Fairy tales have undoubtedly been one of the biggest sources of inspiration ever since the Brothers Grimm first published their collection in 1812. Every animation and production studio, from Disney to Studio Ghibli, has used these imaginative and often cautionary tales as the basis for many of their films. Although fairy tales are a go-to choice when looking for source material for kids’ and family movies, they are not the sole architects of great content.
From movies based on comic book characters like Spider-Man. To a futuristic vision where a lovable robot seeks companionship in Wall-E. There are some fantastic family films available that are not focused on fantasy. So if you’ve had enough princesses or magical pumpkins for a while, check out these awesome kids and family movies that aren’t based on fairy tales.
10
‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ (1989)
Rick Moranis is known for his roles in Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors, and Spaceballs. In 1989, he starred in an immensely entertaining movie called Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In the film, he plays Wayne Szalinski, a professor and amateur inventor who is trying to develop a device to shrink objects. When random coincidences lead to an unplanned experiment, the device shrinks not only his two children, but the two neighbor kids as well.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is an adventure movie like no other. It has great practical effects and scenes where the kids battle ants and scorpions evoke memories of movies like Them! and Jason and the Argonauts. It won a BAFTA for Best Special Visual Effects, and the choice to use mostly camera tricks and keep computer animation to a minimum makes the film incredibly engaging and still worth watching today. Although a reboot featuring Josh Gad was in talks for production, it has fallen into limbo. Hopefully, it can go forward because Honey, I Shrunk the Kids definitely deserves a remake.
9
‘Spy Kids’ (2001)
When espionage and subterfuge become a family affair, it makes for a great Robert Rodriguez movie in Spy Kids. Rodriguez, who is known for directing action-packed thrillers like Machete, Alita: Battle Angel, and Sin City, brings all the power and punch to this kid-friendly spy film. It is easy to take Spy Kids for granted 24 years later, but at the time, it was a frontrunner in creating a film that was engaging enough to keep both children and adults entertained.
Spy Kids would go on to launch a prolific franchise with five separate films. In the original, Alexa PenaVega and Daryl Sabara star as Carmen and Juni Cortez, a pair of siblings who think their life is pretty ordinary. When their mom (Carla Gugino) and dad (Antonio Banderas) go missing, they learn the truth that their parents were international spies. Aided by some family friends, Carmen and Juni go on their own mission to recover their parents from the eccentric mastermind Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). Spy Kids has heartwarming tones of familial bonding and fantastic action scenes that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and we’d expect nothing less from a Robert Rodriguez film.
8
‘Annie’ (2014)
Theater and musical aficionados will be familiar with the tale of the little orphan girl whose positive attitude won the heart of a billionaire in Annie. In 2014, director Will Gluck gave the iconic IP a modern makeover. Gluck does a great job of incorporating contemporary elements into the movie, like smart technology and social media. The Tony Award-winning songs also received some revamping, with classics like “Tomorrow” and “It’s The Hard Knock Life” remixed with fresh cuts and exciting beats.
The well-known “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile” features megastar Sia and enlivens the soundtrack for a new generation of fans.
Quvenzhané Wallis had already starred in a major motion film in Beasts of the Southern Wild. She gave an outstanding performance and was the youngest person ever nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. Wallis shines again in Annie as the lead and delivers a performance full of humor and heart. Jamie Foxx is brilliant as Will Stacks, and the two have great on-screen chemistry together. Cameron Diaz was an inspired choice to play the villainous role of Hannigan. In a clever twist on traditional fairy tale tropes, audiences see that not all villains are ugly witches who live in the woods. Pretty women with fancy clothes can be mean, too.
7
‘Holes’ (2003)
Holes is a cult-classic comedy starring Shia LaBeouf and Sigourney Weaver. Based on the book by Louis Sachar, it tells the story of a young teen named Stanley (LaBeouf) who is sent (despite being innocent) to a detention camp in the desert. Once there, he and his fellow inmates are forced to dig holes in the hard, dry clay all day. Under the venomous gaze of the unforgiving warden (Weaver), the young men toil and sweat under the hot sun, wondering why and what they are digging for.
As mystery and interconnected plotlines unravel in Holes, the movie delivers enough intrigue to fill all the holes the teens dug in the desert. It has a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was the top film on Hulu when it was released on streaming. Much like Stanley and his family in the film, Holes is a great comeback story, proving that films made before streaming deserve a chance to shine online. Holes created such a stir that a new gender-bending reboot is in the works, starring Shay Rudolph as the lead character, Haley, and Greg Kinnear as The Warden.
6
‘WALL-E’ (2008)
Although Disney has a history of leaning heavily on fairy tales for their animated adaptations, the cinematic dynamo has a roster of films that are based on other books and real-life stories. In 2008, an original script would create a lovable robot that would give characters like R2-D2 and Johnny 5 a run for their money. WALL-E is about a small trash compacting robot that is left on Earth to clean up the mess humanity made before launching into space to exist on a self-sustaining starship.
