Top 10 Funny Movies on Netflix for Familys Top 10 Funny Action Movies on Netflix in English

A great kids movie is a beautiful and rare thing. Equally a father of iii, I've suffered through enough bad kids entertainment to be enormously thankful for filmmakers who take the same kind of intendance in crafting movies aimed at children as those geared toward a more than discerning adult audition. Netflix'south catalog of Children & Family movies ranges from terrible to fantastic, and the following guide is meant to help y'all avoid the former. Some of these movies you've probably already seen even if your kids oasis't. But we also tried to point out some less-obvious options, as well, including films from around the world. There are superheroes and, of class, plenty of cuddly anthropomorphic animals. Nosotros've included anything Netflix lists as "Children & Family."

Here are the 25 Best Kids Movies on Netflix:

one. Paddington

Twelvemonth: 2014
Manager: Paul Rex
Stars: Hugh Bonneville, Ben Winshaw, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Nicole Kidman
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Rating: PG
Runtime: 95 minutes

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The Paddington films exhibit a sense of wonder for the ordinary, about likely the product of managing director Paul King and co-screenwriter Simon Farnaby'southward acute ability to instill a palpable desire of belonging into a CGI teddy acquit voiced by Ben Whishaw. We have, for improve or worse (and I would argue the onetime), reached a signal in computer generated applied science in which Paddington's optics can dilate realistically. His eyes, and so, say everything, open to whatsoever modicum of familial comfort. Information technology is extremely ordinary to desire to be a function of something, to crave the intimacy of loved ones. The first Paddington, released in 2014, was emotionally prophetic in its illustration of the hokey moral panic wrought past xenophobes. Paddington arrives in London from the forests of Darkest Peru. He stands upon his suitcase, scruffy and innocent. Around his neck is a tag that says, "Delight look afterward this comport." The means in which the commuters of Paddington Station ignore the acquit could be written off as generic selfishness, merely outsiders and the impoverished are deliberately ignored in metro areas, a signal accentuated past Mr. Brownish'south (Hugh Bonneville) claim of "stranger danger." Still, Mrs. Brown'due south (Sally Hawkins) gentle heart leads the family unit to quasi-adopt Paddington, their lives enriched by the carry's earnestness and 18-carat desire to be part of their lives. —Kyle Turner

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2. Mirai

Year: 2018
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Stars: Haru Kuroki, Moka Kamishiraishi, Gen Hoshino
Genre: Anime
Rating: PG
Runtime: 98 minutes

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Most, if not all, of Mamoru Hosoda's original films produced in the past decade function, to some caste or some other, as exercises in autobiography. Summertime War, apart from a premise more or less recycled from Hosoda'due south 2000 directorial debut Digimon Hazard: Our State of war Game!, was the many-times-removed story of Hosoda meeting his wife'southward family unit for the first time. 2012'south Wolf Children was inspired by the passing of Hosoda's mother, blithe in function by the anxieties and aspirations at the prospect of his ain impending parenthood. 2015's The Boy and the Beast was completed but afterward the nativity of Hosoda's showtime child, the production of his own questions as to what office a father should play in the life of his son. Mirai, the director's seventh picture, is non from Hosoda'southward own experience, but filtered through the experiences of his first-born son meeting his baby sibling for the first time. Told care of the perspective of Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi), a toddler who feels displaced and insecure in the wake of his sister Mirai's birth, Mirai is a beautiful take a chance fantasy drama that whisks the viewer on a dazzling odyssey across Kun's entire family unit tree, culminating in a poignant conclusion that emphasizes the beauty of what it means to love and to be loved. Mirai is Hosoda'south most accomplished film, the recipient of the first Academy Award nomination for an anime film not produced by Studio Ghibli, and an feel as edifying as information technology is a joy to behold. —Toussaint Egan

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3. The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Year: 2021
Director: Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe (co-director)
Stars: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Olivia Colman
Genre: Comedy/Sci-Fi

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Blithe generational divides have never been more similar a sci-fi carnival than in The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Writer/manager Mike Rianda's feature debut (he and co-writer/director Jeff Rowe made their bones on the excellently spooky, giddy show Gravity Falls) is equal parts absurd, endearing and terrifying. It's easy to feel as lost or overwhelmed past the flashing lights and exhilarating sights equally the central family fighting on one side of the title's grudge match, just it'south equally easy to come away with the wearied glee of a long, weary theme park outing's aftermath. Its genre-embedded family bursts through every messy, jam-packed frame similar they're trying to escape (they oftentimes are), and in the procedure create the most energetic, endearing animated comedy then far this twelvemonth. And its premise begins so humbly. Filmmaker and animator Katie (Abbi Jacobson) is leaving dwelling house for college and, to get there, has to go along a road trip with her family unit: Rick (Danny McBride), her Luddite outdoorsy dad; Linda (Maya Rudolph), her peacemaking mom; and Aaron (Rianda), her dino-freak little blood brother. You might be able to approximate that Katie and her dad don't ever come across middle-to-centre, even when Katie'southward optics aren't glued to her phone or laptop. That technocriticism, where "screen time" is a dirty phrase and the stick-shifting, cabin-building male parent figure wants his family to experience the real world, could be every bit hacky every bit the twelfth season of a Tim Allen sitcom. The Mitchells vs. the Machines escapes that danger not just through some intentional nuance in its writing, only likewise some large ol' anti-nuance: Partway through the trip, the evil tech companies screw upwardly and phone-grown robots make up one's mind to shoot all the humans into space. This movie needed something this narratively large to back up its gloriously kitchen-sink visuals. The Sony film uses some of the aforementioned tech that made Spider-Human being: Into the Spiderverse look and then crisp and unique, adding comicky shading to its expressive CG. In fact, once some of the more freaky setpieces take off, you wouldn't be surprised to run across Miles Morales swing in to save the day. The Mitchells vs. the Machines' spin on the Spidey artful comes from meme and movie-obsessed Katie, whose imagination frequently breaks through into the real globe and whose baroque, neon and filter-ridden sketchbook doodles ornament the film'due south already heady palette with explosive oddity. This unique and savvy style meshes well with The Mitchells vs. the Machines' wonderfully timed slapstick, crashing and smashing with an unexpected violence, balanced out with 1 truly dorky pug and plenty of visual asides poking fun at whatever happens to be going on.—Jacob Oller

