New family movies on Amazon Prime

How to Train Your Dragon. Photo: DreamWorks

This list is regularly updated as movies rotate on and off of Prime Video. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.

The selection of family films on Amazon Prime’s streaming service leaves a little something to be desired, but that just makes a guide like this even more useful! You have to dig through the titles on Prime Video to find something appropriate for everyone from kindergartener to great grandpa, but there are some titles worth a look, including some family classics that you may have forgotten.

Year: 2021
Runtime: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Directors: Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon

The characters created by Charles Addams will never grow old, even if this recent animated hit isn’t exactly their best outing. There’s still just enough to like in this sequel to the 2019 animated debut of the Addams Family, especially in the voice work by Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Nick Kroll, Bill Hader, Wallace Shawn, and many more. This one is about a road trip for the Addams clan and despite being generally ignored during the pandemic, it still made a fortune. They’re going to be making Addams movies forever.

Year: 1979
Runtime: 1h 58m
Director: Carroll Ballard

Remember when family films didn’t have to talk down to kids? Just look at this poignant, moving adventure classic from the Walter Farley 1941 book of the same name about a boy who is shipwrecked with a wild stallion, who becomes one of his best friends. When they return to civilization, they enter a race in this film that was chosen to enter the National Film Registry as one of the most significant film works of all time.

Year: 1995
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director: Betty Thomas

Movies based on beloved sitcoms are almost always a waste of time but Betty Thomas knew how to take the crowd-pleasing comedy of The Brady Bunch and twist it into a subversive satire of suburban norms. She took the 1970s family and dropped them in the ‘90s, turning their values and styles into fish-out-of-water humorous targets. It’s still a surprisingly funny movie.

Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 53m
Director: Kay Cannon

Another year, another Cinderella movie. The original one on Prime belongs to pop superstar Camila Cabello, who channeled her fame from the music world into this jukebox musical take on the classic tale. That means familiar hits, intertwined with a few original songs. It’s not the best Cinderella, but it’s not the worst either. Maybe it will be the shoe that fits you.

Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Walt Becker

This adaptation of the children’s book series about the giant dog was originally scheduled for a theatrical release but ended up shuffled onto Paramount+ in late 2021 before also being made available to Prime subscribers. It’s just sweet enough to make this list, thanks in large part to a game cast that includes a fun Tony Hale and Kenan Thompson.

Year: 2009
Runtime: 1h 26m
Director: Wes Anderson

The director of The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel adapted the 1970 children’s novel of the same name in his delightful stop-motion animated classic with one of the best voice casts in history. George Clooney, Meryl Steep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson star in the tale of the titular character as his family is hunted by three farmers. It’s a visual marvel for the whole family.

Year: 2012
Runtime: 2h 49m
Director: Peter Jackson

Almost a decade after he won all the Oscars for The Return of the King, Peter Jackson returned to helm the trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s other beloved fantasy classic, The Hobbit. The resulting trilogy didn’t leave the same cultural footprint, but they have their own epic fantasy charms, and all three are now on Prime Video.

Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 27m
Director: Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska

The massive blockbuster franchise of Hotel Transylvania films took a surprising turn in early 2022 when the pandemic forced this once-Sony property into a Prime Video exclusive. Likely the final film in this four-movie series, this one sees Dracula (Adam Sandler) becoming a human as his son-in-law (Andy Samberg) becomes a monster. Of course, it’s about what’s on the inside that really counts. Everybody knows that.

Year: 2010
Runtime: 1h 37m
Directors: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois

When people speak of the best film trilogies of all time, they too rarely include the films based on the books by Cressida Cowell about a boy and his beloved fire-breathing friend. These movies are gorgeously animated and legitimately moving. They have an odd habit in the streaming era of bouncing around the streaming services like Toothless himself, but the first, and probably still the best, film is the one that’s on Prime Video now.

Year: 1946
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Frank Capra

One of the most beloved films of all time doesn’t just have to be watched around the holidays. The lessons in this film about what people value in life could be appreciated any time of the year, as could one of the most iconic performances in film history from Jimmy Stewart.

Year: 1991
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Robert Mulligan

Reese Witherspoon made an immediate impact in her debut film, co-starring alongside Sam Waterston and Tess Harper in this family drama. Witherspoon plays Dani, a 14-year-old who falls in love with the older boy (Jason London) who moves in next door. It’s a tender, nuanced coming-of-age film.

Year: 1993
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Daniel Stern

People who were of a certain age in 1993 probably remember this film with nostalgic fondness. It was a surprising hit that summer, telling the story of a kid who has arm surgery that makes him into a Major League Baseball star. It was kinda mediocre then when it came out but it’s the kind of film that kids loved at the time and those kids may now be the parents who want to pitch it to a new generation.

Year: 1995
Runtime: 1h 42m
Director: John Sayles

Take a break from the escapism and show your kids something culturally resonant and unforgettable in John Sayles’ version of a classic Irish legend. With breathtaking cinematography by Haskell Wexler, this is the story of a girl in Ireland who hears that her brother was swept away by a selkie when he was a baby. It’s a tale of magic and legends in a way that could only take place in Ireland.

Year: 2020
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Jeff Fowler

It’s hard to believe it but the movies about the super-fast blue hedgehog are kind of more popular than the games right now. Ben Schwartz voices the character in this first film based on the games by Sega, a movie so popular that it’s already produced a hit sequel. Jim Carrey kind of steals the movie as the mustachioed villain, going so far over the top that he turns his performance into campy fun.

Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 2m
Director: David Mickey Evans

With a third film in production, it kind of feels like these films about the fast little blue guy are the first new mega-franchise of the pandemic, right? And something interesting about them is how quickly Paramount has worked to make them available to subscribers. This film jumped from theatres to Paramount+ before it was even on Blu-ray and now it’s on Prime Video too. There’s a reason kids love these movies. Watch for yourself and find out why.

Year: 1973
Runtime: 1h 45m
Director: Martin Ritt

It may not be the kind of family film that Minions fans are looking for, but why not challenge your kids with something more grounded every now and then? Sounder is more than just the story of a dog. It’s a tale of the Deep South during the Great Depression, anchored by stunning performances from Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson, both of whom earned Oscar nominations for their work here, and the movie was also nominated for Best Picture.

Year: 1924
Runtime: 2h 27m
Director: Raoul Walsh

Let’s go with a real classic, a silent movie that came out almost a century ago. Based loosely on One Thousand and One Nights, this swashbuckler stars the king of that genre from his era, Douglas Fairbanks, who reportedly claimed this as his favorite of his films. It’s a beautiful movie that could be a gateway to classic cinema for the right kid out there.

Year: 2002
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Niki Caro

A lyrical and moving coming-of-age film, this adaptation of the 1987 novel stars Keisha Castle-Hughes as a 12-year-old girl in a Maori clan who wants to become the chief of her tribe, a role reserved for the men in the tribe. More than a mere girl power tale (although it is that too) this is a film that never talks down to its kids, understanding their ambitions and fears in a way that feels both poetic and true.

Year: 1974
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Norman Tokar

A lot of children of the ‘80s probably watched this in middle school and were never quite the same. Relive the trauma! Based on the 1961 novel of the same name, this is the tale of an ordinary 12-year-old boy who is obsessed with hunting dogs, even though his family can’t afford them. A moving, challenging story well-told, this is a great option for a book that everyone in the family can read and a film everyone in the family can watch together.

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