When Hollywood looks at bringing big movies to theaters, one of the key components is making the movie something the entire family can enjoy. Many family movies are adult films toned down for kids, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe efforts. However, there are several movies released that are marketed directly toward kids.
Many of these movies are hugely successful. These include animated movies, which are what many people think of when looking at kids’ movies. However, there are also many live-action releases geared toward younger audiences, and in the 2010s, Hollywood released some very successful movies for the kids.
10 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) – Available To Stream On Fubo
In 1995, Robin Williams starred in the fantasy movie Jumanji about a man from a board game brought into the real world. Twenty-one years after that first movie, the franchise returned with a twist.
This time, four high school students found themselves sucked into a video game and had to get through levels without losing their three lives if they wanted to make it home alive. With a funny cast and great humor, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle made $962 million worldwide and spawned a sequel two years later.
9 The LEGO Movie (2014) – Available To Stream On Fubo
In 2014, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller took a movie that could easily have turned into a feature-length toy commercial and created one of the best animated movies of the decade. The LEGO Movie took the beloved and best-selling toys, turning them into a movie about a man on a quest.
The movie focused on a generic LEGO figure and had him become the Chosen One while interacting with famous LEGO figures of Batman and Han Solo, while also introducing new ones like Princess Unikitty and Wyldstyle.
8 Hugo (2011) – Available To Stream On Netflix
Martin Scorsese made his name with the gangster genre, but he has also stepped outside that wheelhouse more than once. In 2011, he directed Hugo, which was both a kid’s movie and a love letter to classic cinema.
Asa Butterfield starred as an orphan who lived in the tunnels under Paris where he tries to fix an automaton his father created. The movie also brings filmmaking icon Georges Melies into the story, which takes place after his touchstone movie A Trip to the Moon.
7 Paddington 2 (2017) – Available To By On Prime Video
The first Paddington hit in 2014 and was a treat for fans, a movie that told the story of Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear. While that movie was a success, Paddington 2 was a movie that trumped the original and ended up as one of the best hybrid-animation movies released in the 2010s.
Paddington 2 brings back the bear with his new family, the Browns. However, he comes across an actor named Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) who steals a valuable book and makes it look like Paddington did it. The bear and his family set out to clear his name.
6 Toy Story 3 (2010) – Available To Stream On Disney+
There are four Toy Story movies, the first of which transformed Pixar into the critically acclaimed animation studio that it is. The second was even better and in 2010, the third topped those with the perfect ending for the story.
While there was a fourth, Toy Story 3 was the perfect conclusion, showing the young child who loved his toys become a college student who finally passes them on, and the sadness that left these living toys with. This is a great kid’s movie that shows goodbye doesn’t always mean it is the end.
5 Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) – Available To Buy On Prime Video
In 2018, Sony brought a new Marvel animated movie to the big screen, and it ended up as the most successful Marvel animated movie since Big Hero 6. The movie was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
The movie introduced the mainstream world to Miles Morales, a teenage Spider-Man from the multiverse. In his world, Peter Parker dies and Miles becomes the new Spider-Man before teaming with other versions of Spider-Man to stop Wilson Fisk from destroying the multiverse. A sequel is coming in 2022.
4 How To Train Your Dragon (2010) – Available To Stream On Prime Video
DreamWorks built its animation studio on the back of the ogre Shrek. However, in 2010, DreamWorks set out to make something more original, without the puns and pop culture gags. What resulted was one of DreamWorks’ most critically successful animated movies.
How to Train Your Dragon tells the story of the son of a Viking who protects their land from dragons. However, when the boy, Hiccup, meets a rare dragon named Toothless, he sets out to bring humans and dragons together.
3 Big Hero 6 (2014) – Available To Stream On Disney+
In 2014, Disney set out to make a Marvel animated movie for the big screen, something that they have only done once since acquiring Marvel Comics. That movie was Big Hero 6, and it was a massive success, despite being based on obscure comic book characters.
The movie was about a young boy whose brother dies and he joins his brother’s friends to form a new superhero team. The movie won the Oscar for Best Animated Film.
2 Inside Out (2015) – Available To Stream On Disney+
Pixar released one of its best, most critically acclaimed movies with the 2015 film Inside Out. Directed by Pete Docter (Monster’s, Inc, Up, Soul), Inside Out took a huge chance with its story’s theme.
Much of the story took place inside the mind of a young girl whose family moved away from everything she knew and loved. Her emotions then battled to keep her happy and content while struggling to understand the importance of sadness.
1 Frozen (2013) – Available To Stream On Disney+
One of the most successful Disney animated movies of all time hit in 2013 with Frozen. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen, the young princess Elsa accidentally casts an eternal winter over her kingdom and runs away. It is up to her sister Anna, a living snowman named Olaf, and an iceman named Kristoff to find and save the princess.
The movie was a massive blockbuster, making $1.28 billion and winning two Oscars.
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