Looking for the all-time best family movies? Whether you’re in the mood for the classics, this year’s blockbusters, or seasonal faves, I’ve got a list for you!
When the rain starts pouring, the holidays hit, or you’re just in the mood to have a slumber party in the living room, there’s nothing like a family movie night to create great memories.
Once I had kids and they started sitting still long enough to watch a movie, I went searching for the all-time best family movies so I could make a list of them all.
I didn’t want to just stick with what’s out now because the oldies were just SO good (Sandlot, anyone?!) so the list includes movies from the good ol’ days to today.
I also made sure they were rated well—just because it’s meant to be seen with families, doesn’t mean that it’s actually any good. I don’t want to waste anyone’s movie night with an “eh” movie.
So all the movies all have at least a 80% Rotten Tomatoes score – and I ranked them by their scores too. (Note that I DID make a few exceptions for movies that I had to add to the list but weren’t rated 80%, I call them out.)
Now, get your popcorn in the microwave and take a look at this list of the all-time best family movies.
Key Takeaways
- The all-time best family movies range from animated, sports themed, Disney classics, and seasonal (Christmas, Halloween) movies.
- Animated movies are split up by different age groups, 5-6 years, 9 years, and 12 years.
- The Disney classics include 15 films that laid the foundation upon which the Disney company was built.
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Table of Contents
Best Family Movies to Watch with Ages 5-6+
Toy Story (1995)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A cowboy doll is profoundly threatened and jealous when a new spaceman action figure supplants him as top toy in a boy’s bedroom.
- Length: 1h 20m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Finding Nemo (2003)
- Rating: G
- Plot: After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
- Length: 1h 40m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
Up (2009)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
- Length: 1h 36m
- Rotten tomatoes score: 98%
Inside Out (2015)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: After young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness – conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.
- Length: 1h 35m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
- Rating: G
- Plot: After a tornado hurls through Kansas, Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, are swept away from their home to the colorful and vibrant Land of Oz.
- Length: 1h 41m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
Mary Poppins (1964)
- Rating: G
- Plot: When Jane and Michael Banks are faced with the prospect of a new nanny, they are pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the magical Mary Poppins.
- Length: 2h 20m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Babe (1995)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A farmer wins a piglet Babe at a county fair. Narrowly escaping his fate as Christmas dinner, Babe bonds with motherly border collie Fly.
- Length: 1h 34m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Paddington (2014)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: After a deadly earthquake destroys his home in Peruvian rainforest, a young bear makes his way to England in search of a new home.
- Length: 1h 35m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Coco (2017)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.
- Length: 1h 49m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
The LEGO Movie (2014)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: An ordinary LEGO construction worker, thought to be the prophesied as “special”, is recruited to join a quest to stop an evil tyrant from gluing the LEGO universe into eternal stasis.
- Length: 1h 35m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Ratatouille (2007)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A rat who can cook makes an unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famous Paris restaurant.
- Length: 1h 51m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Monsters Inc (2001)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Monsters generate their city’s power by scaring children, but they are terribly afraid themselves of being contaminated by children.
- Length: 1h 32 m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Wall-E (2008)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A robot who is responsible for cleaning a waste-covered Earth meets another robot and falls in love with her.
- Length: 1h 37m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Moana (2016)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Moana is a daughter of the chief of her tribe. Coming from a long line of navigators she sets off for a fabled island with the demigod Maui.
- Length: 1h 47m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Soul (2020)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: when a middle-school band teacher travels to another realm to help someone find their passion, he soon discovers what it means to have soul.
- Length: 1h 40m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Matilda (1996)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher.
- Length: 1h 33m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Enchanted (2007)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A young maiden in a land called Andalasia, who is prepared to be wed, is sent away to New York City by an evil Queen, where she falls in love with a lawyer.
- Length: 1h 48m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory.
- Length: 1h 40m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
A Bugs Life (1998)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A misfit ant, looking for “warriors” to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.
- Length: 1h 36m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Encanto (2021)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A Colombian teenage girl has to face the frustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers.
- Length: 1h 39m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Luca (2021)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: On the Italian Riviera, an unlikely but strong friendship grows between a human being and sea monsters disguised as humans.
- Length: 1h 38m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Frozen (2013)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Fearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna’s sister Elsa.
- Length: 1h 42m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
The Muppet Movie (1979)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Kermit and his newfound friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood, but a frog legs merchant is after Kermit.
- Length: 1h 34m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
Shrek (2001)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.
