16 Best Netflix Movies for Kids and Families (April 2026): ‘Madagascar’ and More

At the Central Park Zoo in New York City, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller) reigns as king, accompanied by his best friends Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer). The animals have spent their entire lives in captivity, served regular meals every day, and fawned over by adoring onlookers. But when Marty’s daily life starts to bore him, he joins in with some industrious penguins and makes a great escape with his friends. One thing leads to another, and they end up on the lemur-infested island of Madagascar.

Madagascar is one for the kids, as it’s a little too juvenile and goofy for adults (though it does have some humor not aimed at children). Still, it features colorful, anthropomorphic animals, inane antics, catchy music and a constantly entertaining plot to entice kids who are eager to mostly turn their brains off. Ultimately, Madagascar is a sweet-natured confection that goes down easy.

Regular Lego figurine Emmet (Chris Pratt) is more than happy with his utterly ordinary existence as a construction worker in the Lego town of Briskburg — until one day he is mistaken for being the literal messiah. Believed to be the key to saving the world from the evil Man Upstairs, Emmet is recruited by a no-nonsense lady named Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), the leader of a rebellion against the Man Upstairs. Unfortunately, Wyldstyle has no idea how underprepared Emmet is for such a task.

The Lego Movie posits the question: What if Neo in The Matrix wasn’t actually The One, and was also made of Legos? The film is a fun, delightful time for both kids and adults alike, with gorgeous animation that so seamlessly mimics the appearance of Legos, you might swear it’s stop-motion. The Lego Movie has gags that will make everyone laugh and a plot that will sneak up on you emotionally. The terrific voice cast also includes Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman and Charlie Day.

Young Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) resents her baby half-brother Toby (Toby Froud), and in a rash moment of frustration, she wishes that he would be taken away by the goblins from her book, The Labyrinth. Little does she know, her wish bears grave consequences, as Toby suddenly disappears. Sarah is informed by Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie) that she has thirteen hours to solve his labyrinth before Toby is taken away forever and turned into a goblin. Sarah accepts the quest, meeting many eccentric characters along her journey.

It’s important that when growing up, you watch some children’s movies that were made for kids yet still kind of disturb you, because this builds character, and Labyrinth is one such film that will do this. Directed by puppet master Jim Henson and featuring his strange and beautiful creatures courtesy of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, Labyrinth is a childhood classic for many who grew up with it; a dazzling fairytale fantasy with vibrant special effects and an unforgettable creepy performance from Bowie.

Over 30 years since Wallace and Gromit were plagued by a bloodthirsty penguin named Feathers McGraw in The Wrong Trousers, the murderous bird is back to enact his revenge in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. When Wallace (Ben Whitehead) invents a helpful robotic gnome that does tasks around the house, Gromit becomes concerned about his owner’s reliance on the technology. When Gromit plugs the “Norbot” into a computer to quiet its charging, Norbot is compromised by a cyberattack by none other than Feathers McGraw. With Norbot now under McGraw’s villainous orders, it’s up to Wallace and Gromit to reprogram him and save the day.

Though two decades had passed between Vengeance Most Fowl and 2005’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the dynamic dog-and-man duo had hardly skipped a beat. Whitehead does a terrific job emulating Wallace’s original voice actor, Peter Sallis, in the wake of Sallis’ passing, and the humor, claymation and adventure narrative are just as sharp as they’ve ever been. Vengeance Most Fowl boasts plenty of cutesy, colorful delight for children, with humor and charm that will be appreciated by adults as well. This movie is a true crowd-pleaser through and through.

When NYC teenager Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is bitten by a radioactive spider, he doesn’t know what to do. Thankfully, a Spider-Man from another dimension, Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), is there to help him out. But wait — why is there a superhero from another dimension visiting him? And does it have anything to do with the massive, top-secret device The Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) is building underground? (The answer is yes, of course.)

