What are the Top 30 Kindness and Friendship Movies for Families?
The best kindness and friendship movies for kids include Wonder, Zootopia, Paddington, Lilo and Stitch, The Iron Giant, and My Neighbor Totoro, covering themes of empathy, acceptance, and cooperation across a range of ages and genres. Research confirms that exposure to prosocial media increases helping behavior and empathic concern in children, making these films a meaningful addition to family movie night (Coyne et al., 2018).
“Be kind.”
Parents and teachers say it all the time, but kindness takes more than a reminder.
Kindness is a skill children learn through practice and example. Movies can make those lessons easier to see and talk about.
We asked our community to share their favorites. Here are 30 movies that show kindness, empathy, and friendship in action.
Table of Contents
Why Kindness and Friendship Movies Matter for Children?
Kindness and friendship movies can help children understand empathy, cooperation, forgiveness, and inclusion by showing these skills in action.
Research supports the value of positive media. A meta-analysis of 72 studies found that exposure to prosocial media was linked to greater helping behavior and empathic concern, as well as lower aggression (Coyne et al., 2018).
The conversation after the movie matters, too. Research suggests that guided discussions about stories can strengthen children's perspective-taking skills, especially when adults encourage children to consider what characters may be thinking and feeling (Widyasari et al., 2018).
Parents and caregivers can help children think more deeply by asking simple questions such as:
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How do you think that character felt?
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Who showed kindness in the story?
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How could we practice that lesson at home or at school?
The movie opens the door. A short conversation helps children connect the story to their own friendships and choices.
Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our FREE 21-Day Family Gratitude Challenge. Make this challenge a part of your night routine or family dinner time for the next 21 days (that's how long it takes to build a habit).
What are the Top 30 Kindness and Friendship Movies for Families?
The following collection includes animated adventures, family dramas, fantasy stories, documentaries, and timeless tales. Together, these movies explore friendship, empathy, courage, belonging, teamwork, family bonds, and the power of helping others.
Reminder: Please preview or read about the suggested movies and videos to ensure they are appropriate for your child.
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Trolls (2016)The Trolls live in happiness, singing, dancing and hugging all day. However, they are discovered by the Bergens, large miserable creatures, who can feel happy only after eating a Troll. When their village is invaded by the grumpy Bergens, two mismatched friends must work together in perfect harmony to save the Trolls. Rating PG |
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The Fox and the Hound (1981)The tale is about an unlikely pair: an adopted fox (Tod) and a hound dog (Copper). They become best friends and grow close to one another. Tod and Copper vow to remain 'friends forever' but they are faced with some adversities along the way. Rating G |
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Taare Zameen Par - Like Stars on Earth (2007)An eight-year-old boy, Ishaan Awasthi, is thought to be a troublemaker. He cannot seem to get anything right in class. He is sent off to a boarding school to 'be disciplined'. One day, the new teacher Nikumbh, breaks all the rules of 'how things are done' in the school, infects the students with joy, all except Ishaan. Soon he realizes that Ishaan is very unhappy, and he sets out to discover why. He attempts to help him. With time, patience and care, he ultimately helps Ishaan find himself. |
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Homeward Bound (1993)The Incredible Journey follows three household animals (two dogs and a cat) as they travel across forested mountains and areas of countryside to find their owners. The pets mistakenly believe that they have been abandoned by their loved ones when in reality they have been left in the care of a friend while the family has temporarily moved. All three pets can talk, and they bicker and crack jokes as they set off on a truly incredible journey chock full of misadventures as they wend their way back to their owners. Rating G |
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Wonder (2017)The incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences, that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school. When he enters the fifth grade, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid - but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. His relatives and the school community all struggle to discover their compassion and acceptance. Rating PG |
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The BFG (2016)Sophie, a ten-year-old girl, meets the Big Friendly Giant. Soon, she realizes that the 24-foot behemoth is actually quite gentle and charming. As their friendship grows, Sophie's presence attracts the unwanted attention of Bloodbottler, Fleshlumpeater, and other giants. After traveling to London, Sophie and the BFG must convince Queen Elizabeth to help them get rid of all the bad giants once and for all. Rating PG |
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Fly Away Home (1996)The inspiring film about a 13-year-old girl from New Zealand sent to live with her father in Canada. They learn what family is all about when they adopt an orphaned flock of geese and teach them to fly! Rating PG |
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Charlotte’s Web (2006)A young girl named Fern rescues a runt piglet, raises it as her own, and names him Wilbur. However, after Wilbur grows into a pig, she is compelled to sell him to her Uncle Homer Zuckerman. At Zuckerman's barn, Wilbur meets a host of animals and later learns from them that come winter, he will be slaughtered for food. Fearing for his life, Charlotte, a gentle and wise spider who befriended the lonely Wilbur, vows to save his life. Rating G |
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Lilo & Stitch (2002)A Hawaiian girl named Lilo adopts an unusual pet - Stitch. Without a greater purpose in life, no friends, family or memories, Stitch does a little soul searching and begins to understand the meanings of 'love' and 'family' and his feeling for Lilo begin to change. Rating PG |
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UP (2009)As a boy, Carl Fredricksen wanted to explore South America and find the forbidden Paradise Falls. 64 years later, he begins his journey, along with a Boy Scout named Russell, by lifting his house with thousands of balloons. On their journey, they make many new friends including, a talking dog. Rating PG |
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ET (2009)A group of aliens visits Earth and one of them, E.T., is lost and left behind on this planet. The little alien soon finds a friend and emotional companion in 10-year-old Elliot. The two begin to communicate and start a different kind of friendship in which E.T. learns about life on earth and Elliot learns about the true meaning of friendship. Rating PG |
