} a kid at heart]] (and also a baby and a teenager). When the story climaxes with all three of Gia's personas [[DespairEventHorizon exposed]] on the dance floor of the club her sister takes her to, all three run to the bathroom in humiliation. As the three Gias sulk in the bathroom, baby!Gia starts to cry, which grows poignant as [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness the usually optimistic kid!Gia]] ''and'' [[NotSoAboveItAll eldest teen!Gia]] follow suit.

* "Twenty Something" has Gia [[{{Symbolism}} metaphorically]] struggle with 'adulting' through life, despite being [[{{Manchild}} a kid at heart]] (and also a baby and a teenager). When the story climaxes with all three of Gia's personas [[DespairEventHorizon exposed]] on the dance floor of the club her sister takes her to, all three run to the bathroom in humiliation. As the three Gias sulk in the bathroom, baby!Gia starts to cry, which grows poignant as kid!Gia ''and'' [[NotSoAboveItAll teen!Gia]] follow suit.

** Earlier on, when the heroes are trying to [[PowerOfLove take out the monster with the power of serenity]], pay close attention to Sanjay's face. When the monster reaches for its weapons, there's a slight trace of recognition, like he knows all too well what it's like to disregard something spiritual for something else you want. [[NotSoDifferent Just like how he disregarded meditating with his father earlier on]].

** This story proves to be rather bittersweet if you think about it. Seeing the reactions of kids and parents who are weirded out or scared by the child, even ''[[BittersweetEnding after]]'' the story resolves itself, just drives home that not everybody automatically becomes accepting towards children who are 'different'. The only one who seems to accept the kid is his father. Its very sweet but they still had to go through an uphill battle just to get to this point.

** Bittersweet if you think about it. Seeing the reactions of kids and parents who are either weirded out or scared by the child. The only one who seems to accept the kid is his father. Its very sweet but they have an uphill battle.

*** Add that to the fact neither one says a word. It's just the mother and her son slowly making peace with each other, eating their muffins and quietly crying. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Then the mother slowly lays her head on his shoulder.]]

** bittersweet if you think about it. Seeing the reactions of kids and parents who are either weirded out or scared by the child. The only one who seems to accept the kid is his father. Its very sweet but they have an uphill battle.

* For a few brief moments in ''Partly Cloudy'', it looks like the long-suffering stork has abandoned the storm cloud and his beloved-yet-very-dangerous baby animals. The storm cloud takes this quite poorly, at first fuming at the betrayal and kicking up lightning storms then, upon realizing the stork is likely gone for good, sobbing hysterically. Fortunately the stork returns a few moments later with football gear received from one of the other clouds. [[HilarityEnsues Not that it helps him with his next delivery...]]

* ''Lou'' gives us [[spoiler: J.J's FreudianExcuse: once, a bully had stolen J.J.'s favorite plush toy. One can only wonder how much time passed since that boy was deprived of his beloved toy. Luckily, it turns out Lou was holding onto that toy until he found its owner.]]

* Throughout the entirety of ''Float'', the boy's father is trying to keep his child's floating at bay due to the looks of judgement other people would give them both. After the boy frees himself from the weights placed on him and floats around a local playground, the father tries to pull him back home, with the child growing more and more fussy. It ultimately leads to [[spoiler: the ''only line of spoken dialogue in the short'': [[WhamLine "Why can't you just be normal?!"]]]] The boy's silent tears and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone the look of realization on the father's face]] are nothing short of heartbreaking.

* The ending of "Red's Dream." There's a reason John Lasseter called it "Pixar's [[Creator/PabloPicasso Blue Period]]." The moment with the unicycle just sitting in the shop waiting for someone to buy him just gets so many people.
* The majority of ''Lava'', featuring star-crossed volcanoes. [[spoiler: It does have a happy ending though!]]