One of the most inventive animated movies of all time, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is also one of the most fun. It’s a hoot to see Miles team up with various versions of Marvel’s beloved wall-crawling hero, including the mysterious Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) and the widecracking Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), to take on bad guys like the Doctor Octopus (Kathryn Hahn). Clever dialogue and great performances from the cast make this movie super entertaining, but it’s the colorful, jaw-dropping animation that makes Into the Spider-Verse truly stand out from the spandex-clad crowd.

The classic British children’s author gets the Netflix treatment in The Twits. Roald Dahl’s 1980 novel is the basis for this animated adventure about two very bad people, Mr. and Mrs. Twit (voiced by Johnny Vegas and Margo Martindale), who own the town’s local amusement park. The Twits are big fish in a small pond, and they use their power for no good. That’s why two orphans, Beesha (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Bubsy (Ryan Lopez), rise to stop them and save their town from meat floods and toxic farts. (Don’t ask.)

Like previous Dahl adaptations The Witches and James and the Giant Peach, The Twits is deliciously weird. There’s no other world quite like the one in the movie, which is what makes it both fascinating and slightly repulsive. The movie’s impressive vocal cast, which includes Natalie Portman and Emilia Clarke, hits all the right notes and the film’s visual look is distinct from all the cookie-cutter CG kids movies out there.

The boys are back in town, and they’re ready to kick some ninja butt — while eating pizza, of course. In this new take on the popular comic book franchise, the Turtles battle a gang of mutants led by the villainous Superfly (Ice Cube). They quickly find out they have more in common with their new foe than they thought, with Superfly holding the key to finding out how they came to be — and who wants them dead.

TMNT has been revived and remade about a half dozen times about now, but this new iteration successfully captures the free-wheeling fun of the original animated series. The sketchbook-like CG animation is astounding, and the vocal cast, which includes Maya Rudolph as the mysterious Cynthia and Jackie Chan as Splinter, is impressive. It’s a kids movie that appeals to kids who still think fart jokes are the funniest things they’ve ever heard.

Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey’s hit book series, Dog Man, is now a hilarious and kooky movie about a dog-human hybrid police officer who must save the day — and still have time to chase a mailman or two. It’s full of cackle-worthy visual gags and animation that feels straight out of the pages of the comics on which it’s based. Pete Davidson stars as the villainous talking cat Petey, with Lil Rel Howery as the cantankerous police chief and Isla Fisher as a reporter who helps Dog Man crack the case.

This film has the frenzied energy of a dog with the zoomies, making it an upbeat good time for kids — but thanks to Pilkey’s clever humor, Dog Man holds plenty of treats for parents too.

Singing anthropomorphic animals working together to save a struggling business — what more could you want? Oh, they sing songs you already love, jukebox musical style? Even better. Sing follows Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), a koala trying to save his beloved theater from financial ruin, who hatches a plan — he’ll host a singing competition! The contest attracts a diverse group of animal contestants, each with their own unique backstory and dreams of stardom.

With an uplifting narrative that emphasizes themes of perseverance, self-discovery, and the importance of chasing one’s dreams, Sing delivers a heartwarming message that resonates with audiences of all ages. You’ll love the soundtrack, kids will love the animation, and you all will enjoy the entertaining cast, which includes Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly and more.

What if your favorite music band was secretly a team of demon hunters protecting humanity? That’s the central conceit behind KPop Demon Hunters, a visually dazzling new animated movie that features plenty of magical creatures as well as some catchy songs. 

When K-pop girl group HUNTR/X aren’t touring or recording vocals for their next album, they are slaying demons and keeping the villainous Gwi-Ma from taking over the world. But when he hatches a plan to defeat them by forming his own boy band, the Saja Boys — who will sap fans’ energy and thus weaken the portal between human and demon worlds — they’ll have to summon all the powers they possess to stop him. Will HUNTR/X save the day while topping the charts at the same time? 

