Family

Family movies and shows are a staple for many people. Trying to get the kids to quieten down – find a movie! Need to fill up some rainy days – find a show to keep everybody happy! Thankfully, over the years there have been plenty of family-friendly movies but it wasn't always the case.

The first movie made that was specifically aimed at children was The Blue Bird (1918). But in those days, movies in that genre were few and far between. In fact, before 1940 only 22 family movies were made. They do include some classics that have stood the test of time such as The Wizard of Oz (1925, 1939) and Peter Pan (1924).

A similar number of films were created in the 1940s and that figure doubled in the 1950s. But it wasn't until the 1960s that moviemakers saw the potential of the family as a huge money maker. More than 110 family movies were made in this decade including The Parent Trap, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Doctor Dolittle, and The Love Bug.

With the industry in full swing and the young audience firmly established, production of family-orientated movies entered an unstoppable phase. And once Star Wars was released in 1977 the cinematic experience changed forever. Quickly becoming a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon, what made Star Wars the ultimate family movie was that kids loved it as much as adults. It was also one of the first movies to ever really brand merchandise, making it the fifth-highest-grossing media franchise of all time.

Realising that parents needed to be entertained as much as kids, by the time the 1980s rolled around movies such as Back To The Future, The NeverEnding Story, and The Goonies, were tapping into the whole family market. Even today, despite some movies being aimed primarily at kids, there are always a few in-jokes for the parents to have a laugh at.

TV series have gone the same way. Yes, there are plenty of kid's cartoons, and what parent hasn't had to sit through hundreds of episodes of Peppa Pig?. But as the kids get older the tv series require a bit more depth. It's a market Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime have really tapped into. On the back of shows like Gilmore Girls, Dawson's Creek and Glee, they have their own originals which do exceptionally well.

So if you want to check out all of the family tv shows and movies then have a look at all the ones we have reviewed and take your pick.