I searched far and wide for lists of best family movies of all time. Criteria included the movies being ranked, not just listed, and covering all time, not just a decade or streaming service. The lists were generally created by groups, whether teams or committees or based on general public voting (like Ranker.com).

I was able to find 27 lists. I took the 27 lists and added all their content into a spreadsheet, noting the rank of every film. The total number was 1,850 including all the repeats. I experimented with different formulas, trying to balance the value of being ranked high on any list and being included on the most lists. I ended up averaging the rankings each movie got (there were 304 that were on at least 2 lists) and dividing that average by a factor of the number of lists that movie was on. The lowest score meant a high ranking average on many lists. The complete spreadsheet is attached at the bottom.

The movies that were on the most lists (out of 27) were:

  • The Wizard of Oz (1939) – 21 lists
  • Toy Story (1995) – 20 lists
  • Finding Nemo (2003) – 19 lists
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – 19 lists
  • The Princess Bride (1987) – 19 lists
  • The Lion King (1994) – 18 lists
  • The Sound of Music (1965) – 17 lists
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) – 16 lists
  • Inside Out (2015) – 15 lists
  • WALL-E (2008) – 15 lists
  • The Incredibles (2004) – 15 lists
  • Mary Poppins (1964) – 15 lists
  • Up (2009) – 15 lists

Here are links to the lists I used along with dates the lists were created:

Best-Family-Movies-of-All-Time-1Download