This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter Max. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Is this one of those nights when the whole family wants to watch a movie together? Or maybe you want something to distract the littles one tonight? The deep catalog of Max (née HBO Max) draws from classic cinema, years of Warner Bros. history, and the Studio Ghibli library, allowing its family section to be one of the richest out there too. It offers a little something for everybody in just the 20 movies below. We will keep this list constantly updated, so come back often for new recommendations for the whole family on Max.
Babe
Year: 1995
Runtime: 1h 32m
Director: George Miller
That’ll do pig, that’ll do. One of the best family films of all time and its nearly-as-good sequel are both on Prime. Subscribers looking for smart family entertainment that isn’t afraid to challenge kids while also entertaining them need look no further than Chris Noonan’s 1995 Best Picture nominee and its truly insane 1998 sequel, directed by George Miller himself.
Belle
Year: 2021
Runtime: 2h 2m
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
The brilliant director of Mirai retold the Beauty and the Beast legend with a tech twist in this striking, gorgeously animated feature film. It may have barely made an impact in the States, but it was actually the third-highest grossing film of the year in its home country of Japan. It’s a truly excellent fantasy adventure that you should see.
The Boy and the Heron
Year: 2023
Runtime: 2h 4m
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
One of the most influential animators of all time is still with us, making this stunning Oscar winner last year, available exclusively on Max. Inspired by a book that he loved as a child called How Do You Live?, Miyazaki crafted his most autobiographical fable, telling a story of a boy who discovers a magical world parallel to our own. Grief is balanced by the power of creativity in one of the best animated films in years.
Elf
Year: 2003
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Jon Favreau
It doesn’t have to be the holidays to watch one of Will Ferrell’s most joyous and lovable movies either (although with Christmas decorations going up earlier and earlier, it’s always the season nowadays). Before Iron Man, Jon Favreau directed this glorious fable about a human raised by Santa’s elves and the trouble he gets into on a trip to New York City to find his biological father.
Gremlins
Year: 1984
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: Joe Dante
It’s not 100% family friendly, but they can’t all be Ghibli. Sometimes even the kids want something a little scary. The reason that Joe Dante’s film became such a phenomenon, and the reason it holds up today, is that the super-talented director knew how to balance both the comedy and horror in his story of Gizmo, Stripe, and the rest of the Gremlins. And unlike a lot of ‘80s stuff, it hasn’t aged at all.
Harry Potter
Year: Various
Runtime: Various
Director: Various
J.K. Rowling is horrible now, but the books and films that emerged from her work continue to maintain, and even build, an incredibly loyal audience. The Harry Potter films have a habit of rolling on and off streaming sites, and they’re back on Max for now, waiting for the entire family to have a marathon of the story of the Boy Who Lived. Like any massive franchise, the series is a rollercoaster of quality, but Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire rule.
The Hobbit
Year: 1977
Runtime: 1h 17m
Director: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin
Long before Peter Jackson traveled to Middle Earth, the geniuses at Rankin/Bass – known most for their stop-motion holiday specials – shot an animated version of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic. Broadcast on NBC, it became a formative adventure for kids in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, really shaping how Jackson’s vision would come to life a generation later.
*How to Train Your Dragon
Year: 2010
Runtime: 1h 38m
Director: Dean Deblois, Chris Sanders
The movies based on the book by Cressida Cowell comprise one of the best trilogies of the 2010s. It all started with this DreamWorks adventure film about a boy (Jay Baruchel) who befriends a dragon named Toothless, despite his people’s fear of the flying creatures. A classic tale of never judging a book by its cover, this a beautiful adventure tale, a movie with equal amounts of heart and spirit.
*The LEGO Batman Movie
Year: 2017
Runtime: 1h 44m
Director: Chris McKay
More than just a child’s version of a superhero movie or a spoof of the genre, this family flick is a legitimately clever and well-crafted action film. Will Arnett spins off his version of the Dark Knight that premiered in The LEGO Movie for a film that unpacks the clichés about Bruce Wayne and Batman in a manner that’s funny and very smart.
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 31m
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Camp adapted his delightful short about a talking shell into an even-more-delightful feature film, one of the best kids movies of the current decade. It hasn’t been on streaming services before, so gather the family around for this wonderful story of a shell who is trying to find his family. It’s a beautiful, heartwarming, hysterical piece of work.