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4. Apollo 10 ½: A Infinite Age Childhood

Netflix Release Date: March 25, 2022
Director: Richard Linklater
Stars: Milo Coy, Jack Black, Glen Powell, Zachary Levi, Josh Wiggins, Lee Eddy, Bill Wise, Natalia L'Amoreaux, Jessica Brynn Cohen, Sam Chipman, Danielle Guilbot
Rating: PG-13
Paste Review Score: eight.0

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Most the end of Apollo ten ½: A Space Age Childhood, Richard Linklater'southward luscious rotoscope ode to the tail-finish of the 1960s, the begetter of our immature protagonist Stanley (Milo Coy) worries that his son slept through a historic event. "Even if he was asleep," says Stanley'southward mom (Lee Eddy), "he'll one day think he saw it all." The magic trick that is retention serves as the basis of Apollo, a picture show that recalls Apollo 11 from the rose-colored perspective of Stan, a 10-year-old male child living in Houston—Linklater'south childhood stomping grounds—at the fourth dimension of the mission. The film begins with two suited men pulling Stan bated at school and informing him that NASA accidentally built a spaceship that was as well pocket-sized for an adult to ride in. Given this, they'll need Stan to perform a test run to the Moon instead of one of their highly trained developed astronauts. What follows is a 90-infinitesimal, highly sentimental, kaleidoscopic examination of 1969, spliced with moments from the greatest fantasy of the Stanleys of the globe: Traveling to infinite. Linklater doesn't spare any item of what life was like back so, nor does he worry about boring audiences by delving into the minutiae of it all. Grown-upward Stanley (Jack Black), Apollo's narrator, bounces confidently betwixt descriptions of the monotonous games the neighborhood kids used to play, breakdowns of the plots of old black-and-white sci-fi shows, the conservative methodologies Stanley'south mom applies in making schoolhouse lunches for her kids, the nuances of spending time with grandparents who lived through the Depression and everything in between. Everything in the picture that has to do with chronicling life in 1969 is so captivating on its own that one can't help but wonder what Apollo would be similar if it removed Stanley'due south outer space subplot altogether. Still, where Apollo succeeds, information technology really succeeds. It's a stylish meditation on babyhood that isn't afraid to indulge in all the sentimentality that goes along with that. Almost 30 years after Mazed and Confused, Linklater is still reminding us exactly why childhood is a uniquely special thing.—Aurora Amidon

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5. Lu Over the Wall

Year: 2018
Managing director: Masaaki Yuasa
Stars: Kanon Tani, Shota Shimoda, Christine Marie Cabanos, Michael Sinterniklaas, Stephanie Sheh
Genre: Animated, Comedy, Kids & Family, Fantasy
Rating: One thousand
Runtime: 107 minutes

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Distributor GKids sells Lu Over the Wall every bit "family friendly," which it is, an innocuous, offbeat culling to the conventional computer animated joints typically found in modern multiplexes. But at that place'due south "whimsical" and there'south "weird," and Lu Over the Wall ventures well past the former and into the latter before managing director Masaaki Yuasa gets through the opening credits. Barely a moment goes by where we come close to touching base with reality: Even its nearly human beats, those precious hints of relatable qualities that encourage our empathy, are elongated, distorted, rendered near unrecognizable by exaggeration. Lu Over the Wall isn't a film that takes itself seriously, and for the average moviegoer, that's very much a trait worth embracing. The plot is both simple and non: Teenager Kai (voiced past Michael Sinterniklaas in the English dub), recently relocated from Tokyo to the quiet angling village of Hinashi, spends his days doing what near teenage boys do, sullenly hunkering down in his room and shutting out the world. As Kai struggles with his self-imposed isolation, he befriends Lu (Christine Marie Cabanos), a manic pixie dream mermaid wrought in miniature. What'southward a alone emo boy to practice in a literal and figurative fish-out-of-water plot that's buttressed by xenophobic overtones? Lu Over the Wall blends joy with political allegory with vibrant color palettes with storytelling magic, plus some actual magic, plus too many upbeat musical interludes to count. Describing the motion-picture show merely equally "creative" feels like an insult to its inspired madness. —Andy Crump

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6. How To Train Your Dragon 2

