101 Kids Movies to Watch Before Age 12
The essential movie list for preparing your children to become knowledgeable pop culture aficionados.
It is my firm belief that a core responsibility of my parenting duties is to ensure that my kids go out into the world with a solid foundation of pop culture understanding. Because I am a Virgo, Type A, Enneagram 1, first-born daughter—this obviously led to a list.
This list is meant to be guide on the journey of a child’s pop culture education. These are the essentials; the classics. Is it comprehensive? No, it is not. It’s very brief. There are obviously a lot more movies that could have been included. But these are the ones that kids need to watch, lest they be ridiculed for not knowing the reference that everyone else in polite society knows about.
Disclaimer Number One: there are zero Disney Animation and Pixar movies included. Those are obvious, and usually the go-to for younger children. With the advent of Disney+, those classics are now easily available to everyone.
Disclaimer Number Two: the age guidelines are a suggestion. Please adjust accordingly for your own family and kids.
Disclaimer Number Three: context matters. Watching movies with your kids is more than just zoning out in front of the tv for a couple hours. This is a chance to have discussions, and talk about topics that movies bring up. Gone With The Wind is a classic movie that I’ve included here…and it’s highly problematic, which deserves a lot of dialogue when you watch it for the first time. Take these opportunities to chat with your kids about what they’re watching.
The reason I’m so passionate about this is because it was such an essential part of my own childhood. We did not have cable TV until I was 17 years old, so I didn’t have access to watch whatever I wanted. When my family sat down to watch a movie, my dad would get so excited, and explain exactly why this movie was a classic, and that he just knew we would love it.
A time that really stands out in my memory is when my siblings and I watched Blazing Saddles for the first time (obviously not an under age 12 movie). My dad was so pumped to show us his favorite Mel Brooks movie—but he also gave a lecture beforehand about why this movie was satire, and why we couldn’t repeat the words we were about to hear. Again, providing context matters. Discussing sometimes uncomfortable topics is worthwhile. This is part of the magic of movies. Not only to entertain us, but to also make us think, evaluate, and question. These are skills I want my kids to have.
101 Kids Movies to Watch Before Age 12
[printable version available here]
AGES 6 and UNDER
1. The Muppet Movie (1979)
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
3. The Grinch (2018)
4. Babe (1995)
5. Mary Poppins (1964)
6. Charlotte’s Web (2006)
7. The Secret Garden (1993)
8. The Sound of Music (1965)
9. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
10. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
11. Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
12. The Iron Giant (1999)
13. A Little Princess (1995)
14. Annie (1982)
15. Matilda (1996)
16. Enchanted (2007)
17. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
18. Parent Trap (1999)
19. Fern Gully (1992)
20. Hello, Dolly! (1969)
21. Homeward Bound (1993)
22. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
23. The LEGO Movie (2014)
24. Free Willy (1993)
25. Paddington 2 (2018)
26. Despicable Me (2010)
27. The Brave Little Toaster (1987)
28. Ice Age (2002)
AGES 7-9
29. Jumanji (1995)
30. Zootopia(2016)
31. Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
32. The Big Green (1995)
33. Shrek (2001)
34. Home Alone (1990)
35. Fly Away Home (1998)
36. The Sandlot (1993)
37. Willow (1988)
38. Anne of Green Gables (1986)
39. Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
40. My Fair Lady (1964)
41. Anastasia (1997)
42. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
43. Elf (2003)
44. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
45. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
46. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
47. March of the Penguins (2005)
48. The Black Stallion (1979)
49. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
50. Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
51. The Princess Bride (1987)
52. A Christmas Story (1983)
53. The Princess Diaries (2001)
54. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
55. The Prince of Egypt (1998)
56. White Christmas (1954)
57. Newsies (1992)
58. Little Women (1994)
59. Roman Holiday (1953)
60. The Greatest Showman (2017)
61. The Neverending Story (1984)
62. Spirit (2002)
AGES 10-12
63. Sister Act (1992)
64. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
65. The Goonies (1985)
66. West Side Story (1961)
67. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
68. Back to the Future (1985)
69. Young Frankenstein (1974)
70. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
71. LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
72. The Karate Kid (1984)
73. Stand By Me (1986)
74. Big (1988)
75. Some Like It Hot (1959)
76. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981)
77. Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
78. Spider-man (2002)
79. Titanic (1997)
80. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
81. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
82. Jurassic Park (1993)
83. A League of Their Own (1992)
84. Remember the Titans (2000)
85. Grease (1978)
86. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
87. Hairspray (2007)
88. My Girl (1991)
89. Ghostbusters (1984)
90. Pride and Prejudice (2005)
91. Gone With the Wind (1939)
92. Casablanca (1942)
93. The Philadelphia Story (1941)
94. Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
95. An Affair to Remember (1957)
96. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
97. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
98. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
99. Now and Then (1995)
100. Hook (1991)
101. Ever After (1999)
What would you add, or take away? Discuss in the comments!
Solid list! I like the age breakdown. I was just thinking about that question of what is best to show your kids first, when they're really young. I narrowed it down to six options that I believe would be good: https://open.substack.com/pub/familycinema/p/family-films-where-to-start
Good list. My two boys are now older than 13 and they've watched many of these. Any movies made before the 80s are usually no-gos for them. Star Wars and Monty Python were the exceptions. I actually did try watching GWTW with them, but they only lasted a 1/2 hour before declaring it was too boring and they wanted to do something else. Interestingly, they much preferred Home Alone 2 or 3 to the first one! Now that they are in their teens they are very particular about what they want to spend their time watching and it is usually action or comedy movies, particularly the Marvel movies.