There’s never been a better time to cozy up with the family on the couch and settle in for a good movie. These movies for kids come highly recommended by Common Sense Media, an organization trusted by parents and educators for objective ratings on family movies, TV shows, books, and more.
Click each title and open the “Get It Now” tab to find out where the movie is available to stream.
Inside Out
age 6+ • 2015
An outstandingly original, heartfelt story from Pixar about growing up and learning to handle your biggest emotions.
Shaun the Sheep Movie
age 5+ • 2015
A sweet little adventure that’s fine for almost all ages, with positive messages about teamwork, friendship, and acknowledging and fixing your mistakes. There’s no actual dialogue — just animal noises, exaggerated gestures, and evocative music.
Zarafa
age 9+ • 2015
An enchanting animated story (in French with English subtitles) about an orphaned African boy’s journey to find his place in the world and to protect a young giraffe for whom he feels responsible.
The Good Dinosaur
age 7+ • 2015
Pixar’s lush animated prehistoric saga that successfully melds Finding Nemo and E.T. — has stunning visuals, moments of clever humor, strong messages about loyalty and bravery, but many scenes of danger, trauma, and peril that are likely to frighten younger/more sensitive viewers.
Finding Dory
age 6+ • 2015
The sequel to Pixar’s 2003 classic Finding Nemo. This time, instead of a parent searching for a child, the story revolves around Dory looking for her family.
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
age 5+ • 2020
A stand-alone stop-motion sequel to Shaun the Sheep Movie brimming with positive messages — teamwork, friendship, and inclusiveness — and with a sci-fi twist.
Steven Universe: The Movie
age 10+ • 2019
Like the show, the movie’s content is aimed more at tweens and teens than young kids; Steven himself is now aged up to 16. There’s frequent cartoonish violence; parents may want to watch along with kids — and may be surprised to find depth and emotional intelligence in this uplifting movie.
Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection
age 5+ • 2015
An impressive, wide-ranging collection of 12 short films, including Frozen Fever, the follow-up to Frozen, and Tangled Ever After, the follow-up to Tangled.
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The Book of Life
age 7+ • 2014
A refreshingly original animated film that takes viewers to the underworld and back. It’s also an invitation to explore and learn more about Mexican culture, from the details of the Day of the Dead celebrations to legendary creatures like Chupacabras.
Big Hero 6
age 7+ • 2014
An unconventional origin story that focuses on the power of brotherhood, friendship, and using your gifts to help others.
Paddington
age 6+ • 2015
After an earthquake destroys Paddington’s home and kills his uncle, the orphan bear stows away alone on a ship with only his red hat, beat-up suitcase, and jars of marmalade with him in the hopes that someone will help him once he gets to London.
Song of the Sea
age 7+ • 2014
A beautifully hand-drawn animated adventure about Irish myths and legends. This is a powerful movie about the importance of sibling relationships, about accepting everything you feel, about literally and figuratively finding your voice, and about doing everything possible to protect the people you love.
An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success
age 6+ • 2015
the live-action film promoting the 2015 Doll of the Year, Grace, an ambitious girl who’s passionate about baking. Kids will relate to navigating sibling and stepfamily conflicts, learning how to take criticism, and keeping a positive attitude about setbacks.
Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins
age 3+ • 2015
The origination story of the Sodor gang as interpreted from the first two books in the Rail Way Series.
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Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle
age 3+ • 2015
George rockets into space on a one-monkey mission, then goes on to the jungle to save the day. The film is fast-paced and family-friendly fun with many positive messages about friendship, trying new things, and working together.
Descendants
age 8+ • 2015
Blends the continuing story of many fairy tale favorites — and favorite villains — as it follows new relationships forged between their teenage kids.
The Peanuts Movie
age 4+ • 2015
A sweetly nostalgic, mostly gentle take on the characters from the beloved comic strip.
Boy and the World
age 7+ • 2015
A Brazilian animated adventure with virtually no dialogue — but you don’t need words to follow this beautiful story of a young country boy searching for his father in the big city so his family can be reunited.
Zootopia
age 8+ • 2016
a clever, fast-paced animated Disney film set in a world of walking, talking, clothed animals that live peacefully together, having supposedly evolved past nature’s rules of predator versus prey.
The Great Gilly Hopkins
age 9+ • 2016
An unfriendly foster kid finally opens up to others after being placed with a devout older woman who’s already fostering a little boy. This is ultimately a story about how family is more than blood and how even the loneliest, hardest-to-like person can find a place to belong.
The Jungle Book (2016)
age 9+ • 2016
With its blend of live-action and photo-realistic computer-generated effects, this action-packed adventure — which was inspired by Disney’s 1967 animated musical — tells the story of young Mowgli, the orphaned “man cub” raised as a wolf and hated by the jungle’s most vicious predator, tiger Shere Khan.
The BFG
age 7+ • 2016
While there are scares enough to keep the littlest audience members away (or at least with their eyes firmly covered), this tale about discovering friendship and family in the unlikeliest places also offers sweetness, humor, and heart — as well as themes of courage, empathy, and perseverance.
April and the Extraordinary World
age 9+ • 2016
a subtitled (or English dubbed, depending on which version you see) French animated adventure inspired by graphic artist Jacques Tardi. The steampunk alternative-history adventure takes place in a France overrun by pollution because the all energy is steam- and coal-powered.