- Length: 1h 30m
- Rotten tomatoes score: 88%
Kung Fu Panda (2011)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: To everyone’s surprise, including his own, Po, an overweight, clumsy panda, is chosen as protector of the Valley of Peace. His suitability will soon be tested as the valley’s arch-enemy is on his way.
- Length: 1h 31m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%
Mulan (1998)
- Rating: G
- Plot: To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process.
- Length: 1h 28m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Princess and the Frog (2009)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A fairy tale set in Jazz Age-era New Orleans and centered on young Princess Tiana on a journey to turn a frog prince back into a human being
- Length: 1h 35m
- Rotten tomatoes: 85%
The Sound of Music (1965)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
- Length: 2h 52m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
Best Family Movies to Watch with Ages 9+
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
- Length: 1h 55m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town’s fight against the dragons that continually raid their town.
- Length: 1h 38m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 99%
Zootopia (2016)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy.
- Length: 1h 48m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Teen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
- Length: 1h 57m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
The Incredibles (2004)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: While trying to lead a quiet suburban life, a family of undercover superheroes are forced into action to save the world.
- Length: 1h 55m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%
Ghostbusters (1984)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.
- Length: 1h 47m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Jurassic Park (1993)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: An industrialist invites some experts to visit his theme park of cloned dinosaurs. After a power failure, the creatures run loose, putting everyone’s lives, including his grandchildren’s, in danger.
- Length: 2h 6m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
The Willoughbys (2020)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Convinced they’d be better off raising themselves, the Willoughby children hatch a sneaky plan to send their selfish parents on vacation.
- Length: 1h 32m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Freaky Friday (2003)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: An overworked mother and her daughter did not get along. When they switch bodies, each is forced to adapt to the other’s life for one freaky Friday.
- Length: 1h 37m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
The Parent Trap (1998)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Identical twins Annie and Hallie, separated at birth and each raised by one of their biological parents, discover each other for the first time at summer camp.
- Length: 2h 7m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%
Akeelah and the Bee
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A young gifted girl comes from a dysfunctional family and is on the verge of quitting school. She discovers that she has a high aptitude for spellings.
- Length: 1h 52m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Store (2021)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: An orphaned boy enrolls in a school of wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world.
- Length: 2h 32m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 81%
The Goonies (1985)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A group of young misfits called The Goonies discover an ancient map and set out on an adventure to find a legendary pirate’s long-lost treasure.
- Length: 1h 51m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: Lower than 80%, but it’s a classic!
Best Family Movies to Watch with Ages 12+
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: Ethan Hunt and his IMF team must track down a dangerous weapon before it falls into the wrong hands.
- Length: 2h 43m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Black Panther (2018)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: T’Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s past.
- Length: 2h 14m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
The Princess Bride (1987)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
- Length: 1h 38m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
Iron Man (2008)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
- Length: 2h 6m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Star Wars (1977)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire’s world-destroying battle station.
- Length: 2h
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Back to the Future (1985)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A high school student is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend.
- Length: 1h 56m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: In 1936, archaeologists and adventurers of the U.S. government hired Indiana Jones to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis could obtain its extraordinary powers.
- Length: 1h 55m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
The Avengers (2012)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: Earth’s mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
- Length: 2h 23m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: A popular high school student, admired by his peers, decides to take a day off from school and goes to extreme lengths to pull it off, to the chagrin of his Dean, who’ll do anything to stop him.
- Length: 1h 43m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Four best girlfriends hatch a plan to stay connected with one another as their lives start off in different directions: they pass around a pair of secondhand jeans that fits each of their bodies perfectly.
- Length: 2h
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow to save Elizabeth Swann, the governor’s daughter and his love.
- Length: 2h 23m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%
Disney Classics
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Exiled into the dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother, a princess is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make her part of their household.
- Length: 1h 20m
Pinocchio (1940)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
- Length: 1h 27m
Fantasia (1940)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney’s team of artists.
- Length: 2h
Bambi (1942)
- Rating: G
- Plot: It’s spring, and all the animals of the forest are excited by the forest’s latest birth, a buck fawn his mother has named Bambi.
- Length: 1h 10m
Cinderella (1950)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A young woman with a heart of gold sees her world turn upside down when her beloved mother dies, and her pained father remarries another woman.
- Length: 1h 14m
Peter Pan (1953)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Wendy and her brothers are whisked away to the magical world of Neverland with the hero of their stories, Peter Pan.
- Length: 1h 16m
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
- Rating: G
- Plot: The romantic tale of a sheltered uptown Cocker Spaniel dog and a streetwise downtown Mutt.
- Length: 1h 15m
Sleeping Beauty (1950)
- Rating: G
- Plot: After being snubbed by the royal family, a malevolent fairy places a curse on a princess which only a prince can break, along with the help of three good fairies.