Year: 2014
Managing director: Dean DeBlois
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrara, Jonah Loma
Genre: Animation, Fantasy, Take a chance
Rating: PG
Runtime: 112 minutes

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How to Train Your Dragon was the definition of a pleasant surprise, so its sequel had big shoes to fill. Information technology'southward to the creative team'south credit so that, rather than rehash the themes of the get-go film all over again, they chose to instead expand the world out into new and interesting directions. It's been five years since the events of the last moving picture. Everyone in the Viking village of Berk at present lives in harmony with the dragons and even participates in fun-filled games. Though our protagonist, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), has grown since we final saw him, he remains as lovably goofy and sarcastic every bit ever. However, not all is well in paradise. Hiccup's male parent, Stoick (Gerard Butler), wants to start grooming his son to succeed him as village chieftain. It's a position Hiccup feels woefully ill-equipped for, despite encouraging words from at present-girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera). Our hero'due south personal squabbles, however, are interrupted when he and Astrid stumble upon a group of men attempting to capture dragons. They are led by dragon trapper Eret (Kit Harington), who claims to be on a mission from Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou), a ruthless conquistador hellbent on raising a dragon army and taking over the land. Whereas the first film benefited from a simpler, concise narrative involving the classic boy-and-his-domestic dog/cat/dragon arc, this latest entry bites off a little more story than it can chew. But it has more enough bang-up moments to pick up the slack. From a technical standpoint, it'south a curiosity to behold. As great every bit the flight sequences were in the original motion picture, this entry effectively one-ups them. Also, the sheer detail of the blitheness is, at times, baffling. How to Train Your Dragon 2 may not exist Toy Story 2 (or The Empire Strikes Back, for that thing), just it's a more than worthy successor to the first film. Fifty-fifty when it falls short of its lofty ambitions, you can't help merely appreciate how thoroughly it commits to achieving them. —Mark Rozeman

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vii. Little Women

Year: 1994
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Stars:: Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Bale, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon
Rating: PG
Runtime: 118 minutes

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Louisa May Alcott's timeless 19th century novel well-nigh a close-knit Massachusetts family set during and afterward the Civil War has been adapted many times and in many means, simply perhaps none are as iconic equally 1994's Little Women. Directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Robin Swicord, this &#821790s dream lineup of March girls features Winona Ryder every bit Jo, Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis as Amy, Claire Danes as Beth, Trini Alvarado as 1000000, and Susan Sarandon as Marmee. The hits only kept coming with the picture's beloved interests, including Eric Stoltz as John Brook and Christian Bale as Laurie. A beautiful and emotional telling from first to stop, the only mark against the movie might be how much undeniable chemistry at that place is hither betwixt Jo and Laurie. Yes, Amy is a deviling (subsequently reformed) and Beth shatters our hearts (Danes' chin quiver is doing work) every bit expected, but why would Jo ever bandage this Laurie to the side when their scenes sparkle with such a fiery connectedness? Alas, though the Jo/Laurie faithful won't find peace here, Gabriel Byrne's soulful Friedrich Bhaer does help soothe the burn a little. Actually the primal word for this version of Footling Women is warmth, from ignited passions to cozy fireside family moments of forgiveness and redemption. That coupled with an exceptional cast and a thoughtful menstruation aesthetic renders this adaptation as enduringly charming equally the classic on which it's based. —Allison Keene

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8. How To Train Your Dragon

Year: 2010
Directors: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrara, Jonah Loma
Genre: Animation, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: PG
Runtime: 100 minutes

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Beginning, my and so-5-yr-sometime son's review of this movie upon walking out of the theater: "I'd like to see this motion-picture show 1 meg times. [Pause, deep in thought.] And I think if I saw information technology one million times, I'd want to come across it one one thousand thousand more than times." My feelings were somewhat more restrained, but as a childhood fan of Anne McCaffrey and The Neverending Story, I got his enthusiasm. Information technology'due south a picture show about flying a dragon. That's the only thing that trumps pet robots and dinosaurs. Writer/directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders use our preconceptions of Vikings—big swarthy, stubborn men and women who refuse to leave their common cold, barren, inhospitable lands, even as regular dragon attacks cost them their sheep, homes and limbs—equally the foil for its undersized, unathletic hero. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is the principal's son, who has no hope of living upwards to the dragon-slaying instance set by his father. Only the immature lad hopes anyway. When cleverness and a little luck present him with the opportunity of slaying his get-go dragon, he finds he's also cursed with the very un-Viking-similar trait of pity. What ensues is a moving-picture show about standing up for what's right in the face of what's unpopular. Hiccup is weak and uncoordinated, but he's clever, brave and principled, and these traits are what assistance him save the day, make his dad proud, etc.—and fly on a dragon. But even if that's the picture show's real raison d'être—much of the screentime is given to aeriform grooming, aerial romance, aerial battles—the result is fun and thrilling, and enough of snappy jokes and sight gags volition keep audiences of all ages entertained. On the start viewing, anyhow; I make no promises for the next 999,999. —Josh Jackson

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nine. Klaus

Year: 2019
Director: Sergio Pablos
Stars: Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Norm Macdonald, Sergio Pablos
Genre: Adventure, Family unit
Rating: PG
Runtime: 98 minutes