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The Secret Life of Pets
age 7+ • 2016
A clever, engaging adventure about what our dogs, cats, birds, and other domesticated creatures get up to when we’re not around.
Pete’s Dragon (2016)
age 7+ • 2016
A throwback to Disney movies of the past: wholesome, sweet, fun, and exciting. That said, the “exciting” part includes plenty of peril and danger, as well as some sad moments.
Kubo and the Two Strings
age 9+ • 2016
Two Strings is an adventure from LAIKA Animation, the studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Corpse Bride. Like those films, it has more darkness and edge than many average kids’ movies and is best suited for tweens and older, rather than the preschool and early-elementary set.
Long Way North
age 8+ • 2016
A beautifully made, hand-drawn animated film set in late 19th-century Russia. It follows an aristocratic teenager as she goes in search of her grandfather, whose presumably failed quest to find the North Pole has left her family in disgrace. Although some of Sasha’s choices are a bit iffy, her courage and perseverance pay off, and ultimately the movie has strong messages about loyalty and doing what’s right instead of what’s convenient or easy.
Phantom Boy
age 10+ • 2016
An animated French crime thriller and adventure (released in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions) that offers strong role models, as well as positive messages about the power of teamwork, friendship, family, and courageous acts of kindness and goodwill.
Moana
age 6+ • 2016
An animated Disney adventure about a Polynesian island chief’s daughter who sets off on a quest to save her people that offers positive messages of self-discovery and empowerment.
Storks
age 6+ • 2016
An animated love letter to the realization that the time parents have to share with their children is brief, sweet, and to be cherished. Corporate greed and insensitivity are raised (and portrayed negatively), but overall, this is a clever, action-packed comedy with messages about teamwork, perseverance, and compassion.
Odd Squad: The Movie
age 5+ • 2016A
A feature-length addition to the math-based TV series from the Fred Rogers Company that follows an all-kid mystery-solving agency with serious number skills. Teamwork, problem-solving, and the value of perseverance are standout messages.
The Lego Batman Movie
age 7+ • 2017
Clever, creative, and funny, with nonstop action this film little darker/edgier than its predecessor — there are tons of bad guys, battles, explosions, bombs, weapons, destruction, and general mayhem. But because it’s all made out of Legos, there’s zero gore.
Wonder
age 10+ • 2017
Parents need to know that Wonder is an earnest, emotional family drama based on R.J. Palacio’s award-winning novel. It centers on a young boy with a genetic facial difference who meets both cruel bullies and good friends as he attends school for the first time.
Cars 3
age 6+ • 2017
Cars 3 is part of Pixar’s popular movie franchise about a world of talking, human-like vehicles. The characters learn key life lessons, and there are positive messages about the importance of finding wise, supportive mentors; the idea that that no matter how old you are, you always have more to learn; and the fact that regardless of your gender or what you look like, you should be allowed to compete and reach for your dreams.
Coco
age 7+ • 2017
A vibrant Disney/Pixar film that explores the traditions of the Day of the Dead, a child’s desire to become a musician despite his family’s wishes, and the power of unconditional love.
The Lego Ninjago Movie
age 6+ • 2017
The Lego Ninjago Movie — based on the popular Lego Ninjago TV show and toy line — is appropriate for most kids, packing plenty of laughs along with clear (if not particularly deep) messages of empowerment, acceptance, and courage.
Wonderstruck
age 9+ • 2017
Based on author-illustrator Brian Selznick’s award-winning novel, which follows two deaf 12-year-old characters — one in 1977 and one in 1927 — as they run away from home to New York City to look for family members and eventually end up at the American Museum of Natural History.
Ferdinand
age 6+ • 2017
An animated movie based about a bull who prefers flowers and friendship to aggression and fighting. The movie has strong messages of nonviolence, respect for Ferdinand’s principles, and the friendships that can develop between creatures who are very different from each other.
Paddington 2
age 6+ • 2017
continues the story of Paddington bear, who now happily lives with his adopted English family, the Browns, in a London neighborhood that’s grown incredibly fond of him.
Incredibles 2
age 8+ • 2018
Incredibles 2 picks up immediately after The Incredibles, following the Parr family as they again use their powers to rescue the people of their city.
Mary Poppins Returns
age 6+ • 2018
As she did before, the flying, singing, lesson-imparting Mary arrives to help the Banks children — this time, the three kids of a now grown-up Michael, whose wife died a year before the movie starts and whose family home is in danger of repossession.
Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie
age 7+ • 2017
The continuation of the story of Arnold Shortman from the ’90s Hey Arnold! series. It picks up after the events unfolded in the series and in the episodic special The Journal, in which Arnold came by his father’s journal that held clues to his parents’ whereabouts.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
age 8+ • 2018
An anime adaptation of Mary Stewart’s 1971 children’s fantasy novel The Little Broomstick. Fans of the Harry Potter series will see similar themes here — the discovery of a previously unknown magical world, a prestigious magical school, a special child who must defeat evil, and more — though all with a girl main character.
Ralph Breaks the Internet
age 8+ • 2018
The sequel to Disney’s hit video-game comedy Wreck-It Ralph– tells a strong friendship story within its framework of video game characters, popular websites, and social media platforms.
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