10 Family Movies to Take You Under the Sea for Shark Week

Shark Week is upon us, creating the perfect time to dive into movies about the sea. Whether it’s a fun animated movie like FINDING NEMO or a fascinating documentary like OCEANS, your family will love learning about creatures of the deep. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:20-26: God said, I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth. This curated list features films that celebrate the Lord’s beautiful aquatic creations.

FINDING NEMO

Quality:

****

Content:

+4 Biblical, usually Christian, worldview, with no questionable elements whatsoever.

FINDING NEMO is a wonderful animated adventure about a small clownfish who goes in search of his son, who's been put into a fish tank by human beings. Every second of FINDING NEMO is beautifully animated, spectacularly directed and written with great heart and strong moral values.

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SHARK TALE

Quality:

****

Content:

+1 Moderately questionable elements. (Discernment required for young children.)

Goofy and satirical, SHARK TALE is about a fish named Oscar who gets mistaken for a fierce shark killer. Narrative-rich and visually stunning, SHARK TALE needs more humor and has some politically correct elements that are annoying. Even so, SHARK TALE has considerable entertainment value and makes the moral point that people cannot live a lie.

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THE LITTLE MERMAID

Quality:

****

Content:

+1 Moderately questionable elements. (Discernment required for young children.)

THE LITTLE MERMAID is an allegorical movie with strong Christian overtones. When love induces Ariel to make a bad deal with Ursula the sea-witch so that she can try to win the heart of the human Prince Eric, King Triton sacrifices himself to save his daughter. The film is superbly colorful, incredibly well-animated and in two adorable musical numbers, "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl," the sea literally becomes a living orchestra.

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SOUL SURFER

Quality:

****

Content:

+4 Biblical, usually Christian, worldview, with no questionable elements whatsoever.

SOUL SURFER is an inspiring, powerful story about young surfer Bethany Hamilton, who overcame great obstacles when a tiger shark took her arm while she was surfing. SOUL SURFER is an inspiring, powerful story with a wonderful performance by AnnaSophia Robb about a courageous young woman who has deep faith in Jesus Christ.

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LUCA

Quality:

****

Content:

+1 Moderately questionable elements. (Discernment required for young children.)

Pixar’s new animated comedy, LUCA, is about a young teenage boy who visits a beautiful seaside Italian town with his newfound friend, but all their fun is threated by a deep secret: they are both sea monsters from another world just below the ocean’s surface. Streaming on Disney Plus, LUCA isn’t as spectacular a production as the best of Pixar’s animated classics, but it’s a delightful, heartwarming, funny family movie with appealing characters where friendship overcomes prejudice and sinful pride.

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MOANA

Quality:

****

Content:

-1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

MOANA is a stunning movie from Disney Animation about a young girl on a Polynesian island 2000 years ago who sets out to enlist the demigod Maui to help her save her people. MOANA has many fun moments and some positive moral, redemptive lessons on being a sacrificial leader with strength and humility, but the story’s pagan mythology warrants a caution for children.

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FINDING DORY

Quality:

****

Content:

+3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)

FINDING DORY, the animated sequel to the classic family movie FINDING NEMO, shows Dory suddenly remembering she has a mommy and a daddy and getting help from her friends, both old and new, to reunite with them. FINDING DORY is another heartwarming, funny, whimsical fish story from Pixar and Disney showing that family and friends make life worth living.

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OCEANS

Quality:

****

Content:

+1 Moderately questionable elements. (Discernment required for young children.)

Full of majesty and wonder, OCEANS puts on display God’s creation and what the ocean has to offer, great and small, and it does so in a lush, beautiful, well-paced way. There is some minimal offensive content of ocean predators hunting prey, and the movie contains some strong environmentalist elements promoting the discredited global warming “crisis.”

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LIVING WATERS

Quality:

****

Content:

+4 Biblical, usually Christian, worldview, with no questionable elements whatsoever.

LIVING WATERS is a brilliant, entertaining, beautifully photographed investigation of the mammals and the fish that live in our oceans, lakes and tributaries covering 70 percent of the Earth. LIVING WATERS confirms the truth that mammals and fish in the water on Earth display the purpose, design and imagination of a Creator.

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DOLPHIN REEF

Quality:

****

Content:

+3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)

DOLPHIN REEF follows the story of a young dolphin named Echo who’s in the process of trying to decide if he should grow up or put off his responsibility a little while longer. DOLPHIN REEF is a beautiful documentary that offers gorgeous, vibrant and lively images of life underwater and a strong moral worldview showing that mothers will do anything to protect their young.

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