56 Kids' Movies That Are So Good, If You Haven't Seen Them, You Haven't Fully Lived
As a GenZ'er in her mid-twenties, I pride myself on growing up during the prime of great children's movies, from the animation world to live-action. Ratatouille and The Parent Trap were my favorites, but I watched many others so much that the dialogue burned into my brain. So, here's a list of the 56 most extraordinary kids' movies that are so good they literally altered my brain chemistry:
🚨 🚨 🚨 Warning, movie spoilers ahead🚨 🚨 🚨
1.The Parent Trap
This iconic Lindsay Lohan movie has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes when it absolutely should be sitting pretty at 100%, it's that good.
2.The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe
This movie was pure imagination about four siblings who discovered an entire secret world inside of a wardrobe and must fight to protect its people from the evil witch. I had the movie poster in my childhood bedroom, and it was great.
3.Bridge To Terabithia
I remember seeing this film in theaters when I was 7 years old and crying my eyes out. Two best friends created an imaginary world while playing in the woods, only for their friendship to be ripped apart by a fatal accident. (This is when I started to stan AnnaSophia Rob).
4.High School Musical 3: Senior Year
The end of a childhood era. This final film hit theaters in 2008 and had every High School Musical fan balling their eyes out. Go Wildcats!
5.Holes
This fantastic movie about a boy named Stanley who is sent to dig holes as punishment for stealing a pair of shoes is Shia LaBeouf's most iconic role. Yes, it was a little scary, but everyone NEEDS to watch this movie.
6.Jumanji
The '90s version of Jumanji is still the only one I acknowledge because Robin Williams is so good. This movie was a bit fantastical, but that made it a classic. Like, I'm scared, but kind of want to play the game at the same time.
7.The Game Plan
The Game Plan is a heartfelt movie about a celebrity football player who learns he has a young daughter. It teaches the importance of family over superficiality and stars The Rock and Madison Pettis.
8.Race To Witch Mountain
You can't go wrong with The Rock; this is one of his best movies! You might have forgotten this one about a cab driver who fights to protect the lives of two alien siblings who have come to Earth and are being targeted by the US government.
9.Richie Rich
This movie, starring Home Alone's Macaulay Culkin, is a 10/10! A film about the richest boy in the world who only truly wants friends his own age, and discovers what it truly means to be "rich."
10.Jump In
This was Corbin Bleu's (from High School Musical) solo movie about joining a jump roping team despite his dad's dream for him to be a boxer. "Come on with the come on!" will always be the most iconic line from this movie, and it is an early 2000s gem.
11.Rags
This Nickelodeon spin on a Cinderella story starring Keke Palmer and Max Schneider is criminally underrated! The chemistry, the music, and the acting were top-tier for a TV movie. Arguably, one of Nickelodeon's best films.
12.The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
This movie was simply chaotic, and I loved every second. The original "Goofy Goober" can do no wrong.
13.Shrek
Shrek was such a great movie that it got FIVE sequels, which is almost unheard of in animation! This is the story of an Ogre shunned by his community who finds true love in Princess Fiona and a best friend in Donkey.
14.Matilda
This movie will always be a comfort to watch, even though I am 100% still afraid of Miss Trunchbull.
15.Sky High
This 2005 classic is one of the best Disney Channel movies ever. It is about a group of high school kids who attend school to learn how to use their superpowers for good.
16.Monsters University
This prequel to the classic 2001 movie Monsters Inc. follows the same characters Mike and Sully, who attend college to learn how to scare children properly.
17.Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
This was one of my favorite childhood books, and the movie absolutely did it justice. No notes, simply fantastic!
18.The Karate Kid (2010)
This 2010 version of The Karate Kid, starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, is better than the original, simply because of Smith's song in the finale with Justin Bieber called "Never Say Never."
19.Lemonade Mouth
This was arguably one of the best movies to come out of Disney Channel — a musical about a group of unlikely friends who meet in high school detention and form a world-famous band. It's a crime that this one never got a sequel.
20.Hannah Montana: The Movie
The film is unforgettable, one of Disney's best! In this movie, we finally got a look into Hannah Montana's, a.k.a Miley Stewart's roots, back in Tennessee before becoming a pop sensation. Also, the movie soundtrack had zero skips.
21.Drake & Josh Go Hollywood
This TV movie from the hit kids' show Drake and Josh is so underrated and a fan favorite for every Nickelodeon kid.
22.Let It Shine
Let It Shine is a Disney musical movie about a teenage pop star who gets catfished by a guy who dreams of becoming a famous rapper. This movie's soundtrack is legendary, but it's not surprising since it stars GRAMMY-WINNER Coco Jones.
23.Shrek Forever After
This was the fourth Shrek movie that came out in 2010, which focused on the evil character Rumpelstiltskin, who tricks Shrek into signing a contract that erases his existence in an alternate reality. The comedy in this one it top-tier!
24.Catch That Kid
This 2004 Disney movie starring a young Kristen Stewart is about a group of kids who devise a plan to rob a high-security bank to pay for Kristen's character's father's surgery. This movie is high-stakes and feels like a kid's version of the film Set It Off.
25.Tangled
This spin on the classic Disney story of Rapunzel is such a fun watch, and it had Broadway-level music.
26.Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh
This is the second movie to come out of Nickelodeon's show Drake and Josh, and to this day, it is absolutely hilarious and fun to watch during the holidays.