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Sergio Pablos' lauded Netflix film Klaus would be a Christmas mythology origin for the ages only on its looks alone, but its circuitous and mature telling should woo plenty of adults and savvy kids past being a (forest)cut above pretty much all of its animated ilk. The story of its isolated people—from its postman (Jason Schwartzman) to its toy-making hermit (J.M. Simmons) to the ferryman (Norm Macdonald) connecting them all—and feuding clans might contain likewise much narrative for younger viewers, merely its message is crystal clear: Fifty-fifty if started for the wrong reasons, good actions can bring about good results. Some incredible, circuitous lighting gives the hot-and-common cold film'south interiors the expect of a fireside, while its exaggerated characters are a please to lookout navigate its realistic earth. Non every piece of popular culture needs an origin story, but if they're as nuanced and cute as Klaus, they stand to stuff the stockings of our legends with more than coal. —Jacob Oller

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10. Enola Holmes

Yr: 2020
Director: Harry Bradbeer
Stars: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Louis Partridge, Helena Bonham Carter, Susie Wokoma, Frances de la Bout, Burn Gorman, Adeel Akhtar
Genre: Thriller, Chance
Rating: PG-13

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Someone's finally washed right past Millie Bobby Chocolate-brown and cast her as a fully fleshed out character. While her roles in '80s nostalgia bonanza Stranger Things (kid cursed with psychokinetic abilities fighting extradimensional monsters) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (child torn betwixt divorced parents and surrounded rampaging colossi), neither part demands that she emote beyond forlorn gazes. In Enola Holmes, a mystery focused on Sherlock Holmes' vivid kid sister and her efforts to foil crime, Brown finally gets to do more than scream and frown. While the movie itself is heavy on plot and heavier on exposition, Chocolate-brown's performance makes the story gallop at a breezy clip regardless. She'south liberated, appropriate given that Enola Holmes is about the liberation Enola finds every bit she comes of historic period, stepping out of the curated world erected effectually her past her enigmatic mum, Eudoria (Helena Bonham-Carter). When her female parent goes missing, Enola quickly deduces Eudoria has gone on the lam, and and then she leaves Ferndell, the Holmes family'southward estate, armed with pugilist skills and worldly noesis passed down to her by her female parent, intent on finding her and understanding why she left in the first identify. With a flash here, a smile at that place and a fixed but knowing glance at viewers, Brown is a dynamo, full of vigor, cheer and plenty pathos to brand the sub-theme of civil unrest and social change feel real and relevant to children on the cusp of teenhood and teens on the cusp of machismo. Enola Holmes is nearly serious matters. Fortunately, it isn't a serious motion picture, which makes a squeamish change of pace from the Guy Ritchie movies and the BBC serial, which never requite in to the thought that tracking clues and apprehending villains could actually be fun. —Andy Crump

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11. Cloudy with a Hazard of Meatballs

Year: 2009
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Stars: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Bruce Campbell
Genre: Adventure, Family
Rating: PG
Runtime: xc minutes

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The managing director-producer squad of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have worked on everything from animated films The Lego Motion-picture show and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to live action comedies 21 Spring Street and The Final Man on Earth. But they got their start adapting and directing the perfectly enjoyable kids film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs based on Judi and Ron Barrett's classic 1978 book. In the film, inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) on the tiny island of Chewandswallow finally finds success with a motorcar that turns water to food. All is well until a tornado of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the isle and Flint must work against the corrupt mayor (Bruce Campbell) to save everyone from destruction. Lord and Miller'south quirky humor is on display, backed by a funny bandage: Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Mr. T and, appropriately, Al Roker. —Josh Jackson

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12. Over the Moon

Year: 2020
Managing director: Glen Keane
Stars: Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeung
Genre: Adventure, Family
Rating: PG
Runtime: 100 minutes

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Over the Moon was Netflix's outset bold stride into the realm of producing animated films to rival those of Disney. Directed by former Disney animator Glen Keane, who was responsible for bringing films such equally The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Tangled to life, and containing a collection of catchy and heartwarming songs, explosively colorful blitheness and a story immersed in Chinese civilisation, the motion picture seems to have all the pieces of another animation classic. The flick follows a 14-year-sometime Chinese daughter named Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) living with her now-single father four years afterwards the passing of her female parent. However grieving her loss, Fei Fei clings to her female parent's traditional stories of the goddess Chang'east (Phillipa Soo) living on the moon, awaiting her departed lover, and believes that if she can bear witness to her begetter that Chang'east exists, he volition follow her example and terminate trying to first a new family. Even if poorly contextualized, the beautiful animation sequences of Over the Moon can't be ignored, and there are times when the colorful display is mesmerizing enough to distract from the plot confusion. In that location'southward a good chance that very young kids will love the movie for its brilliant colors and cute animals alone, and its songs are catchy enough to non likely drive their parents up the wall upon the millionth time existence played. —Joseph Stanichar

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13. Nightbooks

Year: 2021
Manager: David Yarovesky
Stars: Winslow Fegley, Lidya Jewett, Krysten Ritter
Genre: Horror, Family
Rating: Television-PG
Runtime: 103 minutes