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Big Hero 6 (2014)A little genius, the 14-year-old Hiro Hamada makes money in illegal robot fights. His older brother, Tadashi, saves Hiro from a dangerous gang and shows him his nurse robot Baymax, a robot whose sole purpose is to take care of people. Also, when the younger brother needs help, he transforms Baymax and his other friends, Go Go Tamago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred into a band of high-tech heroes. Rating PG |
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Babe (1995)Farmer Arthur Hoggett wins a piglet named Babe at a local fair. The piglet learns about all the other creatures on the farm and befriends one of the sheepdogs, Fly. With Fly's help and Farmer Hoggett's intuition, Babe embarks on a career in sheepherding with some spectacular results. Rating G |
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Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)Opal, a ten-year-old girl, has just moved to a small town in Florida with her father. She adopts a stray dog whom she names after the local supermarket where he was found. Opal discovers that Winn-Dixie is able to make friends with everyone he meets, and now Opal has some new friends, because of Winn-Dixie. Rating PG |
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Finding Dory (2016)The friendly and forgetful blue tang fish, Dory, gets separated from her parents as a child. She is living happily in the reef with Nemo and Marlin. But when she suddenly remembers she has a family who may be looking for her, the trio set off on a life-changing adventure to find them. Rating PG |
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Ponyo (2008)5-year-old Sosuke, the son of a sailor, develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess. Ponyo longs to become human, and as her friendship with Sosuke grows, she becomes more humanlike. Rating G |
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The Iron Giant (1999)The story of a nine-year-old boy, Hogarth Hughes, who makes friends with a massive robot that came from outer space, the Iron Giant. The robot finds its humanity by unselfishly saving people from their own fears and prejudices. Rating PG |
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Meet The Robinsons (2007)Lewis, a 12-year-old orphaned genius, wants to see what his mother looked like. He meets a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson, who takes him on a ride to the future, where he meets Wilbur's wacky family. Rating G |
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Akeelah and the Bee (2006)Akeelah Anderson, an 11-year-old girl from south Los Angeles, despite the objections of her mother Tanya, enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee. Akeelah's aptitude earns her an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in turn unites her neighbors who witness the courage and inspiration of an amazing girl. Rating PG |
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Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)The story of a 13-year-old witch, Kiki. She must leave home for one year so that she can learn how to live on her own. Kiki is very resourceful, imaginative, and determined. Along with her talking cat Jiji, she's ready to take on the world. Rating G |
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How to Train Your Dragon (Trilogy) (2010)Hiccup is an awkward 15-year-old kid who must tackle the tough task of capturing a dragon. During one of the village's battles, Hiccup believes he sees a Night Fury, one of the most elusive dragons on the island, and shoots it down. Hiccup soon realizes that the dragons aren't at all what the Vikings have always believed them to be. Rating PG |
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Zootopia (2016)The city of Zootopia is a mammal metropolis where various animals peacefully live with one another. When Judy Hopps becomes the first official rabbit cop on the police force, she quickly learns how tough it is to enforce the law. She runs into a con artist fox named Nick Wilde, and they have to work together, must piece together all the clues and find out who is behind it all. Rating PG |
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Paddington (2015)A young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined. He meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven. Rating PG |
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The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)Alex stumbles upon the mythical sword Excalibur. He soon unites his friends and enemies into a band of knights who join forces with wizard Merlin. Together, they must save mankind from the wicked enchantress Morgana and her army of supernatural warriors. Rating PG |
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The Peanuts Movie (2015)Snoopy embarks upon his greatest mission as he and his team take to the skies to pursue their arch-nemesis, while his best friend Charlie Brown falls in love and tries to impress Little Red-Haired Girl. Rating G |
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My Neighbor Totoro (1990)The tale follows two young girls, 10-year-old Satsuki and her 4-year-old sister Mei as they settle into an old country house with their father and wait for their mother to recover from an illness in an area hospital. They soon encounter and befriend playful creatures in their house and the nearby forest, called Totoros. Rating G |
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Shrek (2001)A story about green ogre Shrek who lives alone in the woods. His peaceful life is suddenly shattered by an invasion of annoying fairy tale characters. Shrek begins his quest along with his donkey friend. At the King's request, Shrek is going to rescue Princess Fiona, who is awaiting her true love in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. It quickly becomes apparent that Shrek begins to fall in love with the lovely princess. Rating PG |
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Batkid Begins (2015)One day, a 5-year-old boy and cancer survivor, captured the world's attention. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted his request to be Batman for a day. The boy begins looking at how this phenomenon took place, becoming one of the biggest 'good news' stories of all time. Rating PG |
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Kindness Is Contagious (2014)'Kindness Is Contagious' asks ordinary people on the street about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for them. The responses are inspiring - with many sharing their stories of receiving unexpected kindness and empathy from other people. Rating NR |
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A Little Princess (1997)Young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend boarding school. She becomes popular with her classmates but quickly clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity. After the death of Sara's father, she is forced into life as a servant. Treated as a lesser class of person by her former companions, Sara befriends her fellow servants and turns to the power of imagination in order to maintain hope for the future. Rating NR |
How to Discuss Kindness After Watching a Movie?
