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When it comes to entertaining the whole family, Netflix has your back. The streamer’s vast library has both animated and live-action films to delight every age. There are talking animals, of course — cats, crocodiles, baby dinosaurs, and elderly lizards — as well as fairy-tale heroes, dangerous robots, and two modern classics set in the Lego universe.
Here’s your guide to the best kids’ movies on Netflix right now.
A Whisker Away (2020)
Where to watch A Whisker Away: Netflix
Director: Junichi Sato, Tomotaka Shibayama
Cast: Cherami Leigh, Johnny Yong Bosch, Robert Buchholz, Keith Silverstein
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
Where to watch Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Netflix
Director: Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Cast: Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Christoph Waltz
Related content: Guillermo del Toro explains why his Pinocchio has so much fascism in it
The Lego Movie (2014)
Where to watch The Lego Movie: Netflix
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Cast: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Will Ferrell
Related content: Chris Pratt covers “Everything Is Awesome” as Parks and Recreation’s Andy Dwyer
The Land Before Time (1988)
If your kids are in their dinosaur phase, they’ll love this adventure film about an orphaned apatosaurus searching for a new home. When Littlefoot’s mother dies and an earthquake separates him from the herd, he must use all his courage to travel to the Great Valley, where he’ll find food and rest. Along the way, he links up with four other lost dino-children, each with their own quirks and personalities, whom he bonds with on their voyage through the unfriendly prehistoric environment. Clever character animation will make it difficult for you to choose your favorite of the five friends (probably Petrie).
Where to watch The Land Before Time: Netflix
Director: Don Bluth
Cast: Gabriel Damon, Candace Hutson, Judith Barsi, Will Ryan
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Released last summer when everyone came down with a bad case of superhero fatigue, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was the standout exception: a costumed crime-fighter movie that captured audiences’ attention with its strong storyline, richly-defined character arcs, and knockout visuals. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a teenage Spider-Man, joins Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) on a journey into the multiverse, where he meets a dizzying array of alternate Spider-People and discovers that they’re not all on the same side. EW’s critic writes that the movie “totally exceeds expectations when it comes to visual aesthetic and character development.”
Where to watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson
Cast: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Jake Johnson
Related content: How Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk became the coolest character in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Shrek (2001)
Once upon a time, when DreamWorks Animation was just an upstart competitor to Disney and Pixar, this fairy-tale satire surprised audiences with its cheeky subversion of the cartoon status quo. More than 20 years later, Shrek is still fresh and funny, with impeccable voice acting by Mike Myers as the furious green ogre; Eddie Murphy as his motor-mouth companion Donkey; Cameron Diaz as a not-so-helpless damsel in distress; and John Lithgow as a diminutive dictator. EW’s critic cheered, “Shrek lives happily ever after because it’s such a feisty but good-natured embrace of the inner ogre in everyone, and such an irreverent smackdown of the Establishment in all its ‘heigh-ho’ tyranny.”
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow
Related content: Shrek 5 officially announced with Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz returning
Nimona (2023)
In this science-fiction/fantasy epic, Nimona stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a rebellious young shapeshifter looking for a cause to fight for — preferably a messy, chaotic one. Hearing about a knight (Riz Ahmed) unfairly accused of killing the queen, Nimona appoints herself his new sidekick. Her ability to turn into any kind of animal — cycling between ostrich, squirrel, wolf, and whale, among others — gives her a special kind of freedom, even if other people consider her a monster. EW’s critic observed, “The story admiringly delves into how such monsters are in fact created by a society that refuses to accept their differences.”
Where to watch Nimona: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy
Related content: The story of Nimona, the groundbreaking animated film that refused to die
The Sea Beast (2022)
Jacob Holland (Karl Urban) is tasked with hunting down the beasts in a kingdom threatened by enormous sea monsters. But when an orphan girl named Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) stows away on his voyage to kill the legendary Red Bluster, she helps Jacob discover that the creatures may be misunderstood. The Sea Beast was Netflix’s most-watched original animated film, thanks to its exciting sea battles, the mismatched heroes’ odd-couple chemistry, and the imaginatively rendered aquatic behemoths that range from cuddly to terrifying.
Where to watch The Sea Beast: Netflix
Director: Chris Williams
Cast: Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator, Jared Harris
Vivo (2021)
Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda composed the songs and voices the title character in Vivo. It’s the story of a singing kinkajou tasked with granting an old man’s final wish: to deliver a romantic song to the man’s lost love, all the way from Havana to Miami. Along the way, Vivo befriends an impulsive oddball, 10-year-old Gabi (Ynairaly Simo), whose passion for music far exceeds her actual talent. The pair travel by bike, bus, and boat to the journey’s end, accompanied by Miranda’s tunes. EW’s critic observed that the movie “delivers as an energetic caper, moving from one colorful locale to another.”
