This is a collection of some of the best movies for kids with a mix of old and new. The list starts with ones for younger children and progresses in a rough age order so if you've got older kids scroll towards the bottom.
Fantasia 2000
Beautiful music and enchanting images that can entertain the very young, the very old and everyone in between. Fantasia 2000 celebrated the anniversary of the original Fantasia with the release of new pieces while still including the classic Socerors Apprentice.
Beauty & the Beast
A tale of devotion, bravery and selfless love - this classic fairytale includes wonderful music and a new generation of animation effects from the team at Disney. One of the best Disney animated fairytale movies.
Horton Hears a Who
We're such fans of Dr Seuss books that converting them to movies seems a loss to libraries - but they do it so well. The animation brings this wonderful book to life
Ice Age
What happens when a lone Mammoth, a buck-toothed comedic sloth and a sabre-toothed tiger with ulterior motives try to reunite a baby with its Father? Allsorts of mayhem, lots of laughs and a few heartwarming sighs. The absolute best scene in this movie is the Dodo battle for the watermelons.
Meet the Robinsons
Time travel for pre-teens.
Lewis is a 12-year-old genius who has difficulty being adopted because of his obsession with inventing things. After a disaster at the Science Fair (involving Bowler Hat Guy and his robotic hat) he is visted by a boy named Wibur who takes him to the future to meet his crazy family.
Garfield
The Garfield cartoons we love come to life brilliantly with Bill Murray absolutely wonderful as the unspoken voice of this lazy and mischievious cat. Great fun for the whole family.
How to Train your Dragon
A young viking raised to fight dragons discovers that all his village knows of these mysterious creatures is wrong. He sets out to train his own dragon on the sly and uses what he learns in his supposed dragon slaying lessons to tame rather than slay the mightiest of beasts.
Night at the Museum
Imagine if all the exhibits at a museum come to life at night. This movie is great fun as Adam Sandler grapples with cowboys, indians, monkeys and dinosaur skeletons.
Big
An early Tom Hanks movie set in the 80s but is somehow timeless despite the big hair and power suits. A young boy visiting a carnival wishes to be "Big" and then has to find his way in the adult world when he gets what he wished for.
Eragon
A wonderful tale based on the dragons and fantasy and a teenage boy
The Spiderwick Chronicles
A great little sci-fi movie of mysterious creatures to be fought by brave and inventive kids.
The Wombles
Favourites from decades ago and now the Wombles of Wimbledon Common are available for your children to enjoy. Innocent tales of furry little Wombles that live underground and are named after cities of the world.
Mary Poppins
This timeless family classic has an Oscar winning score and is one of the best movies to get younger children singing along.
E.T.
A heart-warming story of boy-meets-alien and a friendship that spans the universe. Great special effects and a worl-famous bike ride across the moon.
Mulan
Girl-power collides with Chinese legend in this great Disney movie. In disguise, and accompanied by her Guardian Dragon (Mushu) Mulan sneaks off to war representing her family instead of her elderly Father. Enter the dashing Captain Chang, the iinvading Hun army and a great soundtrack.
Over the Hedge
A cheeky movie with great personalities for kids to engage with. The animals
Bridge to Terabithia
This is from a classic book although the movie is contemporary. It demonstrates the power of imagination but requires a large box of tissues at the end.
Chronicles of Narnia
The Narnia Chronicles come to life is this visually spectacular movie. If your children love this perhaps they can be drawn into the series of books.
Millions
A fabulous movie by Dannie Boyle (of Slumdog Millionnaire fame) in which two boys come across bags full of Irish money that is about to be rendered worthless by the change to the Euro and wrestle with what is the right thing to do.
StarDust
The Last Airbender
Based on the popular cartoon "Avatar - the Last Airbender" this DVD is based on the first part of the (non-blue) avatar saga.
Mythbusters
Okay not a movie but Mythbusters is a great series to introduce young kids (especially boys) to as the team test a wide range of myths that often involve explosives but importantly show science in action as they take robust testing methods to bust or prove the myths.