Watching kindness and friendship movies can open the door to meaningful conversations, but the best discussions usually feel natural rather than forced.
Children often connect with stories in different ways. One child may focus on a funny scene, while another may remember a character who felt lonely or misunderstood. Instead of searching for one correct lesson, ask children what stood out to them.
Questions Parents Can Ask Children
Recognizing Acts of Kindness
Ask questions that help children notice positive behavior:
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Who was the kindest character in the movie?
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What was the kindest action you noticed?
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Did someone help another person without expecting a reward?
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Which character needed a friend the most?
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Did a small act of kindness lead to a bigger change?
These questions help children recognize that kindness can appear in many forms.
Understanding Feelings and Empathy
Encourage children to think about different perspectives.
Ask how a character might have felt during a difficult scene. Talk about why two characters may have understood the same event differently. Discuss whether a character's opinion changed after getting to know someone better.
This kind of conversation can help children practice perspective-taking.
Applying Lessons to Everyday Life
The final step is connecting the movie to real life.
A family might choose one small action inspired by the story. It could be inviting someone to play, thanking a teacher, helping a sibling, checking on a friend, welcoming a new student, or writing a kind note.
The goal isn't to copy the movie. It's to recognize that kindness is something people can practice in ordinary situations every day.
Big Life Journal's conversation cards and journals can help families extend these movie discussions into structured daily practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best kindness and friendship movies for young children?
Gentler choices on this list include My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, The Peanuts Movie, Babe, and Charlotte's Web. However, parents should always check content guidance and consider their child's individual sensitivities before choosing a movie.
How can movies teach children about kindness?
Movies allow children to see characters make choices and experience consequences. A child can observe what happens when someone helps a friend, excludes another person, makes an unfair assumption, apologizes, or offers forgiveness. Discussion afterward can help connect those observations to everyday life. Research confirms that guided discussion after the film strengthens children's perspective-taking skills (Coyne et al., 2018).
Which movie is good for teaching children about accepting differences?
Wonder, Zootopia, The Iron Giant, Shrek, and Paddington all offer useful opportunities to discuss differences, stereotypes, acceptance, and belonging.
Are animated movies useful for teaching empathy?
Yes. Animated movies can communicate complex emotional lessons through characters and situations that children find engaging. Stories such as Finding Dory, Lilo and Stitch, Up, and The Iron Giant can create opportunities to discuss loss, belonging, patience, acceptance, and emotional support.
What should parents ask after watching a friendship movie?
Start with simple questions. Ask which character was a good friend, what kind action stood out, whether anyone was treated unfairly, and what the child might have done differently. Keep the conversation relaxed and allow the child to lead parts of the discussion. Big Life Journal's conversation cards and journals can extend these movie discussions into structured daily practice
References
Coyne, S. M., Padilla-Walker, L. M., Holmgren, H. G., Davis, E. J., Collier, K. M., Memmott-Elison, M. K., & Hawkins, A. J. (2018). A meta-analysis of prosocial media on prosocial behavior, aggression, and empathic concern: A multidimensional approach. Developmental Psychology, 54(2), 331–347. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000412
Widyasari, C., Ariatmi, S. Z., & Zainuddin, A. (2018). Developing taking perspective skills of children aged 5–8 years through story book reading. Early Childhood Research Journal, 1(1), 39–44. https://doi.org/10.23917/ecrj.v1i1.6580
About the Author
Alexandra Eidens is the founder of Big Life Journal and an advocate for applying growth mindset research to children's development. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and The Today Show. Through Big Life Journal, she translates research from psychologists such as Carol Dweck into therapist-reviewed, evidence-based tools and strategies that help children build resilience, adaptability, confidence, emotional intelligence, and a growth mindset.
These are great movies.. I would also like to add another GREAT movie that teaches kids not to be racist. It’s such an amazing movie. It’s called The Color of Friendship. Please look it up and consider putting it on the list.
These are all fine movies, I’m sure, but of those featuring human characters, only three appear to have protagonists of color. Representation matters. Polly might be a good add (a remake of Disney’s older and whiter Polyanna), and The Color of Friendship.
what about pay it forward?
For kids