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Get out it to Sam Raimi and his Ghost House Pictures to curate the perfect entry point horror film for kids with Nightbooks. An adaptation of J. A. White's center grade book of the aforementioned name, this Netflix original harkens dorsum to the '80s era of filmmaking where it was understood that giving tweens and teens light nightmares was a cinematic rite of passage. A large part of the fun of Nightbooks is that it doesn't pander or pull whatsoever punches with its bound scares or night moments. Right from the top, director David Yarovesky doesn't dither with setup and gets right into the plight of young Alex (Winslow Fegley). A middle schooler with a penchant for all things horror, he'due south stomping effectually his darkly decorated house, accordingly Halloween-themed for his birthday, as his parents whisper well-nigh their concerns for his off-kilter obsession. While they worry, Alex packs a bag full of his notebooks filled with original stories and gets into his apartment's elevator. Only it doesn't let him off on the ground floor. It drops him off on a creepily desolate floor where the door to 4E is wide open, featuring a tasty piece of pumpkin pie and a pocket-sized TV playing The Lost Boys. As it turns out, Alex is an like shooting fish in a barrel marker because that's all it takes for him to get trapped inside the busily busy home of Natasha (Krysten Ritter). She'south a witch that lures children into her clutches and if at that place'south cypher special about them, they're dispatched with nary a second thought. It's only Alex's books, filled with scary stories, that saves him, with Natasha demanding he read her a new story every dark. —Tara Bennett

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14. Arthur Christmas

Twelvemonth: 2011
Managing director: Sarah Smith
Stars: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy
Genre: Christmas, Adventure
Rating: PG

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Though this animated feature from Aardman and Sony Pictures Animation strays from Aardman's usual claymation (Wallace & Gromit) and claymation-simulating CGI (Flushed Away) style, this experience-proficient family unit motion picture works beautifully as vividly colorful Christmas treat. For children, the moving-picture show gives its own have on the historic period-old questions about Santa Claus—how does the old fella do it all in a unmarried night? (The respond, a is loftier-tech melange of spaceships, war machine precision, armies of elves, GPS systems, deluxe computer power stations, and more.) Watching the new and improved North Pole in action feels more than like scenes from an run a risk film than a family Christmas film, and makes for a delightful family viewing. Maryann Koopman Kelly

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fifteen. Vivo

Twelvemonth: 2021
Director: Kirk DeMicco, Brandon Jeffords
Stars: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldaña, Juan de Marcos González, Brian Tyree Henry, Gloria Estefan, Nicole Byer, Michael Rooker, Leslie David Baker, Katie Lowes, Olivia Trujillo, Lidya Jewett
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Rating: PG

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Lin-Manuel Miranda'southward gift with music is unparalleled. He has the unique ability to pair a rapid and clever turn of phrase with an infectious musical hook. The cadence of his vocalism conveys a longing and hopefulness which, it turns out, works if you lot are playing i of the founding fathers or an adorable animated brute. Miranda is the perfect choice to voice the title character in the new Netflix picture show Vivo. Vivo is a kinkajou, also known as "beloved bear," a rainforest animal in the raccoon family (although Vivo, with his jaunty chapeau and stylish scarf, is a lot cuter than a raccoon). Vivo spends his days performing with his owner Andrés (Juan de Marcos González) in Havana, Republic of cuba. Vivo thinks his life and its comfortable predictability is perfect. (Viewers can understand Vivo, but to Andrés and everyone else in the movie, Vivo speaks in adorable coos and gibberish.) One 24-hour interval Andrés gets a letter from his old love Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan) asking if he will perform with her one last time at her farewell performance in Miami. Andrés finds the dear song he wrote for her years agone and decides he must go the song to her. Alas, a tragedy prevents Andrés from making this journeying and Vivo decides he must exit the security of the world he knows to get this song to Marta. Vivo's travels take him from Havana to Primal West to the Everglades to Miami. Along the way he meets Gabi (Ynairaly Simo), a confident, purple-haired 10-year-old who is non in the mood to exist like all the other girls. Vivo serves every bit a vibrant love alphabetic character to Cuba, Florida and the people who inhabit them. The more than diversity shown in movies aimed at children, the better. Fifty-fifty if this version of Florida is zilch like what we are seeing in the news these days, I'thou all for this aspirational Florida. Office adventure, part contemplative romance—alongside some dainty lessons imparted most friendship, family and taking risks—Vivo is enjoyable and familiar. Information technology probably isn't a children's picture we will still be talking well-nigh years from now, merely I will at least be singing "My Ain Drum" for days. —Amy Amatangelo

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xvi. Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Yr: 2014
Managing director: Rob Minkoff
Stars: Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Isle of mann, Ariel Wintertime, Patrick Warburton
Genre: Animation, Family, Chance, Comedy
Rating: PG
Runtime: 92 minutes

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Mr. Peabody & Sherman is a reminder that Hollywood'south obsession with reboots/revivals/re-imaginings tin be done right. The characters originated on the beloved '60s cartoon series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and the track record for bringing segments from that bear witness to the big screen is pretty dreadful. Peabody managing director Rob Minkoff (The Panthera leo Male monarch, Stuart Piffling) makes the wise choice of keeping the new film strictly animated, no live action needed. That decision both respects the original textile and frees upward the possibilities for a story that begins with a wacky premise—a dog, Mr. Peabody, who happens to exist a certified genius adopts a human boy, Sherman, every bit his son—and gets crazier from at that place as the duo travel through fourth dimension in Mr. Peabody's WABAC machine (that'due south pronounced "way-dorsum"). He'due south a sort of doggie Doctor Who, although his travels are confined to World. The original Peabody shorts are known for their smart, pun-driven humor and amusing riffs on history and culture, all of which is retained here. —Geoff Berkshire