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Kirk DeMicco, Brandon Jeffords
Cast: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ynairaly Simo, Zoe Saldaña, Juan de Marcos, Gloria Estefan
Orion and the Dark (2024)
People say you should face your fears, but what happens when they face you? One night, Orion (Jacob Tremblay), an overly anxious 11-year-old, is confronted with his worst nightmare when the spirit of Dark (Paul Walter Hauser) appears in his bedroom, introduces himself, and says he wants to be friends. Dark introduces him to the other night entities — Quiet, Sleep, Sweet Dreams, and Unexplained Noises — but Orion is more interested in the cocky, self-involved Light (Ike Barinholtz). Ultimately, it’s up to an adult Orion’s young daughter Hypatia (Mia Akemi Brown) to restore the balance of nature in this thoughtful, multi-generational fable.
Where to watch Orion and the Dark: Netflix
Director: Sean Charmatz
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Ike Barinholtz, Mia Akemi Brown
Over the Moon (2020)
Chinese mythology meets space-age imagination in this musical fantasy, which sends 15-year-old Fei Fei in a homemade fireworks-powered rocket to the moon. Traveling with her white rabbit and an obnoxious stowaway step-brother, Fei Fei meets the pop star moon goddess Chang’e, who demands a gift that will bring back her lost love. Lunaria, the moon city, is a luscious riot of color and song, all neon energy and inspired visual flourishes. There’s a high-stakes rap battle ping-pong competition, a touching moon-rabbit love story, and a gentle examination of loss and grief experienced by humans, mythological figures, and fantasy creatures alike.
Where to watch Over the Moon: Netflix
Director: Glen Keane
Cast: Cathy Ang, Phillipa Soo, Ken Jeong, Robert G. Chiu
Related content: With Over the Moon, a Disney legend directs his first movie
Leo (2023)
In this charming musical comedy, Leo features Adam Sandler as a 74-year-old reptile who realizes he’s wasted his life sitting in a tank as a fifth-grade class pet. He dreams of escaping to the Everglades but only gets as far as the bedroom of whichever student takes him home for the weekend. On one trip, he accidentally reveals that he can talk, and ends up offering a girl advice on how to become more popular. Soon, every kid in class is confiding in Leo, as he shares the benefits of his many years observing young humans.
Director: Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, David Wachtenheim
Cast: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)
The Mitchells — Rick and Linda, with their daughter Katie and young son Aaron — take an impromptu cross-country road trip to bring Katie to film school. Rick and Katie have a hard time getting along, but when a disgruntled high-tech AI assistant programs an army of home robots to capture all humans, father and daughter must work together to shut the bots down and free humanity. A high-energy comedy adventure, The Mitchells vs. the Machines combines a well-observed portrayal of dysfunctional family dynamics with apocalyptic themes and biting satire about our tech-obsessed culture.
Where to watch The Mitchells vs. the Machines: Netflix
Director: Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe
Cast: Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda
Related content: Danny McBride takes on technology in The Mitchells vs. The Machines and real life
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019)
In this treat from Aardman Animations, a flying saucer brings a new friend to Shaun the Sheep’s tranquil farm: Lu-La, a lavender dog-alien with tentacles, levitation powers, and a ravenous sweet tooth. The creature turns out to be a child trying to find her way home, and she’s being pursued by pleasantly bumbling agents from the Ministry of Alien Detection. The plot may be a familiar retread of E.T. and Close Encounters, but the story is presented in the charming Aardman house style, with their trademark visual ingenuity and clockwork comic timing.
Where to watch A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon: Netflix
Director: Richard Phelan, Will Becher
Cast: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Amalia Vitale, Kate Harbour
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (2022)
Josh’s family has brought him to live in a New York City brownstone, and he struggles to adjust to his new home — until he discovers a friendly crocodile living in the attic. Lyle can’t speak, but his singing is terrific thanks to Shawn Mendes, who voices the croc. Josh’s parents soon grow accustomed to living with an enormous scaly beast, and things are further enlivened by the arrival of Lyle’s former owner Hector (Javier Bardem), an eccentric showman who still hopes to hit the big time with the tuneful reptile. Meanwhile, their grumpy neighbor threatens to split up this lively found family.
Where to watch Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile: Netflix
Director: Will Speck, Josh Gordon
Cast: Javier Bardem, Constance Wu, Shawn Mendes, Winslow Fegley
Related content: Javier Bardem is singing and dancing with a reptile, and loving it
Trolls (2016)
Where to watch Trolls: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Walt Dohrn, Mike Mitchell
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Gwen Stefani, James Corden
Related content: Trolls: How Justin Timberlake, Miyazaki inspired the directors
Yes Day (2021)
Where to watch Yes Day: Netflix
Director: Miguel Arteta
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Edgar Ramirez, Jenna Ortega, Julian Lerner
