Top 70 Movies for Children and Families

Lisa Sheppard wrote an interesting article called Top Children's Movies of All-Time. As a parent of 3 young children, I can understand the necessity to know the best movies for children and families. We like to watch movies. Our children like movies as well. It's nice to have great movies that everyone in the family can watch. As much as I can appreciate The Wiggles, Thomas and Friends, and Barney for the younger members of the family, they are not favorites on mom and dad's list of favorites.

Thankfully there are a number of wonderful family movies both animated and not animated made for families to enjoy. Ms. Sheppard did a nice job with her list of 45 movies though our family has some favorites that she either overlooked or chose not to include. Therefore, I will keep her list of 45 (indeed good movies) and add 25 more that I feel warrants being included on the Top Children's Movies of All-Time List. This makes it a comprehensive list of 70 films, which are suitable for the whole family.

Newly Added Films to the List:

1. Brother Bear

2. A Bug's Life

3. Chicken Little

4. Charlotte's Web

5. Garfield The Movie

6. Ice Age

7. Home on the Range

8. Monsters Inc

9. The Muppets Take Manhattan

10. The Polar Express

11.Racing Stripes

12. Robots

13. Shark Tale

14. Annie

15. Thomas and the Magical Railroad

16. Valiant

17.Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

18. The Neverending Story

19. Who Framed Roger Rabbit

20. The Sandlot

21. The Little Rascals

22. Alladin

23. Nanny McPhee

24. The Mighty Ducks

25. Cars

List Compiled by Ms. Sheppard:

1. The Wizard of Oz
2. National Velvet
3. The Yearling
4. Old Yeller
5. Black Stallion
6. E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial
7. The Princess Bride
8. Fantasia (the original)
9. The Red Balloon
10. Babe, the Gallant Pig
11. Toy Story (both)
12. Beauty and the Beast
13. Finding Nemo
14. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs
15. The Music Man
16. The Sound of Music
17. Shrek
18. The Little Mermaid
19. Mary Poppins
20. The King And I
21. Peter Pan
22. Pinocchio
23. James and The Giant Peach
24. The Secret Garden
25. The Rookie
26. Duma
27. Neverland
28. The Incredibles
29. The Princess Diaries
30. Fly Away Home
31. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
32. Cinderella (animated)
33. Sleeping Beauty
34. Wallace & Gromit (the trilogy of shorts as well as the full-length feature)
35. Oliver (1968)
36. Whale Rider
37. Jungle Book
38. The Bear
39. The Incredible Journey (original)
40. Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang
41. The Lion King
42. The Iron Giant
43. The Secret of Roan Inish
44. Pollyanna
45. Lassie Come Home

When looking for films to share as a family, I look for a few important parameters. One of the most important being that the movie is entertaining for both children and adults. I can honestly say that I have personally watched each and every one of the 25 movies I have added to the list at least once, if not 25 times (due to them being favorites in our household at one time or another). Another parameter of importance is the message conveyed in the film. Is the movie teaching a lesson? Is the movie telling a story worth hearing? These are questions to consider when sharing a movie with your children.

One of the first movies we experienced the "play it again and again" phenomenon was with Monsters Inc. We decided to watch Monsters Inc with our oldest son when he was about two and a half years old, I was unsure of it. I was worried that the monsters might be too "scary". Not so, he found them endearing and silly. Sully, Mike and Boo quickly became favorite friends in our house. He still watches it years later and comprehends the true themes of the story; one being that cheating isn't right even if you want to win. This is just one example of how one movie is fun for all members of a family. Another addition I made to the list is Nanny McPhee. This is possibly the best movie I have seen in a long, long time. The story and concept is brilliant. Even though it is not animated, its message is captivating. This is truly a classic family movie.

I hope this list of top family movies is helpful to you. I know there are few movies on the "original list" that our family has yet to see. I plan on to write them down and make a point of renting them soon for the next "Family Movie Night" in our household!