Fans of Star Wars, Short Circuit, and Hello Dolly will find their funny bones tickled and their heartstrings tugged at this endearing triumph. Wall-E (Ben Burtt) is exemplary of how nonverbal performances can communicate emotion without dialogue. It is part romance, part sci-fi adventure, and all epic.
5
‘The Road to El Dorado’ (2000)
Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh are solid Hollywood gold, and they team up to search for the lost city of gold in The Road to El Dorado. Kline and Branagh have been acting for over 40 years each. Their talent and chemistry are superb in The Road to El Dorado, which is a bit of a hidden treasure itself for DreamWorks. The dynamic duo star as Tulio and Miguel, two friends and adventurers who go on a journey to find untold riches.
The Road to El Dorado has great comedy, excitement, and a soundtrack orchestrated by two living legends, Sir Tim Rice and Sir Elton John. If you haven’t seen The Road to El Dorado yet, make it a must-watch on your family movie night list. With its witty banter and sophisticated story, it would be great to see The Road to El Dorado adapted to live-action one day, and maybe Kline and Branagh could reprise their roles. Watching the two formidable actors interact live on-screen would be the magic that fandoms are made of.
4
‘Madeline’ (1998)
“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.” Based on the book of the same name by Ludwig Bemelmans, Madeline is the story of a young girl and her fight to keep her boarding school open. Madeline is one of the most beloved children’s literature characters, having an animated TV show and a TV movie made in her honor. When Madeline was given the star treatment with a live-action feature film in 1998, the charismatic Hatty Jones brought her to life with a great joie de vivre.
Frances McDormand plays the formidable Miss Clavel, and she and Jones work well together on screen. Nigel Hawthorne gives a multi-shaded performance of Lord Cucuface….ugh, we mean Lord Covington. The characters in Madeline feel real and dimensional. Famous film critic Roger Ebert adds that the movie is “assisted mightily by the presence of McDormand and Hawthorne, who play their roles precisely, not broadly, and come across as people, not caricatures.” Audiences of all ages can admire this movie that does Bemelmans’ characters justice.
3
‘The Lego Batman Movie’ (2017)
In what could be called a true toy-story, The Lego Batman Movie built on the success of its predecessor and combined two popular brands into one highly entertaining movie. Will Arnett is Batman as he fights his most well-known and notorious enemies like Joker (Zach Galifianakis), Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), The Riddler (Conan O’Brien), and Two-Face (Billy Dee Williams). Michael Cera joins the cast as Robin, and Ralph Fiennes gives the character Alfred his signature sophistication.
The Lego Batman Movie is the second-highest-ranking Batman movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes and for so many good reasons. It combines the brooding campiness of the Michael Keaton era with the comedic irreverence of the Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Carrey films, and at the same time has the familial bonding undertones of the Christian Bale trilogy. Only The Dark Knight beats The Lego Batman Movie in rankings, and that status is completely legit. The animation is clever, the performances are spot-on, and the action is exciting. It is one of DC Comics’ best movies of the 2010s, and some could easily argue it is one of the best they’ve ever made.
2
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
Another comic book character that has had his share of movie immortalizations is the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. In 2018, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took the world by storm and became a smashing success. The new saga followed young Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as he is bitten by a radioactive spider and becomes the new Spider-Man. The visually stunning and fresh animation style paired with the trendy storyline superbly, and it is easily one of the best Spider-Man movies ever made.
Sometimes sequels don’t live up to the expectations that the first movie set. Especially when studios capture that rare “lightning in a bottle.” But in 2023, Sony Pictures Animation did it again and produced another hit with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Not only was the animation just as engaging as the first film, but the story was even more fun for fans as every version of Spider-Man across multiple realities got a chance to appear on-screen. It is considered one of the best animated movies of all time, and it is not hard to see why. The highly anticipated third film, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, has faced a few delays, but is scheduled for release in June 2027.
1
‘Big Hero 6’ (2014)
If you were to combine the feels of WALL-E, the humor of The Lego Batman Movie, and the Marvel background and knack for pleasing animation of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, you would get Big Hero 6. This fan-favorite sci-fi film is about a tech-minded teen named Hiro (Ryan Potter) and the bond he forms with his brother’s invention, a healthcare companion robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit). In the film, Hiro and Baymax team up with others to solve the mystery behind a tragic accident.
Big Hero 6 received well-earned recognition for its great storyline, wit, and animation upon its release. Over a decade later, it is still a beloved canon for fans, with many hoping for a cinematic sequel. Big Hero 6 is also an important representation of Asian voices in the sci-fi genre, which has a sad history of burying such narratives. Big Hero 6 is part prophecy as it envisions what life might be like in the not-too-distant future if AI starts to oversee human healthcare. If the future involves robots that are anything like Baymax, then we will probably be satisfied with our care.
Big Hero 6
- Release Date
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October 24, 2014
- Runtime
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1h 42m
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