It's that time of year when movies spread so much cheer, it becomes a natural way to bond with your kids over the holidays. If you're looking to build a watchlist of Thanksgiving movies to watch with the kids, here are a couple of our recommendations and where to watch them online!
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox is an animated film that centers on a clever fox, who ends up back in his old ways after breaking his promise to his wife. The film challenges how the fox protects his community while coming to terms with his true nature as a wild animal, set to raid farms. As many seasonal movies go, it's one of the best examples of how to help kids with critical thinking and empathy from a different angle.
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Storks (2016)
Storks deliver babies. At least they used to. But as the Baby Factory stops being put to work, a human janitor decides it's time to bring it back and get the babymaker machine working again. After producing a wholly unauthorized baby, the janitor and the retired top delivery stork must work together to deliver this bundle of trouble before their boss finds out.
Purchase or Rent: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Addams Family Values (1993)
Put the Addams Family together for Thanksgiving, and what do you get? Addams Family Values. Up to more absurd, macabre antics, Gomez and Morticia Addams' celebration of a baby boy puts siblings Wednesday and Pugsley in an awkward spot as they find ways to eliminate the infant from the picture.
Purchase or Rent: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Robin Williams is a divorced father who, in an effort to spend more time with his children, disguises himself as the new family nanny, Mrs. Doubtfire, to get hired by his ex-wife. It couldn't feel more heartfelt and touching than that!
Streaming Platforms: Disney+, Hulu, AMC+, Amazon Prime Video
The Little Prince (2016)
The younger generation today is growing way too fast, way too soon. It's time to pump the brakes and take it slow down childhood lane. What better way to do that than by watching The Little Prince movie?
Based on the novel of the same name, The Little Prince essentially teaches kids that they don't need to give up their childhood fantasies and imagination just to be considered an adult. If anything, it's part of what's missing when building human connections.
Purchase or Rent: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
Home Alone (1990)
Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any festive holiday, really, Home Alone remains one of the most timeless classics that every kid and family would love to spend binge-watching the entire franchise. Who wouldn't want to see Kevin McCallister outsmart burglars from coming into his home?
Streaming Platforms: Disney+
Winnie-the-Pooh: Seasons of Giving (1999)
Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving is a collection of holiday-themed stories that follow Pooh and his friends as they prepare and celebrate the seasons in their own special way. Most evidently, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Unfortunately, this particular copy is not available on streaming platforms (yet), but any other Winnie the Pooh episodes are streaming on Disney+.
The Mitchells vs. The Machines (2021)
While The Mitchells vs. The Machines is not a Thanksgiving movie, per se, it still shares elements that make one: a family trying to fix their bond and relationship with one another, a tornado of catastrophes, and a happy ending. Except it's a modern take on technology that could take over the world.
The animation also became a big hit, drawing inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Mixtape (2021)
Anyone up for a tearjerker? Set in 1999, 12-year-old Beverly discovers a broken mixtape made and recorded by her parents. The more songs she dove into the record, the more she learned about her mom and dad.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Wish Dragon (2021)
As the holiday season rolls around, Wish Dragon comes to mind when wishes are involved. Imagine manifesting a wish-granting dragon named Long as Din, a working-class college student, uses his three wishes to reconnect with his childhood best friend, Li Na, whom he has unspoken feelings for.
Streaming Platforms: Netflix
Paddington (2014)
We had Winnie the Pooh on this list; it's almost impossible not to include Paddington, the well-mannered bear from the "darkest Peru" who ends up in London after an earthquake destroys his home.
Streaming Platforms: Peacock, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video
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