10 Exciting Fantasy Family Movies

WONKA is a colorful fantasy that tells how Willy became Willy Wonka and overcomes a government-sanctioned cartel of three large chocolate makers to start his own chocolate factory. WONKA is a delight to watch, a very fun and funny movie with memorable songs and a positive story about good triumphing over evil through the magic of joy and great dreams, but the criminal chocolate makers bribe a group of chocoholic clergy to look the other way.

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, based on C. S. Lewis’s popular Christian fable, tells the story of four English children, who enter the land of Narnia, where they meet Aslan, the son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea, who rescues the land from the evil White Witch. Despite some minor changes from the book, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE retains most of its Christian focus and is tremendously exciting, thrilling and redemptive.

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA is a family movie about the friendship between a sad middle school boy and a vivacious girl with a precocious imagination, who find solace by creating an imaginary kingdom with imaginary adventures. BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA is a brilliantly made family movie with a strong Christian worldview, but it is marred by brief foul language and a brief, but important, theological problem that seems to dilute slightly the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS, set years after the original Disney movie musical, finds Michael Banks (and his sister Jane) all grown up, and Michael has his own children who are in desperate need of a Nanny. MARY POPPINS RETURNS has a strong moral worldview, with more imagination and less magical thinking, about supporting each other as a family. Adorable and enjoyable, MARY POPPINS RETURNS will entertain the entire family.

In ENCHANTED, an animated heroine is pushed down a well into the cruel, uncaring real world of New York City, where she finds her real love. ENCHANTED turns the archetypal fairy tale story inside out in a delightful, positive, morally worthwhile way.

In SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, Miles Morales runs into a society of Spider-Men or Spider-People protecting the multiverse from threats, but when they clash on how to handle a new supervillain, Miles faces a moral dilemma that affects the people he loves the most. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE is a creative, exciting, funny superhero movie with a strong, heartfelt pro-family worldview that also promotes doing the right thing, but there’s lots of animated action violence and some brief foul language, so caution is advised for older children.

SKY HIGH tells the story of a teenager named Will Stronghold, whose parents are famous superheroes and who must save the world when his parents are attacked by a super villain. SKY HIGH is the first fun, funny comic book movie of 2005. It teaches many virtues while greatly entertaining the audience.

HUGO follows the story of a young teenage boy who lives in the train station of Paris in 1930 and unlocks a secret that transforms his life and the crotchety godfather of his new friend, Isabelle. HUGO imaginatively presents the intelligent design argument for God and is filled with a childlike sense of wonder, adventure, and comedy and has an uplifting, redemptive ending, although there’s no mention of God other than iconography. Also, there are a few scary moments that require caution for younger children.

INKHEART is an exciting, humorous fantasy adventure about a man and his family trying to stop an evil villain who has magically escaped the pages of a book to threaten them and the real world. INKHEART is a fun adventure story with some positive elements, but it does have some action and characters that are too scary for younger children.

In the animated movie PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, Puss in Boots realizes he’s on his last life, so he needs to find the Last Wish star and ask for more lives. Funny and exciting, PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH is well made and has a strong Christian, moral worldview that includes Christian references and promotes being less selfish and reckless, thinking of others before yourself, and loving your family, but there are some scary characters and moments.