Lauren Wills
Our favourite family movies which share an important animal rights message.
Who says educating the family about animal intelligence has to be difficult? With these much-loved films, you can teach the kids the importance of compassion from the comfort of your sofa.
There’s nothing like a children’s film about animals to warm our hearts and - almost certainly - have us reaching for the box of tissues (adults and kids alike!).
But beyond their entertainment value, many of our cherished childhood movies are educational too, teaching us about animal intelligence and reminding us of the importance of animal welfare.
So snuggle up on the sofa, grab some popcorn, and have a movie marathon that will benefit all the family - and the animals too!
1. Free Birds
Reggie the turkey (comically voiced by Owen Wilson) forms a deep fear of Thanksgiving when he realises the humans are “fattening us up to eat us!”
This epic adventure then follows a group of determined turkeys on a top secret mission to remove themselves from the dinner plate once and for all.
2. Finding Nemo
Think fish don’t have feelings? Think again! When baby clownfish Nemo is captured by divers, single father Marlin embarks on a quest to save his son from a life of captivity.
Along the journey, we meet countless characters including groovy turtles, excitable sea birds, and a shark who resists the pressure from his friends to eat fish because he believes that “Fish are friends, not food.”
3. Babe
Set in a time “when pigs were afforded no respect” and “lived their whole lives in a cruel and sunless world,” Babe masterfully shows how animals are not all treated equally.
When a young pig discovers his fate, he is determined to prove his intelligence and establish his right to live. The message behind the film was so inspiring, in fact, that actor James Cromwell decided to go vegan after starring in the feature, and has since become a well-known animal rights advocate.
4. The Bee Movie
This quirky animation answers the much-debated question of whether humans harvesting honey harms bees. Young bee Barry B. Benson befriends a human who views his life as equally-valuable as hers. But he is aghast to discover that humans eat honey, and tries to explain “This is stealing.”
The story follows the bug-human duo as they embark on a mission to free bees from this unfair system and emancipate them as “honey slaves.”
5. Charlotte’s Web
Based on the much-adored children’s book by E.B.White, Charlotte’s Web is a tale of unlikely friendships and animal desire to live.
When Wilbur the pig learns that humans eat pigs, he is desperate to escape the slaughterhouse. The story explores the personalities of all the animals on the farm, including Charlotte the spider, who spins words into her web in an effort to convince the farmer that Wilbur is "some pig" and worth saving.
6. Chicken Run (and Chicken Run 2!)
Babs the chicken can’t be any clearer when she says, “But I don’t want to be a pie!” Following a group of chickens as they form a plan to escape the profit-driven meat industry, Chicken Run is full of humour, adventure, and an important message.
Expect to learn heaps about chicken intelligence, their ability to form touching relationships, and their desire to live.
7. Okja
Okja follows the story of Mija who travels across the globe to save her best friend Okja - who happens to be a super pig, genetically modified for the meat industry.
This South Korean-American action-adventure covers everything from animal activism, corporate greed, and unbreakable bonds between humans and our animal companions.
8. 101 Dalmatians
The horrors of the fur industry are personified by everyone’s most-feared childhood villain, Cruella De Vil. Obsessed with fur, Cruella wants to turn puppies into clothing, ordering, “Poison them, drown them, bash them on the head… I don’t care how you kill the little beasts, just do it!”
Besides the insight into the immorality behind the fur industry, the film is full of adorable puppies, so well worth a watch.
9. Free Willy
This 1993 classic is one of the few films addressing the issue of animals kept captive for entertainment.
As a friendship blossoms between Willy, a captured orca, and a 12-year-old boy, a quest begins to reunite Willy with his freedom and his family. “Go, Willy, go!”
