The best kids and family movies on Netflix

Netflix has a wonderful amount of great content, and we are here to find the best kids’ movies on Netflix. While Disney Plus is now available with its huge library of content, that doesn’t mean you can’t find some great family movies on Netflix.

Read more: Best movies on Netflix

While you can still watch a few Disney movies for kids on Netflix at the moment, this list will go over the absolute best family movies on Netflix. There are still a couple of movies from the mouse house, but the rest are outside Disney. You can sign up for Netflix at the link below.

Best kids movies on Netflix

Editor’s note: We will update this list as more family movies on Netflix are added, and others are removed.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Is this movie one of the best kids and family films ever made? We think it is. The movie’s title hides the fact that it’s really about Charlie, a poor young boy who, like the rest of the world, gets caught up in the thrill of possibly winning one of five golden tickets being given out by the famed candy maker Willy Wonka. Charlie manages to find that final ticket, and he and the four other winners go into Wonka’s mysterious factory.

The visuals are still great over 50 years later, most of the songs are awesome, and Gene Wilder was never better than he was in the title role.

Jumanji

Before we got the more recent video game-inspired Jumaji games, we got this great 1995 family film. Two kids play an old board game and are surprised when a man, played by Robin Williams, suddenly pops out of it. They are even more surprised when wild jungle animals also start appearing. The kids have to finish the game to close back this portal, but can they and the rest of the town survive?

Labyrinth 

Jim Henson directed this 1986 fantasy movie, starring a young Jennifer Connelly as a teenager who has to rescue her infant half brother from a magical land. He’s being held by the Goblin King, played by the late David Bowie (and his excellent hair). Most of the other characters in this film are puppets made by Jim Henson’s famed Creature Shop.

Even though it’s over 50 years old, the puppets still hold up, and both Bowie and Connelly are excellent as the two main characters in conflict. It’s definitely one of the best kids movies on Netflix.

Enola Holmes

Stranger Things’ Millie Bobbie Brown has yet another hit character on her hands, after her role on the Netflix series as the psychic-powered teen Eleven. In this original Netflix movie, she plays the previously unrevealed younger sister to the great detective Sherlock Holmes. Enola Holmes has some mad skills, and she will need them to find her mother, who has just gone missing. It’s a lot of fun for any age to watch. It’s one of the best kids’ movies on Netflix.

The Mitchells Vs. The Machines

This 2021 family film centers on, ironically, a fairly ordinary family. The Mitchell family’s mother, father, daughter, and son all have their quirks, and you could even say it’s a slightly dysfunctional group. However, things change when an advanced AI is created and decides to take over all machines to destroy all humans. There’s just one family that can defeat this robot apocalypse, and that’s the Mitchells.

While there is lots of action in this animated film, it’s ultimately about how a family can come together to help each other.

Read more: Best Netflix animated movies

Over the Moon

Glen Keane, who helped animate some of the best Disney hand-drawn animated films (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin), directed this Netflix original CGI film. It centers on Fei Fei, a young Chinese girl who builds a rocket to the Moon to prove that the ancient Moon goddess Chang’e is real. While the trip to the Moon doesn’t go quite as planned, Fei Fei does arrive at her destination, but then things take a turn. This is a great hidden gem and one of the best kids’ movies on Netflix.

Kung Fu Panda

This entertaining animated film is set in a mystical Asian-inspired world where animals are intelligent, and some are martial arts masters. When an evil force tries to take over the valley, the one hope is a somewhat lazy panda, voiced by Jack Black. Can he learn martial arts moves well enough to defeat this evil once and for all?

Klaus

This 2019 Netflix original movie was nominated for the Best Animated Movie of that year at the Academy Awards. This movie is basically an origin story for Santa Claus. A postman who lives in the far northern areas of the world hooks up with Klaus, a humble toymaker. Together, they start sending toys to local children, and soon Klaus starts to develop into the Santa Claus we all know and love. It may be a “Christmas movie,” but it’s still one of the best kids’ movies on Netflix.

We Can Be Heroes

This movie is the sequel to 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. This sequel shows how those two young superheroes are now grown up and have their own kids. However, aliens have arrived to kidnap the duo and other adult superheroes, and now it’s up to their children to save them.

Other cast members include Priyanka Chopra, Christian Slater, and the original Lavagirl Taylor Dooley. Taylor Lautner, who played Sharkboy in the original film, doesn’t appear in this sequel, with a body double taking his place in a small cameo.

Gremlins

This is a bit darker and scarier movie than most on this list, but sometimes great kids’ movies can also be scary. It starts off very cute as a father takes a mysterious Mogwil furry creature home to his family. The animal does have a few rules that humans need to follow to help take care of it. Unfortunately, those rules are quickly broken. The creature multiplies, and his “offspring” turn into vile-looking creatures. Can they all be taken care of before they destroy the small town?

Honorable mentions

Watched all the movies on our list? Here are some more great kids movies on Netflix you can stream and watch with your children:

• Yes Day — A mom and dad agree to their kids’ request to do anything their children ask them to do for one day. Hilarity ensues.
• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island — Dwayne Johnson stars in this Jules Verne-inspired movie about a family group trapped on an island.
• Greater — Based on the true story of a boy who transforms himself from a lousy college football player into a member of the All-American team.
• Rise of the Guardians — Mythical characters like Santa, the Tooth Fairy, and more team up to save the children of Earth from an evil threat.
• Wish Dragon — This is an entertaining animated movie from Asia, mainly based on the Aladdin myth.

These are the best kids’ movies on Netflix you can watch right now, in our opinion. We’ll make sure to update this post with new titles once they hit the streaming service.