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17. John Mulaney & the Sack Tiffin Bunch

Year: 2019
Manager: Rhys Thomas
Stars: John Mulaney, Alexander Bello, Tyler Bourke, Ava Briglia, Cordelia Comando
Genre: One-act
Rating: Goggle box-PG
Runtime: lxx minutes

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"You know who's honest—drunks and children." John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch opens with these immortal words past Erika Jayne of Real Housewives fame, which accurately sets upward what y'all are about to watch: a kids evidence made by adults with kids present. But what Mulaney'southward nostalgia-soaked special delivers is more honest than whatsoever children's programming earlier it. How is it honest? Well, information technology's mostly well-nigh death. Similar, there is a lot of talking and singing near death, which seems odd for a children'south show until you remember every fairy tale you've ever seen Disney-ified. The bigger question coming into this special was how the pre-teen actors would fair sharing the screen with ane of the decade'due south best stand-up comedians. The Sack Lunch Bunch'south collective performance wholly encapsulates the special's overall artful of being professional yet playful, equally balancing between adults-but and all-ages humor. The kids clearly plant themselves equally talented actors and singers while still reminding viewers that they are in fact kids who just happen to also act and not mini Daniel Solar day Lewises who spend their Saturdays cocky-taping for A24 films. It's less Dakota Fanning in Uptown Girls and more Amy Poehler equally Dakota Fanning on SNL's "The Dakota Fanning Testify" sketch. They love Hannah Gadsby's Nanette and recognize Fran Lebowitz on-site but their dancing is just amateur enough to not feel overly-produced while their hilariously frank confessions in a serial of interviews in which they are asked about their biggest fears are authentic and endearing. They keep the mood light and fun, but like a children's prove should. A joyous mixture of lightheaded humor and niche references makes John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Agglomeration the well-nigh entertaining Netflix original of last year. —Olivia Cathcart

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18. Wish Dragon

Year: 2021
Director: Chris Appelhans
Stars: Jimmy Wong, John Cho, Constance Wu, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jimmy O. Yang, Aaron Yoo, Will Yun Lee, Ronny Chieng
Genre: Blitheness, Adventure, Comedy
Rating:
Runtime: minutes

Lookout on Netflix

Produced by Sony, Tencent and more, Wish Dragon is Netflix'due south newest animated moving-picture show and the characteristic debut of Chinese studio Base Blitheness. It'south likewise the directorial debut of children's book author and illustrator Chris Appelhans, who as well wrote the motion-picture show'due south script. There'due south a lot to love in Wish Dragon. It'due south got beautiful characters, a sweet—if oversimplified—message and a pleasant animation style, all of which are hard to hate. Ready in modernistic China, the picture follows sugariness but naïve college child Din (Jimmy Wong), who is obsessed with reconnecting with his childhood friend and love interest, Li Na (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Fortunately for him, he comes across a magical teapot that contains the titular "Wish Dragon" Long (John Cho), who tin—say it with me hither—grant him iii wishes. Killing people and making others fall in beloved with you are still no-gos, but obviously bringing them dorsum from the expressionless is fine. Just no time travel. The genie-in-a-bottle story is one that's been washed ad nauseum, and it feels like Wish Dragon copies 90% of Aladdin. We have a magical existence who provides much of the movie'south comedy through his theatrical movements, a boy who uses his wishes to impress a girl from a much richer family who yearns for life outside of her highly controlled surround, and an evil grouping who chases after the hero in order to apply the teapot for their own schemes. The different environment and fourth dimension period helps shake things upwards, but information technology all the same feels unavoidably derivative. —Joseph Stanichar

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19. Modest Heroes

Year: 2019
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Yoshiyuki Momose, Akihiko Yamashita, Takuya Okada
Stars: Fumino Kimura, Rio Suzuki, Masaki Terasoma, Machiko Ono
Genre: Anime, Fantasy, Drama
Rating: PG
Runtime: 53 minutes

Short film anthologies are some of the most impressive showcases of boundary-pushing visual storytelling in blitheness, let alone Japanese animation. A cursory glance of anime anthologies produced within just the final 30 years is enough: From Masao Maruyama and Rintaro's 1987 motion-picture show Labyrinth Tales (known in the West every bit Neo Tokyo), to Katsuhiro Otomo's 1995 moving-picture show Memories, to even the 2003 American-Japanese co-production Animatrix, anthologies stand the examination of fourth dimension not only as landmarks of anime history, simply as a vital venue through which to facilitate the introduction of new and exciting talent into the animation industry. With this mind, director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, along with former Ghibli animators Yoshiyuki Momose (The Tale of The Princess Kaguya) and Akihiko Yamashita (Howl's Moving Castle), have pooled their significant creativity to create a new installment in the storied lineage of prestige anime anthologies: Modest Heroes, the first volume in Studio Ponoc'south series of blithe brusque films. "Kanini & Kanino," directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, is the first and virtually explicitly "Ghibli-esque" of the anthology's three shorts. Following the story of a pair of anthropomorphic crab children living at the lesser of a riverbed, the short could be interpreted as something of a reprise of Yonebayashi's directorial debut, the 2010 film The Hugger-mugger Globe of Arrietty, although this fourth dimension conceived and written entirely by himself. The anthology's 2d brusk, directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, is the volume'southward most poignant installment and, arguably, the true namesake of Minor Heroes. "Life Own't Gonna Lose" tells of a young mother and her son Shun, a happy and otherwise unassuming piddling male child built-in with a debilitating nutrient allergy to eggs. "Life Ain't Gonna Lose" sets a high bar for the flick going forward, but the anthology's concluding short, "Invisible," manages to meet and yet even surpass those expectations. Directed by Akihiko Yamashita, known not merely for his prior work on Howl's Moving Castle, but also as a character designer on Yasuhiro Imagawa'due south Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still, "Invisible" follows the story of a human being who struggles with a condition that seemingly renders him completely unnoticeable to every person he comes across. Modest Heroes is a satisfying sophomore effort from Studio Ponoc, a collection of shorts that, together, resonate with the sentiment of that about joyous and mettlesome of adages fabricated famous by the likes of Rod Serling: "...there's nothing mightier than the meek."—Toussaint Egan

