Feel-Good Family Movies
by raze893 | created - 17 Aug 2013 | updated - 17 Apr 2023 | PublicThis is a list of light-hearted comedies and dramas that are great for the whole family to enjoy. I created this list to focus on films that are upbeat, positive and kid friendly, but still entertaining for adults. Also, I have confined my list to only live action, claymation, and stop-motion films to keep it brief. As I am a new parent myself, I would greatly appreciate any recommended additions-new or old-to this list. Hope you enjoy!-AJC
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1. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama
After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein
Votes: 291,067 | Gross: $219.20M
2. What About Bob? (1991)
PG | 99 min | Comedy
A successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo
Votes: 74,485 | Gross: $63.71M
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
PG | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Four teenage mutant ninja turtles emerge from the shadows to protect New York City from a gang of criminal ninjas.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais, David Forman
Votes: 104,851 | Gross: $135.27M
4. The Addams Family (1991)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Fantasy
Con artists plan to fleece an eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long-lost uncle.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya
Votes: 180,015 | Gross: $113.50M
5. Addams Family Values (1993)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy
The Addams Family try to rescue their beloved Uncle Fester from his gold-digging new love, a black widow named Debbie.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack
Votes: 109,626 | Gross: $48.92M
6. Matilda (1996)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress.
Director: Danny DeVito | Stars: Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Mara Wilson, Embeth Davidtz
Votes: 174,669 | Gross: $33.08M
7. The Witches (1990)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A young boy stumbles onto a witch convention and must stop them, even after he has been turned into a mouse.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling, Jasen Fisher, Rowan Atkinson
Votes: 54,670 | Gross: $10.36M
8. Uncle Buck (1989)
PG | 100 min | Comedy
Laid back commitment-phobe Buck babysits his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her cute younger brother and sister.
Director: John Hughes | Stars: John Candy, Macaulay Culkin, Jean Louisa Kelly, Gaby Hoffmann
Votes: 107,758 | Gross: $66.76M
9. James and the Giant Peach (1996)
PG | 79 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
An orphan who lives with his two cruel aunts befriends anthropomorphic bugs who live inside a giant peach, and they embark on a journey to New York City.
Director: Henry Selick | Stars: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Pete Postlethwaite, Simon Callow
Votes: 74,013 | Gross: $28.93M
10. Dutch (1991)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
To get to know his girlfriend's son, a working-class good guy volunteers to pick him up from his prep school, only to learn that he isn't the nicest young man.
Director: Peter Faiman | Stars: Ed O'Neill, Ethan Embry, JoBeth Williams, Christopher McDonald
Votes: 14,370 | Gross: $4.60M
11. Home Alone (1990)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
Votes: 652,960 | Gross: $285.76M
12. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
PG | 120 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
One year after Kevin McCallister was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself stranded in New York City - and the same criminals are not far behind.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 402,620 | Gross: $173.59M
13. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
G | 100 min | Family, Fantasy, Musical
A poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.
Director: Mel Stuart | Stars: Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Peter Ostrum, Roy Kinnear
Votes: 227,426 | Gross: $4.00M
14. Mr. Mom (1983)
PG | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
After he's suddenly laid off, a husband switches roles with his wife. She returns to the workforce, and he becomes a stay-at-home dad, and he has to take care of three young children, a job he has no clue how to do.
Director: Stan Dragoti | Stars: Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Frederick Koehler, Taliesin Jaffe
Votes: 27,837 | Gross: $64.80M
15. Field of Dreams (1989)
PG | 107 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.
Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan
Votes: 128,155 | Gross: $64.43M
16. Beethoven (1992)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A slobbering St. Bernard becomes the center of attention for a loving family, but must contend with a dog-napping veterinarian and his henchmen.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Dean Jones, Nicholle Tom
Votes: 76,498 | Gross: $57.11M
17. The Great Outdoors (1988)
PG | 91 min | Comedy
A Chicago man and his family go camping with his obnoxious brother-in-law.
Director: Howard Deutch | Stars: Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Bening
Votes: 51,502 | Gross: $41.46M
18. Always (1989)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Brad Johnson, John Goodman
Votes: 32,803 | Gross: $43.86M
19. The Rocketeer (1991)
PG | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton
Votes: 61,783 | Gross: $46.70M
20. The Canterville Ghost (1996 TV Movie)
PG | 92 min | Family, Drama, Fantasy
When an American family moves into a haunted mansion in England, the family's teenage daughter could be the key in fulfilling a prophecy and finally set the house's ghost free.
Director: Syd Macartney | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Neve Campbell, Joan Sims, Donald Sinden
Votes: 2,840
21. Father of the Bride (1950)
Not Rated | 92 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The father of a young woman deals with the emotional pain of her getting married, along with the financial and organizational trouble of arranging the wedding.
