Educational movies are fun ways to explain things to children. In this selection, we looked for important issues to discuss with the children, such as: feelings, relationships, friendship, life difficulties, among others.
1. Fun Mind (2015)
Gender: Animation, Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:35 am
Inside Out (inside out, title in English) is an animation of the comedy genre in which it addresses in a fun way the emotions present inside the brain of 11-year-old girl Riley.
Emotions are divided into curious characters such as Alegria, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The story unfolds when the girl's father has to move to another city because of his new job, which starts to make Riley sad.
This is a very interesting movie to watch with children, as it shows how our brain works, from the importance of memories and each feeling to our lives. In addition, you need to be aware of emotional control and teach this to children.
What to discuss with children?
- The functioning of the brain
- The Importance of All Emotions
- Emotional control
2. Wall-e (2008)
Gender: Animation, Science Fiction
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:43
Wall-e is an animation that tells the story of a robot that starts to clean the garbage from the earth, left by humans. The plot takes place in the year 2805 d. Ç. In this panorama, the planet is covered with garbage and many robots were made to help clean up and human beings started to live in a spaceship, called Axiom.
This animation is very interesting to reflect on the excessive consumption and garbage created by human beings. Ideas like recycling, accumulating objects and the sustainable use of things on the planet are important issues that we can reflect with our children.
What to discuss with children?
- Sustainability and recycling
- Pollution caused by garbage
- environmental education
3. It's making waves (2007)
Gender: Animation, Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:25 am
It's making waves (surf's up, title in English) is an animation that focuses on the story of a penguin, Cadu Maverick, who runs after his biggest dream: to be a surfer. The big challenge is to participate in the Big Z Memorial Surf Off tournament, a kind of world surfing championship.
To prepare, his idol Big Z, who lives isolated on a beach, decides to help him. With a lot of focus and dedication, he manages to win the tournament of the most famous penguin of the moment: Tank Evans.
With lots of humor and iconic characters, this movie helps us to realize that we must chase our dreams, no matter how impossible they seem to be. Besides, being dedicated and learning from defeats is part of life.
What to discuss with children?
- Dedication to overcoming obstacles
- Frustrations are part of life
- Believe in dreams
4. Chihiro's Journey (2001)
Gender: Animation, Fantasy
Classification: over 6 years old
Duration: 2:05 am
Chihiro's Journey is a Japanese animation that tells the story of a 10-year-old girl, Chihiro. Chihiro's saga unfolds from the moment her parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba. In a world full of fantastic beings, she meets a character, Haku, who gives her tips and helps her with difficulties.
Some interesting lessons from the film are the feeling of courage we must have even in situations that we feel very scared, in addition to knowing how to deal with adverse moments that exist in life.
There is also the lesson that, many times, we need to do something in life that we don't like very much, but that it is necessary to have patience to reach our goal.
What to discuss with children?
- fear and courage
- Determination to achieve the goal
- difficult moments in life
5. Brave (2012)
Gender: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:40 am
Brave (brave, in English) is an animation that tells the story of the girl Merida. This young princess is out of the box and ends up being criticized by her mother, because of her tastes, the biggest one being: the bow and arrow.
Dissatisfied with her fate of becoming a princess and marrying someone she doesn't love, Merida asks a witch for a spell, which turns her mother into a bear. To undo it, she and her siblings will face several challenges.
This animation has as protagonist a female character, a very brave warrior who is willing to face challenges to conquer her place in the world, without sabotaging her will to be who intend to be. Topics such as the role of women, courage and free will can be important discussions to have with children.
What to discuss with children?
- Free will
- stereotypes
- courage to win
6. Zootopia: This City is the Animal (2016)
Gender: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:50 am
Zootopia: This City is the Animal is an animated film that tells the story of a rabbit, Judy Hopps. She becomes the first rabbit officer in the police department of a town called Zootopia, where different species of animals live in harmony.
Alongside fox Nick Wilde, who handles cases very differently, that is, cheating, they will try to unravel one of the cases in the city: the disappearance of one of the animals. However, they end up becoming close and at one point Nick confesses to Judy that he has been bullied in his life.
This animation is full of interesting topics to discuss with the children, such as: tolerance, prejudice, differences between people, resilience, determination and persistence to carry out dreams.
What to discuss with children?
- prejudices
- Respect for differences
- Bullying
7. The Adventures of Peabody and Sherman (2014)
Gender: Animation, Adventure, Science Fiction
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:32
The Adventures of Peabody and Sherman (Mr. Peabody & Sherman, title in English) is an animation that tells the story of Peabody, a very intelligent dog who wins the Nobel Prize for his inventions. After that, he adopts a human baby named Sherman.
Responsible for the education of the child, Peabody explains many things to him and, with that, decides to create a time machine, in order to show the boy several historical facts.