27.Daddy Day Care
I've seen this one too many times to count; Eddie Murphy is brilliant as the leader of an at-home daycare center run by neighborhood dads.
28.Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior
I remember this movie making me want to sign up for karate classes. Brenda Song went from playing a rich heiress in The Suite Life of Zach and Cody to being a teenage karate warrior in this film. She's a Disney Channel legend, and this movie solidified it!
29.Hercules
This Disney animated movie about a young man with superhuman strength learning to become a hero is a 10/10, and it gave us the amazing song "Go The Distance."
30.Madagascar
Who doesn't love a movie with talking/dancing animals? This film had every 2000s kid singing, "I like to move it, move it!"
31.Ratatouille
I must have watched this movie 8 million times as a kid. This uniquely chaotic animated film about a rat who loves to cook, teaming up with a clumsy kitchen worker to help him impress his boss, is one of the best Pixar movies ever made! It has everything — humor, imagination, talking animals, and friendship.
32.Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
The ending scene between Justin and Alex in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie breaks me to this day! It's definitely one of the best Disney Channel movies based on a show, and it is when I started stanning Selena Gomez.
33.The Haunted Mansion
This 2003 scary movie starring Eddie Murphy is the perfect Halloween watch because it is equally hilarious and terrifying!
34.Monsters Inc.
This movie was kind of terrifying as a kid, but also so, so good. I still say, "WAZOWSKI" in this character's scratchy voice on occasion.
35.Mulan
Mulan was the bravest Disney princess who took on an entire army to save her father's life.
36.Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
This cartoon Christmas movie about a grandmother who literally gets run over by a reindeer is one of my holiday favorites.
37.Princess Protection Program
This Disney movie about a princess who flees her home country and has to move in with a regular teenage girl is so underrated and starred real-life best friends Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.
38.The Incredibles
This movie will never, ever get old. It is a 2004 Pixar classic about a charmingly relatable superhero family saving the world together while trying to be normal.
39.Finding Nemo
Ellen Degeneres as the voice of Dory will always be iconic, and so will this movie.
40.Cadet Kelly
This Disney Channel original starring Hilary Duff was about a young girl trying to succeed after enrolling in a military school.
41.High School Musical 2
I mean, come on, it's a Disney Channel classic. This musical movie sequel is still a summer must-watch, reminding me that life was way simpler back in 2007. Go, Wildcats!
42.Antz
This '90s animated movie about ants living in an ant colony and fighting for "worker rights" was surprisingly deep for a kids' film.
43.Pocahontas
Though pretty historically inaccurate, Pocahontas is a great animated movie about a native woman who falls in love with a settler who is looking to colonize her homeland.
44.Toy Story 3
The third movie in the Toy Story series was my personal favorite, mainly because of the evil pink teddy bear named Lotso.
45.Home Alone 2: Lost In New York
This is one of my favorite Christmas movies ever, it's so good! Young Kevin McAlister gets left behind by his family (again!), ventures into the Big Apple on Christmas, and cleverly escapes the same pair of bad guys from the first movie.
46.Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
The new Percy Jackson series on Disney+ will never compare to this iconic movie starring Logan Lerman as Percy Jackson. The book AND the movie shaped my childhood, what kid didn't want magic water powers!?
47.The Cheetah Girls 2
This was the best Cheetah Girls movie, period, and the last movie with all four girls. Four best friends from different backgrounds came together to form an elite girl-group and win a singing competition in Spain. Disney did what they had to do!
48.Freaky Friday
Lindsay Lohan can do no wrong in my eyes, and this movie is just another example of her star power. This movie — about a bickering mother and daughter who wake up one morning and have switched bodies — is a perfect Mother's Day watch. A sequel was also just announced, and I can't wait!
49.The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
This sequel to the original movie follows the four siblings as they return to Narnia to save it again. This movie was a 10/10 because Ben Barnes was so perfectly cast as Prince Caspian!
50.The Polar Express
This classic kid's Christmas movie about a young boy who gets on a train to the North Pole to meet Santa is a great family watch for the holidays. As a kid, I can't lie; the animation was creepy, but Tom Hanks made this movie a fan favorite.
51.Cheaper By The Dozen 2
The Cheaper By The Dozen sequel is a story about a family of 12 kids on summer vacation that turns into complete chaos because they are constantly competing with the family next door.
52.The Princess and The Frog
The Princess and The Frog perfectly embodies Louisiana culture through music, food, and joy. Princess Tiana is arguably the most relatable Disney princess and remains an icon in this unique love story.
53.Over The Hedge
Some so many people have never heard of this movie, and that should be a crime! This animated film about animals venturing over a newly built hedge into a developed neighborhood is so creatively hilarious. I'd argue there's no other animated movie like it; the story is so unique.
54.Monster House
This scary animated movie about a group of kids who venture into a haunted house in their neighborhood freaked me out, but I couldn't look away.
55.The Pacifier
The family comedy starring Vin Diesel was a hilarious story about a military soldier who becomes a nanny and (security guard) for a family in danger.
And finally...
56.College Road Trip
This hilarious coming-of-age comedy stars Martin Lawrence and Raven Symoné and is a must-watch for all high school seniors! This movie follows an over-protective dad and his daughter on a road trip to find a dream university, though they each have different ideas of what that means.
What was your favorite kids' movie growing up? Let us know in the comments below.
