25 Best Easter Movies for Kids Anticipating the Easter Bunny's Visit
These movies and holiday specials are certainly egg-cellent.
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Christmas movies are a holiday staple, and family Halloween movies can be counted by the dozen, but when it comes time to celebrate Easter, the choices are a lot more limited. But that doesn't mean that cinema-loving families are entirely out of luck, if they know where to look.
These are the best Easter movies for kids, from toddlers all the way up to tweens and teens. Some are short, half-hour TV specials, some of which adults may remember from their own childhoods — they're good for when the littlest viewers need something to watch and want to get psyched up for the big day. Others are movies that go into the Easter Bunny's backstory, and how certain Easter traditions came to be. There are religious movies that re-tell the story of Jesus in different ways, or films that aren't explicitly about Easter, but feel relevant because they feature rabbits or other Easter themes. Choose one — or marathon them all — for a hoppy Easter!
Coming Soon: The King of Kings (2025)
Charles Dickens narrates the life of Jesus Christ as a bedtime story to his son, Walter, in this animated film based on Dickens' book The Life of Our Lord. The voice cast includes Kenneth Branagh as Dickens, Mark Hamill as King Herod, Pierce Brosnan as Pontius Pilate and Oscar Isaac as Jesus. It comes to theaters on April 11. MPAA Rating: PG
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)
If you can count on the Peanuts for one thing, it's that their holiday celebrations never go smoothly. In this half-hour holiday special, Linus once again has faith in a holiday spirit that no one else has heard of: the Easter Beagle. (Who could that be?) While Linus is waiting, Peppermint Patty and Marcy try to dye their own eggs, an Lucy throws a private egg hunt. Like all Peanuts specials, this one is only available on Apple TV+. Rating: TV-G
Rise of the Guardians (2012)
In their own way, holiday beings like the Easter Bunny are like super heroes. Sure, usually they're spreading joy rather than defeating villains — but in this animated movie, they have to fight against an evil being named Pitch Black, who wants to spread darkness and despair. So who's in on the squad? The Easter Bunny of course (played by Hugh Jackman in his Australian accent), along with Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fischer) and Jack Frost (Chris Pine). It's al all-star holiday team-up! MPAA Rating: PG
Peter Rabbit (2018)
Easter is the holiday where rabbits take the spotlight, and there are few as beloved as Beatrix Potter creation Peter Rabbit. In this movie, Peter and his friends have taken over the McGregor farm, but get into mischeif when Farmer McGregor's nephew comes to re-claim it. ("Bea," a friend to bunnies, lives next door.) If it's a hit, follow it up with Peter Rabbit 2. MPAA Rating: PG
Hop (2011)
There are so many movies about Santa successions, and who is going to take over once one Santa retires. But what about the Easter Bunny? In this one, teenaged rabbit E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) is reluctant to take over as the next Easter Bunny, so instead he joins up with a human slacker (James Marsden) for rock 'n' roll adventures. MPAA Rating: PG
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (1977)
Easter is full of fun traditions, like painting eggs, eating chocolate bunnies or scarfing down jelly beans. This 45-minute short gives a fictional origin for how these traditions came to be. It comes from Rankin and Bass, the stop-motion masters behind other beloved holiday specials, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. MPAA Rating: G
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
This is the only animated movie on this list that can call itself an Oscar winner: It won the award for Best Song for "When You Believe," performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. (It beat out Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon, too.) The movie is an animated, musical adaptation of the Book of Exodus, which is always a good story to revisit around Easter and the voice cast includes a huge list of big-name actors like Val Kilmer (who plays Moses), Ralph Feinnes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Helen Mirren and Steve Martin, among others. MPAA Rating: PG
Easter Parade (1948)
This Fred Astaire/Judy Garland movie is best known for its title song, which celebrates the Easter bonnet that has all the frills upon it. But that's not the only great musical number in it: Watch the rest for songs like "Steppin' Out with My Baby" and "I Love a Piano." MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-Citement (1980)
With a new Looney Tunes movie in theaters this year, kids might have a re-ignited interest in the antics of Daffy Duck. The mallard emcees this 40-minute special, which features three cartoons by animation great Fritz Freleng, all about Easter and spring. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
An Easter Story (1983)
The plot of this story may really resonate this year: It's about an Easter egg shortage that occurs right before the big holiday. And while it may look like it stars Muppets, it's actually from the mind of a different '80s puppet pioneer: Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
The Dog Who Saved Easter (2014)
Fans of ABC Family's The Dog Who Saved Christmas are already familiar with Zeus, the lovable yellow Labrador Retriever. Even if they missed that one, though, dog-lovers will thrill to this Easter-themed sequel, where Zeus (with the voice of Mario Lopez) has to foil a plot by robbers to disrupt a doggie day care. MPAA Rating: G
The Ten Commandments (1956)
In some households, Easter means the yearly rewatch of The Ten Commandments, listening again to the story of how Moses led his people from enslavement in the Book of Exodus. Though it's rated G, this Cecil B. DeMille-directed epic is probably too intense for the littlest family members (and too long, clocking in at more than three hours). MPAA Rating: G
Dora the Explorer: Dora's Easter Adventure (2012)
Swiper, no swiping ... the Easter eggs! When the mischievous fox hides the basket of Easter eggs, it's up to Dora, Boots and their bunny friend to go on a journey to get it back in this special, which runs just over an hour long. MPAA Rating: G
Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade (2016)
Sid and the rest of his Ice Age pals are tasked with a rescue that turns into the world's first egg hunt. (And yes, Scrat gets in on the fun, too.) You can watch the whole thing in less than half an hour, so it's great if you just need to throw something on to keep kids entertained for a bit. Rating: TV-G
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Also good for the older ones, the blockbuster musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber tells the story of Holy Week through rock 'n' roll songs. If you don't want to watch the whole film, you can skip through the songs in the live arena tour version, featuring performances by the Spice Girls' Mel C. as Mary Magdalene, musical comedian Tim Minchin as Judas and Ben Forster, winner of the ITV reality series Superstar, as Jesus. MPAA Rating: G
Yogi the Easter Bear (2005)
Did you know that it was actually Yogi the Bear's ancestors that got the Easter Bunny started? When Yogi and Boo-Boo come out of hibernation on Easter, Yogi tells the story of how his family was instrumental in kicking off the Easter tradition in this 47-minute special. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
It's Santa who makes an appearance in this movie, not the Easter bunny. But when the four Pevensie siblings head through a wardrobe to the magical world of Narnia to help defeat a winter-making White Witch, you can see parallels to the Easter story — especially regarding the noble lion Aslan, who experiences a resurrection. Time to teach those kids about allegories! MPAA Rating: PG
Peppa Pig: The Easter Bunny (2018)
If you're looking for something to watch with toddlers, this hourlong Peppa Pig special is as gentle as they come. Peppa joins her friends and family for Easter fun, including an egg hunt, gardening with her grandparents and, of course, splashing in muddy puddles. Rating: TV-G
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
There are no egg hunts or treat-filled baskets to be found in this Aardman stop-motion animated movie, but bunnies abound. When a town is overrun by rabbits, Wallace and his dog Gromit investigate — and find out a beast has been destroying vegetable patches in the run-up to a garden competition. MPAA Rating: G
Guess How Much I Love You: An Enchanting Easter (2018)
You don't think of the Little Nutbrown Hare as an Easter character, but he fits perfectly in the occasion. When he sees a white fawn, the creatures of the forest get a special Easter surprise. Rating: TV-Y
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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