From enduring classics to Oscar-nominated animated features, we've got a wide range of titles that should delight young and old alike - and that you haven't already seen a million times. Explore the full collection of family movies at SBS On Demand.
Bugsy Malone
G
UK, 1976
Genre: Musical, Comedy, Family
Language: English
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Paul Murphy, Dexter Fletcher, Michael Jackson, Jodie Foster, Scott Baio
What's it about?
A pint-sized cast illuminates this musical that is unlike any other ever made. Set in 1929 New York City, Bugsy Malone captures a flashy world of would-be hoodlums, showgirls, and dreamers - all played by child actors! As Tallulah, the sassy girlfriend of the owner of Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy, future superstar Jodie Foster dances and sings her way into our hearts.
My Life as a Zucchini
PG
France, Switzerland, 2016
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family
Language: French
Director: Claude Barras
Starring: Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat, Paulin Jaccoud, Michel Vuillermoz
What's it about?
After his mother’s death, Zucchini is befriended by a kind police officer, Raymond, who accompanies him to his new foster home filled with other orphans his age. There, with the help of his newfound friends, Zucchini eventually learns to trust and love as he searches for a new family of his own. The screenplay for Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature was adapted for the screen (from Gilles Paris' novel) by Céline Sciamma, writer-director of Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
[link title="Animated film 'My Life as a Zucchini' is simply irresistible for kids and adults alike" url="node/132746"]
Paper Moon
PG
USA, 1973
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Language: English
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Starring: Ryan O'Neal, Tatum O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Randy Quaid
What's it about?
Played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal (who won an Oscar for her performance, making her the youngest ever winner in any category), a bible salesman and a 9-year-old orphan girl team up to form a money-making con team in Depression-era Kansas.
CJ7
PG
Hong Kong, 2008
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction, Family
Language: Cantonese
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Stephen Chow, Xu Jiao, Kitty Zhang, Lam Tze-chung, Lee Sheung-Ching
What's it about?
Ti (Chow), a really poor construction worker that struggles to keep his son, Dicky (Jiao), in private school, mistakes an orb he finds in a junkjard for a toy which proves to be much, much more once the young boy starts to play with it. From multitalented Hong Kong superstar Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle, Shaolin Soccer).
A Monster Calls
PG
USA, Spain, 2016
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Language: English
Director: J.A. Bayona
Starring: Lewis MacDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Liam Neeson
What's it about?A monster comes to young Connor (MacDougall), and it asks for the one thing Connor cannot bring himself to do - tell the truth. Connor very damaged, guilty, and mostly angry, struggling at school with bullies as well as his mother's sickness. Will Connor overcome his problems? Will everything be okay? Will Connor be able to speak the truth?
Son of Rambow
G
UK, 2007
Genre: Comedy
Language: French, English
Director: Garth Jennings
Starring: Bill Milner, Will Poulter, Neil Dudgeon, Asa Butterfield, Jessica Hynes
What's it about?
Will Proudfoot (Milner) is looking for an escape from his family's stifling home life when he encounters Lee Carter (Poulter), the school bully. Armed with a video camera and a copy of Rambo: First Blood, Lee plans to make cinematic history by filming his own action-packed video epic. Together, these two newfound friends-turned-budding-filmmakers quickly discover that their imaginative ― and sometimes mishap-filled ― cinematic adventure has begun to take on a life of its own.
Ernest & Célestine
G
France, 2012
Genre: Animation
Language: French
Director: Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Voice Cast: Pauline Brunner, Lambert Wilson
What's it about?
In the conventional world of bears, it is not the done thing to become friends with a mouse. Nevertheless, Ernest (Wilson), a big bear, who happens to also be a clown and musician, takes in Celestine (Brunner), an orphan who has fled the underground world of rodents. These two solitary creatures help and comfort each other, and in doing so, disrupt the established order. A 2014 Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature.
Jour de fête
G
France, 1949
Genre: Comedy
Language: French
Director: Jacques Tati
Starring: Jacques Tati, Guy Decomble, Paul Frankeur
What's it about?
Tati's debut feature tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community. Influenced by too much wine and a newsreel account of rapid transportation methods used by the United States postal system, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed the delivery of mail while aboard his bicycle.
Mary and Max
PG
Australia, 2009
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Animation
Language: English
Director: Adam Elliot
Voice Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries
What's it about?
A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary (voiced by Collette), a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max (voiced by Hoffman), a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York. From Adam Elliot, creator of the Oscar-winning 2003 short Harvie Krumpet, and nominated for Best Film at the 2009 AFI Awards.
[link title="Mary and Max Review: An achingly beautiful character study of an enduring friendship" url="node/4565"]
The Red Turtle
G
Japan, France, 2016
Genre: Drama, Animation
Language: [no dialogue]
Director: Michael Dudok de Wit
What's it about?
Gorgeously animated, this wordless feature from Studio Ghibli (best known for producing Hayao Miyazaki films such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke) about a stranded castaway pays tribute to what's most important in life: companionship, love, family, and the stewardship of nature. A 2017 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature.
Interview: The Red Turtle director Michael de Wit, on being backed by Studio Ghibli[link title="The Red Turtle review: Studio Ghibli's new animation a gorgeous island myth" url="node/87810"]