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20. Puss in Boots

Twelvemonth: 2011
Director: Chris Miller
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis
Genre: Animation, Take chances
Rating: PG
Runtime: 90 minutes

Picket on Netflix

This swashbuckling kitty is both suave (since he's voiced by Antonio Banderas) and impossibly cute. He can bend anyone to his volition with his big kitten optics and fifty-fifty out-cutes a trio of kittens in this Shrek spinoff that takes Puss up the beanstalk into the Country of Giants to get the Golden Goose. —Sharon Knolle

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21. Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling

Twelvemonth: 2019
Directors: Joe Murray, Cosmo Segurson
Stars: Carlos Alazraqui, Tom Kenny, Charlie Adler, Jill Talley
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Rating: Boob tube-Y7
Runtime: 45 minutes

Watch on Netflix

It'due south been 23 years since Rocko's Modern Life went off the air. A progenitor of SpongeBob SquarePants, with much of the bandage and creative team moving on from one show to the adjacent, the satire was Nickelodeon's in-house reply to its more troublesome The Ren & Stimpy Bear witness. And it was abrupt. Deranged. Relatable. Ripped from the daily lives of its writers and dissimilar any other cartoon airing on Tv set. And then at present, with the 45-minute special Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling coming to Netflix, how does the original spirit of the show persist? Like any good revival, it makes a betoken of being familiar but different. Original creator Joe Murray is back on writing and directing duties, aslope all the voice actors (Carlos Alazraqui, Tom Kenny, and Mr. Lawrence) returning to play Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt. The companions, who would feel right at home in either Role Space or a zoo, have been canonically lost in space for two decades since the serial finale and finally figure out a style dorsum to Earth. These cartoonish Rips Van Winkle didn't miss the American Revolution, merely they certainly missed plenty. With a meta plotline about the cancellation and subsequent rebooting of a beloved cartoon, Static Cling isn't afraid to be self-effacing near the revival process—or poke a little fun at the fanatical cult audience that got it a second run at Netflix in the first place. Much of what made the show a fan-favorite is however here. Its color-packed, neo-Fleischer Brothers animation (with surreal, askew Chuck Jones backgrounds and images that are but funny enough not to be disturbing, like Rocko's visible optic fretfulness when his eyes flying out of his head) and expansive vocabulary residual its fart gags and butt jokes. Information technology's warm and nostalgic, but but in the sense that its aesthetic maintains a dedication to strangeness. Static Cling is mostly Murray and his team building to their finish. It's them deciding that when Netflix gives you a pulpit, well dammit, you lot scream your lungs out well-nigh what matters. So you lot tip your lid and thank everyone for their fourth dimension. Information technology'southward a wish for the future—the special even redistributes the wealth by the finale—masquerading as a render to the past. And it, in the immortal words of Heffer, was a hoot. —Jacob Oller

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22. The Willoughbys

Twelvemonth: 2020
Director: Kris Pearn, co-directors Cory Evans and Rob Lodermeier
Stars: Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Alessia Cara, Terry Crews, Martin Curt, Jane Krakowski, Seán Cullen, Ricky Gervais
Genre: Activity, Comedy
Rating: PG
Runtime: 90 minutes

Watch on Netflix

Netflix's oddball Lois Lowry adaptation from director Kris Pearn and co-directors Cory Evans and Rob Lodermeier, The Willoughbys delights in subverting expectations for your traditional family-based animated movie. A plot based around children looking to "orphan" themselves by sending their terrible, abusive, overly lovey-dovey (to each other) parents on a serial of increasingly dangerous vacations certainly doesn't have that slick Disney sheen. For those looking for something a niggling unlike, or those with kids a little darker and weirder than those obsessed with cleaned and pressed fairy tale fare, it's hard to go wrong with the funny and often beautiful Willoughbys. Smart writing, with sharp jokes and intriguingly lightheaded characters (voiced by emphatic all-stars like Volition Forte and Maya Rudolph) give the rounded, yarny designs plenty of energy and unending amusement value—fifty-fifty every bit the film meanders through detour after detour. A jazzy score from Mark Mothersbaugh pushes farther pep, though all that carbohydrate-blitz free energy would be wasted without its fun, original messaging and story beats. With a few heartwarmers woven in, the film maintains its A Series of Unfortunate Events-esque meanness with a deadpanned straight face up all the way to its tonally apt ending. —Jacob Oller