Director: Vincente Minnelli | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor, Don Taylor
Votes: 12,537 | Gross: $8.84M
22. Father of the Bride (1991)
PG | 105 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
With his oldest daughter's wedding approaching, a father finds himself reluctant to let go.
Director: Charles Shyer | Stars: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short, Kimberly Williams-Paisley
Votes: 84,264 | Gross: $89.33M
23. Marty (1955)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
A middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.
Director: Delbert Mann | Stars: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti, Augusta Ciolli
Votes: 27,031
24. Forever Young (1992)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
During a cryogenics test, a pilot frozen in 1939 awakes in 1992 but time is running out, as his body starts to age rapidly.
Director: Steve Miner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Isabel Glasser
Votes: 50,089 | Gross: $55.96M
25. The Kid (2000)
PG | 104 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An unhappy, disliked image consultant gets a second shot at life when he is mysteriously confronted by an eight-year-old version of himself.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin
Votes: 44,409 | Gross: $69.69M
26. Hocus Pocus (1993)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
A teenage boy named Max and his little sister move to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.
Director: Kenny Ortega | Stars: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz
Votes: 155,961 | Gross: $44.34M
27. The Dark Crystal (1982)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
On another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal, and to restore order to his world.
Directors: Jim Henson, Frank Oz | Stars: Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz
Votes: 71,481 | Gross: $40.58M
28. The Parent Trap (1961)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
Teenage twin sisters swap places and scheme to reunite their divorced parents.
Director: David Swift | Stars: Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Brian Keith, Charles Ruggles
Votes: 23,985
29. The Karate Kid (1984)
PG | 126 min | Action, Drama, Family
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove
Votes: 244,564 | Gross: $90.82M
30. The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)
G | 86 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn join Mark Twain on his airship to meet Halley's Comet.
Director: Will Vinton | Stars: James Whitmore, Michele Mariana, Gary Krug, Chris Ritchie
Votes: 3,401 | Gross: $0.85M
31. Casper (1995)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An afterlife therapist and his daughter meet a friendly young ghost when they move into a crumbling mansion in order to rid the premises of wicked spirits.
Director: Brad Silberling | Stars: Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle
Votes: 146,861 | Gross: $100.33M
32. Overboard (1987)
PG | 112 min | Comedy, Romance
A cruel but beautiful heiress mocks and cheats a hired carpenter. When she gets amnesia after an accident, he decides to introduce her to regular life by convincing her that they're husband and wife.
Director: Garry Marshall | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Edward Herrmann, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 67,902 | Gross: $26.71M
33. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,314 | Gross: $210.61M
34. Doc Hollywood (1991)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A young doctor on his way across the country to a job interview crashes his car in a small town and is sentenced to work for several days at the town hospital.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Julie Warner, Barnard Hughes, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 40,307 | Gross: $54.83M
35. Mousehunt (1997)
PG | 98 min | Comedy
Two stumblebum inheritors are determined to rid their antique house of a mouse who is equally determined to stay where he is.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Vicki Lewis, Maury Chaykin
Votes: 60,517 | Gross: $61.92M
36. Willow (1988)
PG | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young farmer is chosen to undertake a perilous journey in order to protect a special baby from an evil queen.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Warwick Davis, Jean Marsh
Votes: 129,908 | Gross: $57.27M
37. The Absent Minded Professor (1961)
Approved | 97 min | Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
A college professor invents an anti-gravity substance which a corrupt businessman wants for himself.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk
Votes: 9,283 | Gross: $25.38M
38. Blackbeard's Ghost (1968)
Approved | 106 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An unassuming track coach accidentally invokes the spirit of a notorious pirate long believed dead, and who must now team up to lay the pirate to rest, and save a local hotel from a mobster.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Elsa Lanchester
Votes: 6,756 | Gross: $10.90M
39. That Darn Cat! (1965)
Approved | 116 min | Comedy, Crime, Family
After a kidnapped bank teller uses a neighbor's wandering cat to send an S.O.S., the F.B.I. assigns a cat-allergic Agent to the case.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Hayley Mills, Dean Jones, Dorothy Provine, Roddy McDowall
Votes: 7,916 | Gross: $28.06M
40. Popeye (1980)
PG | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
The adventures of the famous sailor man and his friends in the seaside town of Sweethaven.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Ray Walston, Paul Dooley
Votes: 34,414 | Gross: $49.82M
41. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,752 | Gross: $2.08M
42. Harriet the Spy (1996)
PG | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. But when her friends find her secret notebook, the tables are turned on her. Can she win them back and still keep on going with the spy business?
Director: Bronwen Hughes | Stars: Michelle Trachtenberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Gregory Smith, Vanessa Chester
Votes: 11,064 | Gross: $26.54M