50+ of the best movie ideas for family movie night

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Last year, one of the ideas my eldest son added to our summer bucket list was watching 16 movies together during the summer months. We have a weekly family movie night, and we also like to go to the cinema from time to time, so I was excited to enjoy new movies with him!

The only issue that always appeared before our family movie night was agreeing on what movie to watch. Usually, we watched several trailers before finding something that we all liked!

To make things easier, I decided to create a family movie bucket list to keep at hand anytime we need some inspiration. We started the list with movies recommended by friends, and it was so helpful that I decided to create a list of great movies we discovered over the years so you can enjoy them with your kids as well!

If you are looking for movies to watch with your kids, I’m pretty sure you’ll find some great inspiration on this list!

For most of the movies, I’ve included an Amazon link where you can quickly access the trailer and rent or buy the movie if you like it.

We rent most of the movies from Prime Video because it’s quick and easy, but we watch movies on Netflix and Disney+ as well.

Sometimes we go to the movie theater or the drive-in cinema for a special movie night, but usually, we prefer to enjoy movie nights at home, with a big bowl of popcorn and some tasty snacks.

Helpful tip: If you want to check if a movie is suitable for your child’s age, you can search it on CommonSenseMedia.org to see what is the recommended age.

Awesome animated movie ideas for family movie night

Here is our list of movies to inspire you when planning your next family movie night (in alphabetical order).

Our favorite movies are marked with 💛 and the movies recently added to the list are marked with 📌.

Big Hero 6 – Walt Disney Pictures | 2014 | rating PG

Bolt – Walt Disney Company | 2008 | rating PG

Brave – Walt Disney Pictures | 2012 |rating PG

Cars – Disney/Pixar | 2006 | rating G

📌 Charlotte’s Web – 2006 | 5+ years

📌 Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness – 2022 | 6+ years

💛 Coco – Pixar | 2017 | rating PG

Despicable Me – NBC Universal | 2010 | rating PG

📌 Encanto – 2021 | 6+ years

💛 Ferdinand – 2016| rating PG

Finding Dory – Pixar | 2016 | rating PG

💛 Finding Nemo – Disney/Pixar | 2003 | rating G

Frozen – Walt Disney Pictures | 2013 | rating PG (sequel: Frozen 2)

Happy Feet – Warner Bros | 2006 | rating PG

Home – Dreamworks Animation | 2015 | rating PG

Hotel Transylvania – Columbia Pictures | 2012 | rating PG (this is the first movie of the series – you can also find parts 2 and 3 on Prime Video)

How to Train Your Dragon – Dreamworks Animation | 2010 | rating PG (this movie is part of a trilogy so there are 2 other movies in the same series)

Ice Age: Continental Drift – Fox | 2012 | rating PG

💛 Inside Out – Walt Disney Pictures | 2015| rating PG

Leap! – Lionsgate | 2017 | rating PG

Lilo & Stitch – Walt Disney Pictures | 2002 | rating PG

📌 Luca – 2021 | 6+ years

Meet the Robinsons – Walt Disney Pictures | 2007 | rating G

Minions – Universal Pictures | 2015 | rating PG

💛 Moana – Walt Disney Animation Studios | 2016 | rating PG

Monsters, Inc. – Disney/Pixar | 2001 | rating G

Mulan – Walt Disney Pictures | 1998 | rating G

Paddington – The Weinstein Company | 2015 | rating PG (this is a live-action animated movie)

Penguins of Madagascar – Fox | 2014 | rating PG

Peter Rabbit – Columbia Pictures | 2018 | rating PG (this is a live-action animated movie)

Planes – Walt Disney Animation Studios | 2013 | rating PG

Ratatouille – Disney/Pixar | 2007 | rating G

📌 Raya and the Last Dragon – 2021 | 6+ years

Rio – Fox | 2011 | rating G

📌 Rise of the Guardians – 2012 | 7+ years

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon – Netflix | rating G

Shrek – Dreamworks Animation | 2001 | rating PG

Sing – Universal Pictures | 2016 | rating PG

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – DreamWorks | 2002 | rating G

Tangled – Walt Disney Pictures | 2010 | rating PG

The Book of Life – Fox | 2014 | rating PG

The Croods: A New Age – DreamWorks | 2020 | rating PG

The Good Dinosaur – Walt Disney Pictures | 2015 | rating PG

The Lego Movie – Warner Bros | 2014 | rating PG

The Lion King – Walt Disney Pictures | 2019 | rating PG

(Dr. Seuss’) The Lorax – Universal Pictures | 2012 | rating PG

The Peanuts Movie – Fox | 2015 | rating G

📌 The Sea Beast – 2022 | 8+ years

💛 The Secret Life of Pets – Universal Pictures | 2016 | rating PG

💛 The Secret Life of Pets 2 – Universal Pictures | 2019 | rating PG

💛 Toy Story – Disney/Pixar | 1995 | rating G (this is the first movie of the series – you can also find parts 2, 3, and 4 on Prime Video)

Trolls – Dreamworks Animation | 2016 | rating PG

Up – Disney/Pixar | 2009 | rating PG

📌 Wish Dragon – 2021 | 6+ years

“Zootopia” – Walt Disney Animation Studios | 2016 | rating PG

Awesome feature movie ideas for family movie night

If you want to try something different than animated movies, here is a list of feature movies that are great for family movie night:

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Walt Disney Pictures | 2014 | rating PG

Back to the Future – Universal Pictures | 1985 | rating PG

Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable – 2019 | rating PG (for older kids)

💛 Charlotte’s Web – Paramount Pictures | 2006 | rating G

Dolphin Tale – Warner Bros | 2011| rating PG

💛 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – Warner Bros | 2001 | rating PG

Hugo – Paramount Pictures | 2011 | rating PG

Jumanji – Sony | 1995 | rating PG

Mary Poppins Returns – Walt Disney Pictures | 2018 | rating PG

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe – Walt Disney Pictures | 2005 | rating PG

The Mitchells vs. the Machines – Netflix | rating PG

We Bought a Zoo – Fox | 2011 | rating PG

💛 Wonder – Lionsgate | 2017 | rating PG

I hope that you found some good inspiration on this list! If you have any other recommendations I would love to hear them and discover new ideas for our next family movie nights!