* In ''Sanjay's Superhero Team'', from the father's perspective, he tries his best to get his son interested in the family's Hindu traditions, only to see him using the meditations as an opportunity to get his toy back. The defeated look on the father's face as he lets his son go back to watching TV is gut-wrenching. [[spoiler:But then he sees Sanjay drawing the Hindu deities as his new superhero team, leaving it to end happily.]]
** Earlier, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss moment: when the heroes are trying to [[PowerOfLove peacefully bind the monster with the power of serenity]], pay close attention to Sanjay's face. When the monster reaches for its weapons, there's a slight trace of recognition, like he knows all too well what it's like to disregard something spiritual for something else you want. [[NotSoDifferent Just like how he disregarded meditating with his father, just to reclaim his action figure earlier on]].
* After Luxo Jr. pops the ball and sees it can't roll anymore, it just looks so downhearted. Not helping is the noise it makes as it hangs its "head" in sadness.
* ''Lou'' gives us [[spoiler: J.J's FreudianExcuse: once, a bully had stolen J.J's favorite plush toy. One can only wonder how much time passed since that boy was deprived of his beloved toy. Luckily, it turns out Lou was holding onto that toy until he found its owner.]]
* Bao has a mother bond with her dumpling son. But during a particularly vicious argument the mother accidentally eats the dumpling son. Her reaction after that is nothing short of heartbreaking.
** She swallowed her dumpling "son" to swallow her bittersweet memories. It's implied she used the dumpling as a stand-in for her bygone son.
** Just the process of her dumpling son growing more and more distant as time passes. It's saddening to feel second-hand what it's like for your child to.. outgrow you..
** In commentary, it's mentioned that the whole thing was meant for the mother to cope with [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Empty Nest Syndrome]].
** The reunion with the mother and her ''real'' son. It comes off as a bit heartbreaking as it's obvious he wanted to live his life, but as a result, he [[UngratefulBastard threw her to the side]] and [[FridgeHorror probably did/said something that hurt her emotionally]].
*** Add to the fact there are ''no words'' exchanged. It's just the mother and her son slowly making peace, eating the muffins they ate together when they were young, all while slowly crying. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Then the mother slowly lays her head on his shoulder. Twice.]]
* The new short Kitbull has hit many right in the feels with the antics of the kitten, how the two animals are basically homeless, how they long for warmth and love as the pitbull seeks out his cold owner's attention while the kitten cuddles a stuffed animal in his makeshift cardboard box house.
** Then the pitbull is revealed to be forced into dog fighting by his owner to the point of being covered in scratches, only for the owner to kick him outside cruelly. All the while he cries for his owner's affection. The kitten, only seconds after scratching the dog out of self-defense, comes to realize he misjudged him and seeks out to comfort the pitbull and helps him escape from the abuse.
** After everything, they finally find a kind person who adopts them and gives them a loving home, and at the end, the kitten and pitbull are never seen apart and spend a lot of time with their new sweet owners, finally has a loving home they deserved and always wanted.

* ''Wind'' is very bittersweet. The boy and his grandmother manage to build a rocket ship out of scrap found floating around in the pit. But upon realizing that the cockpit can only hold one person, the boy gives up due to refusing to leave his grandmother behind. The grandmother manages to come up with an alternative plan that involves the boy hauling her up with a tether cord tied to the ship. But upon reaching the top, he immediately realizes that something is off when he pulls on the tether cord. After spending almost the entire day pulling up the cord, he discovers that his grandmother instead tied their lunch basket of potatoes to the end.

* The baby in "Tin Toy" crying after Tinny hides under the couch. Even though it passed over quickly, it's still very sad to see Tinny look guilty when he realizes he isn't making the child happy (which ''Toy Story'' will later explain it is the absolute worst thing a toy would do).

* The baby from "WesternAnimation/TinToy" crying after Tinny hides under the couch. It's passed over quickly but it's pretty sad to see Tinny look guilty when he realizes he isn't making the child happy (which ''Toy Story'' will later explain is the absolute worst thing a toy can do).