The 11 Best Family Movies Of 2024 So Far

At their best, films aimed at young kids can be enjoyed by adults as well and truly earn the "family movie" title. 2023 brought plenty of titles that fit the bill, from box office hits like "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and "Migration" to streaming treats like "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget" and "Leo."

Now it's 2024's turn to show us what it's got, and while the early months of the year tend to be pretty dry when it comes to family movies, as studios are holding them back for school vacations and long summer days, there are some fresh, funny, and heartwarming new releases on offer. From a new "Peanuts" special to a fantasy movie filled with dragon-related perils to the latest high-flying antics of "Kung Fu Panda," here are the best family movies of 2024 so far.

As you might be able to guess from the name, "The Casagrandes Movie" is connected to a TV show ("The Casagrandes"), which itself is a spin-off of another TV show ("The Loud House"). But school's out for the summer — in the movie, at least — which means there's no homework required and you can just dive right in. Despite the large ensemble of Casagrandes family members featured, "The Casagrandes Movie" is really a tale in the spirit of "A Goofy Movie," with a central focus on the strained relationship between a parent keen to get in some bonding time with their kid, and a kid who's old enough to want to go off and do their own thing.

Actually, it's a two-fer. The movie opens with Punguari (Paulina Chávez), demigoddess of the moon, feeling frustrated that her parents don't recognize that she's 12,000 years old and ready to become a full god. Punguari decides to take matters into her own hands, with earth-splitting results. 800 years later we meet Ronnie Anne Santiago (Izabella Alvarez), who feels frustrated that her mother doesn't recognize that she's 12 years old and ready to spend the summer acquiring cool and gruesome injuries at Xtreme Eddie's Sick and Twisted 12 and Over Skatepark. Instead, Ronnie Anne gets whisked off in a cramped minivan to go and visit her great-grandmother in Mexico and learn about her heritage. With a little help from a magic necklace, that heritage is brought to life in a very village-destroying way.

The animation is bold and fun, the fantasy elements add a cool spin to a family-vacation plot that could have otherwise been boring, and there's a joke about the mysterious relationship between miles and kilometers that made me laugh out loud. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Miguel Puga

Cast: Izabella Alvarez, Paulina Chávez, Sumalee Montano

Rating: TV-Y7

With a well-earned PG-13 rating, Netflix fantasy adventure "Damsel" is probably best reserved for older and/or braver kids. Aside from the strong peril that Millie Bobby Brown's Elodie finds herself in, there are also some gross deaths at the claws of the dragon (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo), including numerous incinerations and one unfortunate knight getting splatted underneath a dragon claw. But hey, '80s kids watched Artax sinking into the Swamp of Sadness in "The Neverending Story," and that was far more traumatizing than any number of bloody dragon deaths.

"Damsel" upends the old-fashioned fairy tale of a handsome prince rescuing a princess from a vicious dragon by having the handsome prince yeet the princess into the dragon's lair and run away. You see, the royal family of this particular kingdom have an uneasy peace treaty that involves sacrificing three princesses to the dragon in each generation. Elodie is the latest sacrifice, but fortunately she's been getting in some great upper body workouts chopping wood back home, and she also has the benefit of all the clues scrawled on the walls by previous princesses. And if she can just survive the dragon, she wants to have a chat with that handsome prince about why you shouldn't throw girls down holes. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Dan Mazeau

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Shohreh Aghdashloo

Rating: PG-13

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 56%

"I don't know how to stop Anxiety. Maybe we can't. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up. You feel less joy."

Oof. The key to Pixar's success has been creating movies that have something for everyone — children and grown-ups alike — but in this case the "something" in store includes gut punches like the one above. "Inside Out 2" continues the adventures of the anthropomorphized emotions inside the head of now-teenage Riley as she prepares to leave middle school behind and head to high school. Just as things seem to be going smoothly, though, the puberty alarm goes off (literally) and the control room of Riley's mind is flooded with new emotions: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Envy (Ayo Edebiri). Oh, and occasionally a bit of premature Nostalgia (June Squibb).

That opening quote from Amy Poehler's Joy should serve as a warning that "Inside Out 2" goes to some heavy places, but the emotional rollercoaster of the first movie is its own warning in that regard. The sense of being in a group therapy session can be a little too on-the-nose sometimes, and Pixar kind of already nailed the nightmare of early puberty a few years ago with "Turning Red." Still, even a middling Pixar movie is going to be one of the best movies of the year, and this one is worth seeing for the brooding video game character Lance Slashblade (Yong Yea) alone. Just watch out for his special attack. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Kelsey Mann

Cast: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Phyllis Smith

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

After nearly a decade away from the big screen, Jack Black is back as the unlikely Dragon Warrior in "Kung Fu Panda 4." Though the latest sequel in the DreamWorks Animation franchise doesn't quite measure up to the greatness of the original trilogy, there's still a good adventure here that's bolstered by spectacular animation, slick action, and the always hilarious presence of Jack Black as Po. This time he's paired with a stealthy fox named Zhen (voiced by Awkwafina), and the two have an amusing buddy cop dynamic that adds some new flavor to the franchise.