My Neighbor Totoro
Year: 1988
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
For the longest time, only Spirited Away served as the representative for Studio Ghibli on this list, but we’re expanding now to include the second-best film in the catalog, this gentle and beautiful kids movie from 1988 about an unforgettable friend to two little girls. After their mother is hospitalized, two girls move to an old house, and become friends with the spirits in the woods. That’s just the start of one of the best animated films of all time.
The Peanuts Movie
Year: 2015
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director: Steve Martino
Do kids today appreciate Charlie Brown and Snoopy like their parents used to do? A great gateway drug for the work of Charles M. Schulz for modern young people is this fun and heartfelt big-screen version of the most famous comic strip characters in history. It’s such a sweet movie, one that really gets the core of these characters, and the biggest shame is that a sequel seems impossible after the collapse of Blue Sky Studios and the Disney/Fox merger.
The Polar Express
Year: 2004
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: Robert Zemeckis
The director of Back to the Future changed animation with his first motion-capture film in this adaptation of the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Tom Hanks stars in multiple roles in this telling of a boy who finds a train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, where he learns the true meaning of the holiday.
Spirited Away
Year: 2001
Runtime: 2h 4m
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Almost all of the Studio Ghibli films are on Max, the now-exclusive home to them when it comes to streaming. The truth is that we could devote about 10% of this list to Hayao Miyazaki and his colleagues, but we’ll give up some that space and just point you here to the ranking of the entire output of the most important modern animation studio in the world. Start with Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Castle in the Sky. You won’t stop.
The Spongebob SquarePants Movie
Year: 2004
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director: Stephen Hillenburg
Relatively shortly into the pop culture run of Spongebob SquarePants, Paramount turned his underwater adventures into a feature film that starred most of the voice actors from the Nickelodeon show. Twenty years later, Spongebob has been in two more films with a third sequel coming out in 2025. While kids don’t watch cable TV like they used to, Spongebob has maintained his grip on animated culture for a quarter-century, and it shows no signs of decreasing.
Spy Kids
Year: 2001
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez may be best-known for his adult action movies but he’s mostly the guy behind Spy Kids for people who were just the right age in the 2000s. The breakthrough first film in 2001 led to three sequels, and they’re all on Max. A rare smash franchise with a Latinx influence, these movies are fun action-adventure flicks for the whole family.
*The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Year: 2013
Runtime: 2h 17m
Director: Isao Takahata
We try to limit the inclusion of Studio Ghibli films on this list because it could dominate if we didn’t, but this feels like one of the more underrated gems from the studio, probably because it wasn’t directed by Master Miyazaki. It’s still a masterpiece, a gorgeous, moving fable based on the 10th century fable The Tale of the Bamboo Cuter. It’s a film that takes up residence in your heart and head, often returning in memory like a classic fairy tale.
Time Bandits
Year: 1981
Runtime: 1h 56m
Director: Terry Gilliam
Between his Monty Python era and the production of Brazil, Terry Gilliam got the financing for a fantasy family film that would end up like no other. Casting some of his Python buddies (Michael Palin, John Cleese) and legends like Sean Connery, Ian Holm, David Warner, and many more, Time Bandits is an imaginative fairy tale about a boy who travels through time with a group of rowdy thieves. It’s like nothing else.
The Wizard of Oz
Year: 1939
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Victor Fleming
Maybe you’ve heard of it? Seriously, what could possibly be written if you’re on the fence about The Wizard of Oz? Maybe you haven’t seen it since you were a little kid? Revisit the journey of Dorothy over the rainbow if that’s the case and appreciate this wonderful fantasy on a new level.
Wonka
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 57m
Director: Paul King
The quick turnaround from theatrical Warner Bros. releases to Max has been impressive. This family feature was still playing in some theaters when it dropped on Max. An origin story for the character created by Roald Dahl (and defined by Gene Wilder), this Timothee Chalamet vehicle plays well at home, the kind of charmer that can be used as background noise for the little ones or watched more closely on a family movie night. It’s not perfect, but it’s sweet in all the right places.
If you subscribe to a service through our links, Vulture may earn an affiliate commission.
Related
- What’s Leaving Netflix: December 2024
- The 12 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Weekend
- The 41 Best Reality Shows on Netflix