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23. A Whisker Away

Year: 2020
Director: Junichi Sato, Tomotaka Shibayama
Stars: Mirai Shida, Natsuki Hanae, Hiroaki Ogi, Koichi Yamadera,Minako Kotobuki
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Rating: Television receiver-PG
Runtime: 104 minutes

Watch on Netflix

There have been creepier things done in movies than magically turning into a cat in club to go closer to your beat, just those are few and far betwixt. It'south not exactly standing outside a window with a boombox. But in directors Junichi Sato and Tomotaka Shibayama's A Whisker Away, even this bonkers premise yields beauty and touching romance. Mari Okada's script deftly leaps the anime through some emotional loops, running information technology through crinkly toy tunnels, ultimately landing its silly premise—replete with a troupe of angsty, depressed middle schoolers—in emotional honesty. A dash of otherworldly magic from the canon of Miyazaki (a corpulent face-dealing cat and an unabridged invisible cat-world) mixes well with some honest dives into the mental health issues of its characters (not quite every bit deeply and darkly equally Neon Genesis Evangelion, but with a similarly stylish flair). While the characters are a niggling annoying when you run into them—they're middle schoolers, after all—the truth behind the writing manages to shine through, all the while impressing usa with its realistic fauna animation and stunning depictions of smaller-town Tokoname life. —Jacob Oller

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24. The Nut Job

Year: 2014
Director: Peter Lepeniotis
Stars: Volition Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Gabriel Iglesias
Genre: Comedy
Rating: PG
Runtime: 85 minutes

Watch on Netflix

Who knew that in the metropolis parks across America, all the furry vermin who skitter, forage and burrow exist in a grand interlocked society built effectually the procedure of collecting a communal horde for hibernation season? Equally nutty as that might sound (or not), it'southward the crux of Peter Lepeniotis'southward richly animated misadventure that evokes The Wind and the Willows (if funneled through a rigorous round of urban planning). Much salt and flavour is added to the archetypal recipe and as a result, The Nut Task is an energetic, however mixed purse. The impressive iii-D result adds subtle enriching depth, but the parallel man story well-nigh a agglomeration of no-cervix thugs and their pet pug trying to pull off a bank heist is done with an odd noir-ish flare. And Surly the squirrel (voiced by Will Arnett) is a self-centered outlier who tries to spin everything to his reward without contributing to the bigger social proficient. He's got a few supporters in Andie (Katherine Heigl), the fob-colored squirrel with a fiery temperament and love involvement potential, and Buddy, the tacit just sugariness rat, proving over again that the detested carrier of the plague can in fact endear on screen. Throw in Precious (Maya Rudolph) the tail-twerking pug assigned to rid the robbers of their fur-ball nemeses (however instantaneously subservient to the holder of a shiny high-pitched dog whistle) and Raccoon (Liam Neeson), the gruff leader of Liberty Park with many agendas in play and an Aroused Bird (big head, little torso and a nasty peck) on his shoulder, and much circumvolution ensues. The result yields some sprite comedic darts and just plenty kibbles for both sides of the family unit viewing equation. —Tom Meek

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25. Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus

Year: 2017
Director: David Soren
Stars: Richard Steven Horvitz, Rosearik Rikki Simons, Andy Berman
Rating: PG
Runtime: 71 minutes

Watch on Netflix

At a fourth dimension when original Nickelodeon cartoons included Rocket Power and The Fairly Oddparents, Invader Zim was the network'southward try to concenter the slightly older Cartoon Network crowd. They wanted something edgy and a petty bizarre. They got it tenfold with Jhonen Vasquez, a comic-book writer and cartoonist whose previous projects included the hyper-violent comic series Johnny: The Homicidal Bedlamite, Squee and I Feel Sick. His concept for Nickelodeon was simple: Invader Zim was the story of naive but psychotic Zim, the smallest member of an conflicting species in which social hierarchy is determined by height, who is assigned to conquer an insignificant planet on the outskirts of the universe: Globe. Although dispatched but to collect underground surveillance and stay out of the way, Zim—along with his malfunctioning erratic robot drone, GIR—decides to conquer our planet himself. Nonetheless, all his attempts to accept over are either thwarted by his own inexperience or by Dib, a young paranormal investigator who realizes Zim is an alien. Now, a new Netflix motion-picture show brings back Zim and his maniacal laugh, along with the prove's original creator and vocalization cast. Set in a nearly time to come after Dib has grown feeble and disgusting later on months of doing cipher merely watching his surveillance monitors for a sign of Zim, whose been hiding in a toilet with his useless pizza-loving robot sidekick GIR—Stage I of his evil programme. If merely he could remember Phase Two. With Zib demoralized, Dib'southward goal shifts from saving the world to finally getting credit for doing so—particularly from his begetter. But teaming up with Zim proves to be a very bad thought. The new film captures the gloriously dark applesauce of the original with moments similar GIR inspiring the children of the world with his song near peace…and chicken and rice…and alternate-realities colliding that include a variety of illustration styles and even claymation. —James Charisma and Josh Jackson

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Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/best-kids-family-movies-on-netflix/

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