Standout moments include a chase through a bustling city set to an orchestral version of Ozzy Osborne's "Crazy Train" and the final fight sequence where the villain known as The Chameleon (Viola Davis) transforms into each of Po's most formidable foes, as well as Po himself, before meshing all the power of all the kung fu masters together into a fearsome beast. Plus, stick around for a fun credits sequence featuring a lively cover of Britney Spears' trademark tune "Baby One More Time" performed by Tenacious D. In fact, the music throughout the movie, composed by Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, is a top notch score, even if the movie can't reach those same heights. Despite not being as fantastic as the previous installments, it's still better than 90% of the family entertainment out there, so you can't go wrong. (Ethan Anderton)

Director: Mike Mitchell, Stephanie Stine

Cast: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, James Hong, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72% 

Whether it's the mysterious, murky depths of the ocean, the possibility of an infected mosquito bite rotting your arm off, or something as simple as the dark, everyone has things they're afraid of. In Frank Herbert's "Dune," some characters are able to rise above their fears thanks to a little mantra: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration..."

Sean Charmatz's animated fantasy adventure "Orion and the Dark" starts out as a lesson in overcoming your fears and not being afraid any more, but admits early on that grown-ups are in no position to teach that lesson. After all, we're afraid of things too. It's not easy for parents to admit to kids that they don't have all the answers, but that's exactly what Orion (voiced by Jacob Tremblay as a kid, and Colin Hanks as an adult) has to admit to his own daughter, Hypatia (Mia Akemi Brown) in the film's "Princess Bride"-esque bedtime story framing device.

To help Orion cope with his fear of the Dark, the Dark itself (Paul Walter Hauser) offers to take him on a 24-hour adventure through nighttime around the world, meeting other entities such as Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), Dream (Angela Bassett), and Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel). Yes, the ultimate message of "feel the fear and do it anyway" might literally be the title of a self-help book, but here it's delivered in a package that's considerably more engaging for kids. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Sean Charmatz

Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser

Rating: TV-Y7

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

With a 39-minute runtime, Apple TV+'s "Peanuts" special "Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home Franklin" might be pushing the definition of 'movie' a bit ... but hey, kids have short attention spans. This is an origin story of sorts for Franklin (Caleb Bellavance), adapting the 1968 comic strip storyline in which he was introduced. A military brat who has already grown used to moving from town to town and never having the same set of friends for long, Franklin relies on advice from his grandpa to fast-track his way to new friendships as quickly as possible. However, his grandpa's tips about opening conversations with a joke and peppering people with compliments fail him in his weird new neighborhood, where there's a kid who worships a giant pumpkin and another one who has set up her own psychiatric practice despite questionable qualifications.

Fortunately, this town also contains another anxious and lonely kid, who goes by the name Charlie Brown (Etienne Kellici). Franklin and Charlie are both left without partners for the big soap box derby that's coming up, so they decide to team up and do their best to win — a goal that soon threatens to drive a wedge between their freshly-forged friendship. It's a sweet story, made more entertaining by seeing a newcomer's reactions to the idiosyncrasies of the "Peanuts" world. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Raymond S. Persi

Cast: Caleb Bellavance, Etienne Kellici

Rating: G

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

Studio Ponoc was birthed from the not-yet-resurrected ashes of Studio Ghibli, and their third feature film, "The Imaginary," is their very best yet. Based on the children's novel of the same name written by A. F. Harrold and illustrated by Emily Gravett, "The Imaginary" tells the adventure of Rudger, the imaginary best friend of Amanda Shuffleup who spends their days playing in whatever imaginative world Amanda thinks up that day.

To adult outsiders, it's nothing more than playing pretend, but to the viewers, Rudger, and Amanda — their adventures are fully realized. Rudger is one of the most complex imaginary characters in existence, which makes him the target for one of the scariest villains in animation, a Hawaiian shirt-clad creep who can see Imaginaries named Mr. Bunting, who eats imaginary friends to maintain a connection with his childhood imaginary friend — a girl who looks like a schoolgirl ghost from a 2000s-era Japanese horror movie.

