I still remember with horror the beginning of 2023, when there was a months-long fallow period between Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Super Mario Bros. Movie where there were no new kids' movies being released into theaters. While we made do with at-home re-watches and a few theatrical revivals, as a movie-loving family we yearned for our cinema outings.
The year 2025 seems, to my eyes at least, the opposite of those darks days. (Woo-hoo!) The schedule is packed — the year starts out strong with a new Wallace and Gromit — and families are spoiled for choice when it comes to the best movies to watch. These are the best kids' movies coming out in 2025, listed in order of release date. Like any year, there are plenty of sequels to old favorites and live-action remakes of classics. But there are also interesting original stories, both in live action and animation, that might jump-start some new fandoms. Take a look, and mark your calendar with your favorites. (And in between new releases, make sure to catch up with the best kids' movies of 2024.)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Release Date: January 3, 2025
Wallace and Gromit return to the screen for another adventure — one that sees them teaming up against an old foe who might be familiar to longtime Aardman fans who have seen The Wrong Trousers. But kids who have never seen any Wallace and Gromit before can still delight in the antics, which sees Wallace inventing a garden gnome that's supposed to just do yard work but ends up taking on so much more (including bedeviling Gromit). MPAA Rating: PG
The Colors Within
Release Date: January 24, 2025
Art, music, friendship and other manifestations of creativity combine in this lovely anime from the director of A Silent Voice. It follows a girl named Totsuko, who associates people with colors. She's drawn to the color of her classmate, Kimi, and her fascination leads her to starting a band with Kimi and another classmate, Rui. MPAA Rating: PG
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Dog Man
Release Date: January 31, 2025
The perennial Good Housekeeping Kids' Book Award winner makes the leap from the page to the big screen, but still keeps its zany, cartoonish style. For his first movie outing, they go back to the beginning, telling the story of how a dog's head gets attached to a cop's body, and how the newly formed Dog Man must go after his rival, Petey the Cat. Pete Davidson provides the voice of Petey. MPAA Rating: PG
Paddington in Peru
Release Date: January 24, 2025
Paddington returns for another gentle adventure. This time, he goes back to his country of origin when he gets word that his Aunt Lucy has been acting strangely; when he arrives, he finds out Lucy is missing in the jungle, and he has to go and rescue her. MPAA Rating: PG
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The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Release Date: February 28, 2025
It's been a minute since there was a new Looney Tunes movie, and this one puts two of the best characters front and center: Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. In the movie, the two uncover an alien plot to take over the world, and they become Earth's best hope to stop it. (Oh boy!) MPAA Rating: PG
See AlsoFrom Lightyear to Minions 2, the coolest kids' movie 2022 has in store2022's Most Exciting New Kids MoviesKids Movies 2022 List - Movie Insider12 kids movies coming out in 2022 the whole family can watchThe Legend of Ochi
Release Date: February 28, 2025
For families who love fantasy and folktales, this film take place in a village that shuts down at night in fear of the terrifying monsters called Ochi that roam the woods. But when a young girl finds a lost baby Ochi, she vows to return it to its pack, and wonders if they're not as bad as they're made out to be. Fans of practical effects should be pleased to learn that the baby Ochi is a puppet operated by seven people. MPAA Rating: PG
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Night of the Zoopocalypse
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Who says you have to wait for Halloween for zombie fun? This Canadian/Belgian/French import shows what happens when a meteor turns a bunch of zoo animals into mutant gummy zombies. The story idea comes from horror master Clive Barker. MPAA Rating: PG
Disney's Snow White
Release Date: March 21, 2025
Snow White is next up on Disney's list to get the live-action remake treatment, this time with West Side Story's Rachel Zegler in the lead role and Wonder Woman's Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the creators of Dear Evan Hansen, wrote a new song for the film. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
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A Minecraft Movie
Release Date: April 4, 2025
Fans of mobs, ores and creepers probably already have this Minecraft movie adaptation in their calendars already. Jack Black, who already stars in Jumanji and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, goes for a kid-video-game-movie hat-trick by stepping into the role of Steve; Jason Momoa also stars, and it's directed by Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Lilo & Stitch
Release Date: April 25, 2025
If you've been to an elementary school recently, you'd know that Stitch is having a moment — a resurgence if you will. That makes this the perfect time for a Lilo & Stitch remake, this time with real actors and a CGI Stitch. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
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Karate Kid: Legends
Release Date: May 30, 2025
Karate Kid fans old, new and brand-new can all come together for this one, which stars both Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan. In the film, they team up to train a young martial-arts enthusiast (Ben Wan) who was uprooted from his hometown and finds it hard to fit in with his new classmates — sounds like something Daniel LaRusso can relate to! It takes place a couple years after the final season of Cobra Kai. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Elio
Release Date: June 13, 2025
The next Pixar movie is an out-of-this-world one, literally. Elio longs to explore the galaxy, but he gets more than he bargained for when he's abducted by aliens — who mistake him for the leader of Earth. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
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How to Train Your Dragon
Release Date: June 13, 2025
Disney isn't the only one getting into the live action/CGI remake game this year. There will also be a re-do of How to Train Your Dragon, just in time for the opening of the Land of Berk in Universal Studios's Epic Universe theme park. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
The Smurfs Movie
Release Date: July 18, 2025
Chris Miller, the director behind Puss in Boots, takes on an animated reboot of the Smurfs franchise. The voice cast includes comedic greats like Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Dan Levy, Amy Sedaris, Nick Kroll, James Corden and Hannah Waddingham, and Rihanna is the voice of Smurfette. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
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The Bad Guys 2
Release Date: August 1, 2025
In The Bad Guys, a group of animals with bad reputations learned to walk the straight and narrow — but can they stay that way? This time, a group of criminal fans — The Bad Girls — try to pull our heroes back to the dark side for "one last job." Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne and Maria Bakalova join the voice cast as The Bad Girls. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Freakier Friday
Release Date: August 8, 2025
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are together again! They reprise their roles from the 2003 Freaky Friday, and, with Anna (Lohan) now a mom, the body-switching antics hit different. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
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Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie
Release Date: September 26, 2025
Gabby is taking things on the road! This live action/animated hybrid movie finds Gabby on a trip to San Francisco. Only her vacation takes a turn when she has to rescue her friends (and her dollhouse) from a local cat lady. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Tron: Ares
Release Date: October 10, 2025
The digital world and the real world collide again in the newest installment of the Tron franchise. This time, Jared Leto stars as Ares, a sophisticated program that's dispatched outside of the mainframe for a dangerous mission. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
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Wicked: For Good
Release Date: November 21, 2025
Good news! The second half of Wicked was shot back-to-back with the first, so it'll be ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. Fans can learn the rest of the untold tale of the Wicked Witch of the West. MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Zootopia 2
Release Date: November 26, 2025
Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are back on the case! And this time, they have to go undercover. Can they fit in among the reptiles of the Marsh Market? MPAA Rating: Not Yet Rated
Marisa LaScala
Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.