Beauty and The Beast/Tear Jerker

"Please don't leave me! I love you."

Tear Jerkers for the 1991 film:

• The people who animated the Beast are sick bastards. You can feel his heart break when he tells Belle to leave. Following her exit:

Beast: ...I let her go. Cogsworth: (chuckles) Yes, yes. Splen- YOU WHAT!? How could you do that?! Beast: I had to. Cogsworth: Yes, but... why? Beast: Because... I love her.

• • And then when he roars while watching Belle ride away from the castle. *inarticulate flail* The musical version makes this scene even more tearjerking: after Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and Lumiere walk away, the Beast sings a reprise of 'If I Can't Love Her.' One version of the song:

So I finally know That I shall always be In this hopeless state And condemned to wait Wait for death to set me free

• After being stabbed in the back by Gaston, the Beast is lying in Belle's arms (the first person to make him feel anything other than self-hatred and loathing in years), bleeding, obviously dying, struggling to breathe, let alone talk.

Beast: You came back... Belle: Of course I came back. I couldn't let them... oh, this is all my fault! If only I'd gotten here sooner... Beast: Maybe... it's better... it's better this way... Belle: Don't talk like that. You'll be all right. We're together now; everything's going to be fine. You'll see. Beast: (he reaches up and touches her cheek) At least... I got to see you... one last time... (his eyes close)

And the tears keep coming when we see Belle's response... *sob*

Belle: No... no! No, please... Please don't leave me... [she sobs softly, laying her face against his chest] ...I love you...

• When the Beast lets Belle go to find her father, it's painfully clear he doesn't expect her to come back, doesn't think she would ever want to come back. So, just his expression later, even though he's dying, when he says, "You came back..." *bawl*
• After Belle leaves, Mrs. Potts tries to warn the Beast of Gaston and his mob's approach.

Mrs. Potts: But Sir... The castle is under attack! Beast: It doesn't matter now. Just let them come.

• The film goes from tears of sorrow to tears of joy as the dying Beast is changed back into a human, as are his servants. For some, the tears start flowing earlier, as the mob sets out to kill him (believing him to be a threat), completely unaware of the truth.
• Also, the pullback through the stained glass window at the very end. There's a reason this was nominated for Best Picture!
• After that, the In Memoriam to Howard Ashman, the lyricist for the film who worked with Alan Menken for several other films of the Disney Renaissance, and who died before it was released. "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful."
• The ballroom sequence. Happy tears, yes, but... God...

Tear Jerkers for the CBS Television Series:

• Catherine's death at the end of "Though Lovers Be Lost."