What makes "The Imaginary" such a wonderful film (see our review here) is that despite the gorgeous animation filled with whimsical fantasy, there's also a serious heaviness to the themes. It's not unlike many of the films of the 1980s like "The Last Unicorn" or "The NeverEnding Story" where the films trust young viewers to be able to process negative emotions without being cruel. If this is the start of a relationship between Netflix and Studio Ponoc, it's a beautiful one. (BJ Colangelo)

Director: Yoshiyuki Momose

Cast: Koko Terada, Rio Suzuki, Sakura Ando, Issey Ogata (English cast: Louie Rudge-Buchanan, Evie Kiszel, Hayley Atwell, Jeremy Swift

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Remember when Josh Cooley directed "Toy Story 4" and turned what could've been a pablum sequel into a vital addition to the larger franchise? Far from a fluke, Cooley has since gone and done the same with "Transformers One," another animated entry in a long-running property that seemed to have reached the end of the road. The whole thing starts off as a simple-enough story about two friends — scrappy Cybertronian Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth) and his cautious companion and fellow miner robot, D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) — who are destined to become the mortal enemies known as Optimus Prime and Megatron. However, it doesn't take long for Cooley's zippy prequel to introduce deeper themes about workers' rights and bodily autonomy (emphasis on the "Trans" in "Transformers").

Yes, it takes a little adjusting to get used to the film's combination of realistic animated textures and its characters' toyetic designs. Nevertheless, between the stellar voice acting, the way Cooley and his fellow creatives seamlessly fold their big ideas into a captivating hero's journey narrative, and the best metal-crunching, robot-punching action sequences this franchise has ever seen, "Transformers One" proves this particular film series still has an AllSpark of life left in it. (Sandy Schaefer)

Director: Josh Cooley

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm, Keegan-Michael Key, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%

Is the angsty-loner-becomes-reluctant-adoptive-dad-of-adorable-infant trope kind of overused? Yes, probably. Am I sick of it yet? Nope! At least, not when the infant is as adorable as Emi, a giant lizard-bird monster baby who eats fish, poops and pukes green sludge, and melts buildings with her acid reflux.

The angsty loner tasked with raising this darling little weapon of mass destruction is Ken Sato (Christopher Sean), a part-time elite baseball player/part-time superhero with the inherited ability to transform into a kaiju-battling giant. When he tries adding part-time dad to his list of roles, he quickly realizes what Carrie Bradshaw realized in "Sex and the City" season 3, episode 10: You can't have it all. At least, not until you reconnect with your estranged father and take steps towards overcoming your childhood abandonment issues and battle a laser-breathed mecha kaiju. (That didn't happen in "Sex and the City." Unless it happened in one of the later seasons that I didn't watch.)

Emi's cuteness anchors the story and the whole thing builds to an impressively epic final battle with Titans duking it out in the middle of the ocean and some major emotional stakes in play. If you need a fix while you wait for the return of the Mandalorian and Grogu, Ultraman is your man. (Hannah Shaw-Williams)

Director: Shannon Tindle, John Aoshima

Cast: Christopher Sean, Gedde Watanabe, Tamlyn Tomita, Keone Young

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

It's difficult to think of a more fulfilling family film this year then "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl," which sees the return of the oblivious inventor and his faithful canine to the big screen in their second feature-length adventure. Once again, the handmade quality of Aardman Animations' superlative stop motion work (co-directed by creator Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham) gives the movie a vibrance that's as cutting-edge as it is nostalgic. It's an appropriate vibe, considering how the story (a direct sequel to 1993's "The Wrong Trousers") explores the danger of AI technology in the wrong hands.

In addition to that topical theme, there are numerous sly references and allusions to classic films (such as Martin Scorsese's "Cape Fear") that will delight adults. Meanwhile, kids and younger folks will marvel at the cute-meets-silly world of the movie, infused as it is with visual slapstick worthy of Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati. The fact that it's getting a brief theatrical release in December is wonderful, but its subsequent exclusivity to Netflix is also considerate for families who want a great new film to share with each other. After all, there's no place like gnome. (BJ Colangelo)

Directors: Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham

Cast: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Reece Shearsmith, Lauren Patel

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

DreamWorks Animation's "The Wild Robot" is another high point for a studio that's raised its game significantly over the past few years. When a helpful robot named Roz (voiced by an excellent Lupita Nyong'o) crash-lands on an island populated by animals, she becomes the surrogate mother to a tiny duckling named Brightbill (Kit Connor). Tasked with protecting the young bird and raising him to the point where he can join his own kind in a migration, Roz's robotic personality evolves and becomes more human as she encounters the joys and pitfalls of motherhood in a movie that instantly enters the pantheon of all-time great Mother/Son films.

Even putting the emotional relationship between those two characters aside, the film makes a strong argument for building a community that will help its members survive during rough times, which is an idea we'll be needing to contend with more than ever as the United States heads into 2025. (Ben Pearson)

Director: Chris Sanders

Cast: Lupita Nyong'o, Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy

Rating: PG

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%