Allison and Carlos Torres (Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez) are overworked parents to three children who view their parents more as dictators than loving guardians. Taking the advice of a family friend, Allison and Carlos initiate a “Yes Day,” a 24-hour period where they can’t say “no” to any request from their children. Naturally, this causes all sorts of hijinks, but will it bring the family closer together or tear them apart?

Yes Day is silly, but it’s also a good-natured comedy that garners its laughs through real-world scenarios parents face all the time. Garner and Ramirez are appealing as the stressed-out parents who want the best for their children, and Jenna Ortega has an early, stand-out role as their eldest child, Katie.

Based on Emma Yarlett’s award-winning children’s book of the same name, Orion and the Dark tells the story of 11-year-old Orion (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), who has a paralyzing fear of the dark. One night, he’s visited by Dark itself (Paul Walter Hauser), who takes the young boy on a magical journey where he meets other nighttime entities like Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett) and Insomnia (Nat Faxon). But will Orion truly accept Dark, and all the fears associated with it, before Light comes and disintegrates the entity forever?

That’s just the beginning of the movie, which develops into a weird and wonderful tale about growing up but never forgetting what it was like to be young and adventurous. The animated movie was written by Being John Malkovich’s Charlie Kaufman, who puts his own unique spin on what’s already a twisted kids story. Orion and the Dark is a beautiful film to look at and experience and will surely become a generational classic in the years to come.

Magic and tech collide in the medieval-futuristic world of Nimona. The title character (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a mysterious and rebellious girl with an amazing superpower — she can shapeshift into any animal. Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is a young knight ousted from society for apparently killing the Queen (Lorraine Toussaint). While Ballister tries to prove his innocence, Nimona breaks into his lair and demands to be his new villainous sidekick. 

Nimona is a ball of relentless energy, and her friendship with the more staid and cautious Ballister makes for a chaotically fun movie. The art style is unique and captivating, and the movie has a great message about accepting differences that will reach kids without talking down to them. And if you shed a tear when you learn Nimona’s tragic backstory, we won’t tell anyone.

You know how old maps used to depict monsters in the uncharted depths of the ocean? What if those monsters were real? Netflix’s original film The Sea Beast depicts such a world in a colorful, thoughtful family film that feels like a mash-up of How to Train Your Dragon with Pirates of the Caribbean. 

Spunky orphan Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) longs to join the heroic ranks of the brave, seafaring monster hunters, so she stows away aboard a ship. When she and legendary monster killer Jacob (Karl Urban) end up stranded and at the mercy of the beasts, the duo learn that there’s far more to these giant aquatic creatures than meets the eye. Can they help the kingdom overcome its prejudices and restore peace?

This Netflix original movie is a hilarious adventure starring Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph and Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson as a family that accidentally becomes humanity’s only hope against an AI apocalypse.

Convinced her family doesn’t understand her, aspiring filmmaker Katie (Jacobson) can’t wait to start college and find “her people.” Her dad, Rick (McBride), is desperate to recapture his bond with his daughter. Rick decides they should take a device-free cross-country road trip to drop Katie off at school at the same time that PAL (Olivia Colman), a Siri-esque operating system, rebels against her creators. PAL turns every Wi-Fi-enabled device in the world into an evil robot, and it’s up to the Mitchells to stop her before humans are destroyed forever.  

This family movie is an incredible portrayal of how older and younger generations can fail to communicate, and how a little extra understanding can save the world.

If, after the book and the ‘96 movie, you still want more Matilda — and we would understand if you did — then guess what? There’s also a fantastic musical adaptation. The songs in this Netflix film, originally written by Tim Minchin for Broadway, are alternately funny and moving. One number, entitled “When I Grow Up,” is a beautiful tribute to the fantasies of childhood that will bring a tear to your eye.

Alisha Weir is captivating as the titular heroine, and Emma Thompson is wonderfully monstrous as Miss Trunchbull. Matilda the Musical expands upon the lore of the original and will encourage you to be “a little bit naughty” to stand up for what’s right.