Finding family friendly movies that the whole family will enjoy is getting more and more difficult, as our choices become fewer and fewer. The number of PG and G rated movies that come out every year is decreasing as Hollywood and movie audiences gravitate towards PG-13 rated movies. Some of my favorite memories with my family have been times that we’ve all enjoyed a movie together. Over the years, I’ve learned that there are only a select few movies that fit the criteria to be called a Cahan Favorite. These criteria are as follows:

1. They must be free of any content concerns. In other words, no sex or violence, no false religion presented as truth, no mockery of Christian values, and very little, if any, cussing.

2. It can’t be so childish that the adults lose interest.

3. It can’t be so adult-ish that the kids lose interest

There have been many movies that we’ve tried and had to turn off because they broke one or more of the criteria listed above. And, there have been some movies that didn’t work for us when our kids were younger, but then a few years later they worked fine. So, each family will have to figure out what works for them according to the ages of their kids and also the personal tastes of the adults. The list below just happens to be some of our favorites. Hopefully, you’ll see a few titles on here that you haven’t thought of, and maybe it will lead to a new family night for your family. Note, everything on this list is rated PG or G. Yes, there are PG-13 movies that are fine for families, but for the sake of this list, it made it much simpler to leave those out for now. Also note that I’ve tried to list only movies that are somewhat recent. My rationale for that is I’ve noticed my kids tend to view my favorite movies from my childhood as being ancient. They just naturally respond better to movies that have the kind of modern production values that they are used to. Final Note, I am purposely leaving animated movies off of this list, even though I am a big fan of all animation and so are my kids. My reason for this is that most adults that I know, for some reason, don’t enjoy animation as much as I do. Maybe I’ll post a list in the future of my favorite animated movies to watch with my kids. So, here is my non-animation list.

Family Friendly Movies

Comedies

Pink Panther 1 & 2 (2006 & 2009 with Steve Martin)

Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009 with Kevin James)

The Three Stooges (2012 by the Farrelly brothers)

Imagine That (2009 with Eddie Murphy)

Nacho Libre (2006 with Jack Black)

Napoleon Dynamite (2004 with Jon Heder)

Dramas

We Bought A Zoo (2011 with Matt Damon)

Courageous (2011 with Alex Kendrick)

Amazing Grace (2006 with Ioan Gruffudd)

Holes (2003 with Shia LaBeouf)

Hugo (2011 by Martin Scorsese)

October Sky (1999 with Jake Gyllenhaal)

Remember The Titans (2000 with Denzel Washington)

Romance

You’ve Got Mail (1998 with Tom Hanks)

Fireproof (2008 with Kirk Cameron)

Leap Year (2010 with Amy Adams)

Letters To Juliet (2010 with Amanda Seyfried)

Pride & Prejudice (2005 with Keira Knightley)

Return To Me (2000 with Minnie Driver)

Flipped (2010 by Rob Reiner)

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998 with Drew Barrymore)

Fantasy & Adventure

The Narnia Movies; all 3 (2005, 2008, 2010)

Mask of Zorro (1998 with Antonio Banderas)

Oz, The Great & Powerful (2013 with James Fanco)

National Treasure 1 & 2 (2004 & 2007 with Nicolas Cage)

That’s my list of family friendly movies. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some good ones. Please feel free to add your suggestions by leaving me a comment. I’m always looking for new ideas for our next family night.