- Length: 1h 15m
101 Dalmatians (1961)
- Rating: G
- Plot: An evil high-fashion designer plots to steal dalmatian puppies in order to make an extravagant fur coat but creates an extravagant mess instead.
- Length: 1h 19m
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A poor boy named Arthur learns the power of love, kindness, knowledge and bravery with the help of a wizard called Merlin in the path to become one of the most beloved kings in English history.
- Length: 1h 20m
The Jungle Book (1967)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.
- Length: 1h 18m
The Aristocats (1970)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A family of Parisian felines team up with a smooth-talking tomcat to try to make it back home after their owner’s jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country.
- Length: 1h 18m
Robin Hood (1973)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw, who is setting out to free his impoverished village from Prince John and the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham.
- Length: 1h 23m
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
- Rating: G
- Plot: A fox named Tod and a hound named Copper vow to be best friends forever. But as Copper grows into a hunting dog, their unlikely friendship faces the ultimate test.
- Length: 1h 23m
The Rescuers (1977)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Two mice of the Rescue Aid Society search for a little girl kidnapped by unscrupulous treasure hunters.
- Length: 1h 16m
Speaking of Disney… check out these posts if you’re going to the theme parks soon!
Disney World with Toddlers
Disneyland with Kids Ultimate Guide
Best Seasonal Movies for the Family
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
- Rating: n/a
- Plot: After a divorced New York mother hires a nice old man to play Santa Claus at Macy’s, she is startled by his claim to be the genuine article.
- Length: 1h 36m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
The Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.
- Length: 1h 15m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
A Christmas Story (1983)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: In the 1940s, a young boy named Ralphie Parker attempts to convince his parents, teacher, and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun really is the perfect Christmas gift.
- Length: 1h 33m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
A Christmas Carol (1951)
- Rating: n/a
- Plot: A bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve.
- Length: 1h 26m
- Rotten tomatoes score: 86%
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
- Rating: G
- Plot: Depressed at the commercialism he sees around him, Charlie Brown tries to find a deeper meaning to Christmas.
- Length: 30m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Elf (2003)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Raised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn’t know he exists.
- Length: 1h 37m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Home Alone (1990)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
- Length: 1h 42m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: Lower than 80%, but it’s a classic!
Beetlejuice (1988)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: The spirits of a deceased couple are harassed by an unbearable family that has moved into their home, and hire a malicious spirit to drive them out.
- Length: 1h 32m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
The Addams Family (1991)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: Con artists plan to fleece an eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long-lost uncle.
- Length: 1h 39m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: Lower than 80%, but it’s a classic!
Hocus Pocus (1993)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: A teenage boy named Max and his little sister move to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.
- Length: 1h 36m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: Lower than 80%, but it’s a classic!
Best Sports Movies for the Family
The Karate Kid (1984)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Recently relocated from NJ to LA, Daniel becomes the target of a gang of Cobra Kai dojo students. When Mr. Miyagi saves him with expert Karate skills, Daniel convinces him to teach him to defend himself, and put his bullies in their place.
- Length: 2h 6m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%
Field of Dreams (1989)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: An Iowa farmer is inspired by a voice he can’t ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe.
- Length: 1h 46m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
Bend it Like Beckham (2003)
- Rating: PG-13
- Plot: A kaleidoscope of color and culture clash humorously as an Indian family in London tries to raise their soccer-playing daughter in a traditional way.
- Length: 1h 52m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
A League of Their Own (1992)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: During World War II, sisters Dottie and Kit join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amid their own growing rivalry.
- Length: 2h 6m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
The Sandlot (1993)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: In the summer of 1962, a new kid in town is taken under the wing of a young baseball prodigy and his rowdy team, resulting in many adventures.
- Length: 1h 41m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: Lower than 80%, but it’s a classic!
Little Giants (1994)
- Rating: PG
- Plot: Misfits form their own opposing team to an elite peewee football team, coached by the elite team coach’s brother.
- Length: 1h 45m
- Rotten Tomatoes score: Lower than 80%, but it’s a classic!
Wrapping up: All-time Best Movies for the Family
As we wrap up this list of all-time best family movies, I just want to say how special these films can be for all of us.
They’re not just great entertainment; they’re perfect for those cozy nights in, where we can laugh, cry, and share some real moments together.
From those timeless classics that we grew up with to the newer animated hits that our kids adore, each movie is a chance to create lasting memories and spark fun conversations.
So, grab some popcorn, cuddle up with your little ones, and enjoy these cinematic gems that are sure to bring joy and laughter to your family nights for years to come!
