A family movie night is a great way to spend an evening. You can spend some time together inexpensively, with a movie rental or a film that you picked up at the library. These movies are rated G, for General Audience, or PG, for Parental Guidance. Parents know their children best and know whether or not they can handle a scarier movie or an occasional bad word. Use this list as a source of ideas. The movies are recent releases on DVD and old movies that have become beloved classics.
List of Family Friendly Movies
The movies below are excellent choices for a family movie night. Movies that are in italics are rated PG, the rest are rated G.
- Alice in Wonderland
- Antz
- A Bug's Life
- Beauty and the Beast
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- Bee Movie
- The Black Cauldron
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Chicken Little
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Corpse Bride
- Dinosaur
- Ella Enchanted
- Enchanted
- ET
- Finding Nemo
- Ghostbusters
- Goonies
- Happy Feet
- High School Musical
- Hocus Pocus
- Hoot
- Horton Hears a Who
- Ice Age
- The Incredibles
- Indiana Jones series (Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Temple of Doom are PG, the rest are PG-13.)
- James and the Giant Peach
- Jumanji
- The Last Mimzy
- The Little Mermaid
- Madagascar
- Mary Poppins
- My Fair Lady
- Monsters Inc.
- The Neverending Story
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Open Season
- Over the Hedge
- The Princess Diaries series
- Ratatouille
- The Rescuers
- Robin Hood
- Robots
- Shark Tale
- Shrek
- Snow Buddies
- The Sound of Music
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
- Spy Kids
- Stuart Little
- Surf's Up
- The Sword in the Stone
- Toy Story series
- Wallace & Gromit
- The Wizard of Oz
Other Movie Choices with Multiple Ratings
Some other good movies options have different ratings depending on which one it is in a series or if it is a remake. For example, the original 1967 Dr. Dolittle movie was rated "Approved". The 1998 remake was PG-13, but all the Dr. Dolittle sequels since then were rated PG. Other movies were originally rated G, but the modern remake has earned it a PG rating. Movies in this category include Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap. Some movie series got less family friendly as newer ones were created. The first three Harry Potter movies, like the books, are more suitable for younger ones and have a PG rating, while movie number four and on are rated PG-13. Two of the Indiana Jones movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Temple of Doom, are rated PG while the others earned a PG-13 rating. And finally, all the Star Wars movies except for The Revenge of the Sith, are rated PG. The Revenge of the Sith (Episode III) is rated PG-13.
Elements for Making Family Movie Night Perfect
There are a couple other things to keep in mind in order to have a great family movie night besides the film. Make sure you have comfortable seating. Bring in pillows and blankets and put younger kids in their jammies if they may fall asleep during the film or if it runs past their bedtime so you can get them up to bed faster when the movie is over. And don't forget snacks! Popcorn is the traditional favorite but not safe for kids under age 2. Try trail mix or even fresh-baked cookies! Another fun idea is to make a snack that fits the movie, such as rainbow sherbet for The Wizard of Oz or carrots and dip for Wallace & Gromit.
Are there other movies that you think should have been included on this list? Add them in the comments below.
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