Toddler burst into tears when Shadow limped home in ‘Homeward Bound’ — and honestly, we're not over it either

Just like adults, children, too, experience a wide range of emotions, and, of course, they often express their feelings in more raw and visible ways. Despite their young age, kids are actually highly observant and observe things more than adults even realize. Notably, as reported by the Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), boys and girls can have very different reactions to electronic stimulations. For instance, excessive screen time for girls at the age of 4 can lead to a lower level of emotional understanding in them as compared to boys. This profound truth was proved when Allison Gress (@allison_gress), a stay-at-home mother, captured her son Braiden's reaction to a particular scene for the iconic children's movie 'Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.'

Notably, the Disney movie, released back in 1993, was primarily about two dogs — Chance and Shadow — and a cat named Sassy, who were separated from their families. Gress, Braiden's mother, wanted her son to be gentle, especially around their dogs, and she thought a feel-good Disney movie might be just what he needed. While the entire movie was just wholesome, one scene in particular made Braiden break down in tears. "It's okay. They are back home!" Gress said, trying to console her 2-year-old son, who was struggling to hold his emotions.

At one point, Braiden smiled for a second when the cat, Sassy, ran into her owner's hands, but he soon slipped back into his never-ending emotional state. "That's why I wouldn't make you watch a movie without a happy ending," Gress said, assuring her son. Throughout the scene, one could see Braiden going through a rollercoaster of emotions, quickly shifting from sadness to a flicker of happiness from time to time.

Reacting to Allison's clip, @offensive_swm suggested, "Don’t show him 'The Never Ending Story,' 'The Brave Little Toaster,' 'All Dogs Go to Heaven, 'The Secret of NIMH,' 'Labyrinth,' or 'The Dark Crystal.' He’ll be traumatized." Similarly, @blueyodel9 commented, "Made the mistake of showing this to kindergarteners in an afterschool program & one girl just kept saying, 'I need to go home now! I need to go home now!' when Shadow was stuck!" @emily_king511 shared, "Made the mistake of watching this same clip at work one day on break when it came across my feed, thinking I could handle it because I hadn’t seen it in YEARS… I was very wrong." @captainkaupp commented, "As a fellow empath, please prepare yourself for him to cry (happy or sad) at almost every film. It’s healthy for him to cry; big emotions need to be let out. Thanks for letting him cry."

On the other hand, @bri_marie81, another parent, revealed, "I've got a son like this! He is 12 now, but I still panic in movies at a sad part because he is going to be bawling loudly in the theater." @toxictoucans asked, "Oh gosh, how did he do with the actual scene where Shadow got stuck in the mud? I remember crying so hard at that." Likewise, @brennerfordinner said, "My daughter cried for 45 mins about Sassy going over the waterfall..." She's 7 now and still traumatized." @doom_glitter wrote, "Okay, so I’m not a parent. So I am not experienced with this age. But I am freaking blown away that your TWO-YEAR-OLD can actually process what is going on in this movie. He is cognitively advanced!"

You can follow Allison (@allison_gress on TikTok) for more parenting-related content.