MTDb › Best of › Family › 1980s
Best Family Movies of the 1980s
#1 My Neighbor Totoro (1988) · ★ 8.1 · 9,112 votes · 1h 26m · fantasy, animation, familyTwo sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits o…
#2 Castle in the Sky (1986) · ★ 8.0 · 4,826 votes · 2h 5m · action, fantasy, adventureA young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.…
#3 Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) · ★ 7.8 · 4,760 votes · 1h 43m · fantasy, animation, familyA young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.…
#4 The Princess Bride (1987) · ★ 7.7 · 5,305 votes · 1h 39m · comedy, fantasy, adventureIn this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murde…
#5 Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) · ★ 7.7 · 1,007 votes · 0h 25m · animation, familyEbenezer Scrooge is far too greedy to understand that Christmas is a time for kindness and generosity. But with the guidance of some new found friends, Scrooge learns to embrace th…
#6 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) · ★ 7.5 · 12,305 votes · 1h 55m · fantasy, adventure, science-fictionAn alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliott who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliott, his b…
#7 The Goonies (1985) · ★ 7.5 · 6,430 votes · 1h 54m · comedy, adventure, familyYoung teen Mikey Walsh and his friends set off on a quest to find Pirate One-Eyed Willie's treasure in hopes of saving their homes from demolition. However, on their quest to find…
#8 The Little Mermaid (1989) · ★ 7.4 · 8,498 votes · 1h 23m · fantasy, animation, familyThis colorful adventure tells the story of an impetuous mermaid princess named Ariel who falls in love with the very human Prince Eric and puts everything on the line for the chanc…
#9 The Secret of NIMH (1982) · ★ 7.4 · 981 votes · 1h 23m · fantasy, adventure, dramaA widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave moth…
#10 Labyrinth (1986) · ★ 7.3 · 2,867 votes · 1h 41m · fantasy, adventure, familyFrustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actu…
#11 The Last Unicorn (1982) · ★ 7.3 · 621 votes · 1h 33m · fantasy, adventure, animationA unicorn learns from a riddle-speaking butterfly that she is supposedly the last of her kind, all the others having been herded away by the monstrous Red Bull. The unicorn sets ou…
#12 The Karate Kid (1984) · ★ 7.2 · 4,873 votes · 2h 7m · action, drama, familyNew Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thug…
#13 The NeverEnding Story (1984) · ★ 7.2 · 4,524 votes · 1h 41m · fantasy, adventure, dramaWhile hiding from bullies in his school's attic, a young boy discovers the extraordinary land of Fantasia, through a magical book called The Neverending Story. The book tells the t…
#14 Big (1988) · ★ 7.2 · 4,191 votes · 1h 44m · comedy, fantasy, romanceWhen a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big, he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight, but he is…
#15 The Fox and the Hound (1981) · ★ 7.2 · 3,596 votes · 1h 22m · adventure, drama, animationWhen a feisty little fox named Tod is adopted into a farm family, he quickly becomes friends with a fun and adorable hound puppy named Copper. Life is full of hilarious adventures…
#16 The Land Before Time (1988) · ★ 7.2 · 2,836 votes · 1h 9m · adventure, drama, animationAn orphaned brontosaurus named Littlefoot sets off in search of the legendary Great Valley. A land of lush vegetation where the dinosaurs can thrive and live in peace. Along the wa…
#17 A Christmas Story (1983) · ★ 7.2 · 1,470 votes · 1h 33m · comedy, familyThe comic mishaps and adventures of a young boy named Ralph, trying to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is the perfect Christmas gift for…
#18 The Dark Crystal (1982) · ★ 7.2 · 1,317 votes · 1h 33m · fantasy, adventure, animationOn another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal and restore order to his world, before the grotesque race of Ske…
#19 The Great Mouse Detective (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 1,824 votes · 1h 14m · adventure, animation, familyWhen the diabolical Professor Ratigan kidnaps London's master toymaker, the brilliant master of disguise Basil of Baker Street and his trusted sidekick Dawson try to elude the ulti…
#20 The Transformers: The Movie (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 645 votes · 1h 25m · action, adventure, science-fictionThe Autobots must stop a colossal planet-consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack fr…
#21 Hoosiers (1986) · ★ 7.1 · 616 votes · 1h 54m · drama, familyFailed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player J…