The problem starts when Sherman goes to school. There, he is bullied by some children for being different. However, he manages to turn it around, showing his colleague Penny the reality behind the story.
Some interesting themes in the film that can be raised to discuss with children are bullying, differences between people, the importance of respect, and many issues related to science and story.
What to discuss with children?
- Bullying
- Sciences
- History
8. Up, high adventures (2009)
Gender: Animation, Adventure, Dramatic Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:36 am
Up, High Adventures is an animated film that tells the story of Carl Fredricksen, a balloon seller. His dream and that of his wife, Ellie, is to live in Paradise of the Waterfalls, in Venezuela. However, Ellie dies before they do it.
One of the problems he faces is related to his house, as he was contacted to move from there and go live in a nursing home, as the idea is to use the land to build a building. He refuses, and willing to fulfill his dream and that of his wife, fills thousands of balloons with gas and transforms his house into a big airship.
When he is finally moving towards his dream, he finds Russell, the boy scout, on his porch. From there, many adventures and adventures will happen.
Some topics that are worth discussing with children are: the importance of respecting your elders, as well as learning from them; and, of course, another important issue is dealing with death.
What to discuss with children?
- respect for elders
- Persistence to achieve goals
- Adverse moments such as death
9. Party in Heaven (2014)
Gender: Animation, Adventure
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:35 am
party in heaven (the book of life, English title) is an animation that tells the story of a group of rowdy children who were invited to visit a museum.
Interestingly, the museum guide decides to focus on the “book of life” and starts telling them all the stories. The characters that stand out the most are: Catrina (La Muerte); Xibalba (ex-husband of Catrina); Maria (daughter of the highest authority in the city of San Angel); Manolo (violinist and Maria's suitor); Joaquim (also Maria's suitor).
It is worth remembering that Catrina is the one who governs the Land of the Remembered and Xibalda, the Land of the Forgotten. Furthermore, there is a third world: the world of the living. The stories are immersed in Mexican culture and, above all, in one of the biggest events in Mexico: the day of the dead.
Some interesting discussion topics for children are: Mexican culture, companionship and free will.
What to discuss with children?
- Free will
- Friendship
- mexican culture
10. Ratatouille (2007)
Gender: Animation, Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:51
Ratatouille is a film that tells the story of Remy, a little mouse who dreams of being a chef, however, he does not receive support from his family. One of the most famous chefs whom he admires a lot, Auguste Gusteau, founded a restaurant in the city of Paris, which Remy decides to visit.
There, he befriends one of the kitchen helpers, Linguini, who is very clumsy and cannot lose his job. Therefore, Remy decides to help his colleague by hiding in his hat and giving him cooking tips.
Amidst many confusions, the plot unfolds and the plot reveals secrets. As an example, we have that the clumsy helper is, in fact, the legitimate son of Auguste Gusteau and, therefore, the owner of the restaurant.
This animation raises many interesting questions to discuss with children such as free will, ie, choose what each one intends to be in life according to their abilities, in addition to the importance of friendship and work in a team.
What to discuss with children?
- friendship and companionship
- Team work
- Persistence to achieve goals
11. The Fantastic Chocolate Factory (2005)
Gender: Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy
Classification: Free
Duration: 1:55 am
The fantastic chocolate factory (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, English title) was released in 1971 and, in 2005, a remake of this classic was made. The film is centered on the story of the boy Charlie who lives with his family in a very simple house. He loves chocolates but only eats it once a year when he gets a bar for his birthday.
Willy Wonka, the owner of the biggest chocolate factory, decides to open a contest in which 5 children are invited to visit the factory and, luckily, Charlie is one of them.
When the big day arrives, all the children, accompanied by their parents, visit the factory. However, due to the personality of each one, they are being eliminated and, finally, is Charlie, who ends up being the heir of the chocolate factory.
This film is very interesting to discuss with children themes such as thinking about others and the consequences that certain attitudes and behaviors can bring.
What to discuss with children?
- Behaviors and consequences
- Persistence to achieve goals
- differences
12. Pi's Adventures (2012)
Gender: Drama, Adventure
Classification: over 12 years old
Duration: 2:07 am
The Adventures of Pi (Life of Pi, in English) reveals the story of an Indian family who owns a zoo and decides to move to Canada with the animals.
During the move, a shipwreck occurs and, of the family, only Pi Patel, the younger brother, survives. Saved by the lifeboat, for the first week he lives with a hyena, a broken-legged zebra, an orangutan and a bengal tiger.
In the end, only he and the Tiger, called Richard Parker, survive and drift together. During 227 days at sea, Pi faces various challenges, such as hunger, fear and loneliness.
A very interesting topic of discussion about this film is the question of dealing with life's problems creatively and with great faith.
What to discuss with children?
- Difficulties and adaptation
- faith and persistence
- Courage