#22 The Bear (1988) · ★ 7.1 · 536 votes · 1h 37m · adventure, drama, familyAn orphan bear cub hooks up with an adult male as they try to dodge human hunters.…
#23 Flight of the Navigator (1986) · ★ 7.0 · 954 votes · 1h 30m · adventure, science-fiction, family12-year-old David is accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, but when he awakens eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but is just as per…
#24 Knick Knack (1989) · ★ 7.0 · 629 votes · 0h 4m · comedy, animation, familyLife on a shelf as a snowman trapped in a snow-globe blizzard can become wearing, especially when you're surrounded by knickknacks from sunnier locales. When the jaded snowman fina…
#25 An American Tail (1986) · ★ 6.8 · 1,496 votes · 1h 20m · comedy, adventure, dramaA young mouse named Fievel and his family decide to migrate to America, a "land without cats," at the turn of the 20th century. But somehow, Fievel ends up in the New World alone a…
#26 Uncle Buck (1989) · ★ 6.8 · 1,414 votes · 1h 40m · comedy, drama, familyBuck Russell, a lovable but slovenly bachelor, suddenly becomes the temporary caretaker of his nephew and nieces after a family emergency. His freewheeling attitude soon causes ten…
#27 All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) · ★ 6.8 · 1,151 votes · 1h 24m · comedy, fantasy, dramaWhen a casino-owning dog named Charlie is murdered by his rival Carface, he finds himself in Heaven. Wanting to get back at his killer, he cons his way back to the living with the…
#28 Asterix in Britain (1986) · ★ 6.8 · 746 votes · 1h 19m · comedy, adventure, animationOne little ancient British village still holds out against the Roman invaders. Asterix and Obelix are invited to help. They must face fog, rain, warm beer and boiled boar with mint…
#29 Oliver & Company (1988) · ★ 6.7 · 1,749 votes · 1h 14m · comedy, animation, familyPutting its own 'twist' on the story of Oliver Twist, the orange runt of a litter of kittens must fight for survival on the rough streets on New York City, finding unlikely friends…
#30 Short Circuit (1986) · ★ 6.7 · 1,684 votes · 1h 38m · comedy, science-fiction, familyAfter a lightning bolt zaps a robot named Number 5, the lovable machine starts to think he's human and escapes the lab. Hot on his trail is his designer, Newton, who hopes to get t…
#31 Return to Oz (1985) · ★ 6.7 · 1,096 votes · 1h 49m · fantasy, adventure, familyDorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, finds herself back in the land of her dreams, and makes delightful new friends, and dangerous new enemies.…
#32 *batteries not included (1987) · ★ 6.7 · 806 votes · 1h 47m · comedy, fantasy, science-fictionIn a soon to be demolished block of apartments, the residents resist the criminal methods used to force them to leave so a greedy tycoon can build his new skyscraper. When tiny mec…
#33 Time Bandits (1981) · ★ 6.6 · 1,190 votes · 1h 56m · comedy, fantasy, adventureYoung history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of th…
#34 Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) · ★ 6.5 · 874 votes · 1h 31m · comedy, adventure, familyThe eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession wit…
#35 Annie (1982) · ★ 6.5 · 804 votes · 2h 7m · comedy, drama, familyAn orphan in a facility run by the mean Miss Hannigan, Annie believes that her parents left her there by mistake. When a rich man named Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks decides to let an or…
#36 Asterix vs. Caesar (1985) · ★ 6.5 · 660 votes · 1h 19m · comedy, adventure, animationObelix falls for a new arrival in his home village in Gaul, but is heartbroken when her true love arrives to visit her. However, the lovers are kidnapped by Romans; Asterix and Obe…
#37 The Black Cauldron (1985) · ★ 6.4 · 1,472 votes · 1h 20m · fantasy, adventure, animationTaran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidn…
#38 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) · ★ 6.3 · 3,444 votes · 1h 33m · comedy, adventure, science-fictionThe scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the…
#39 The Karate Kid Part II (1986) · ★ 6.3 · 2,577 votes · 1h 53m · action, adventure, romanceSummoned by his dying father, Miyagi returns to his homeland of Okinawa, with Daniel, after a 40-year exile. There he must confront Yukie, the love of his youth, and Sato, his form…
#40 Turner & Hooch (1989) · ★ 6.3 · 1,489 votes · 1h 39m · action, comedy, thrillerDetective Scott Turner has three days left in the local police department before he moves to a bigger city to get some 'real' cases—not just misdemeanors. When Amos Reed is murdere…