The 2000s as a decade are home to some of the most popular and immediately recognizable family films of all time. From the likes of franchises such as High School Musical and Spy Kids to standout singular films like School of Rock, Elf, and Holes, the decade was filled with unforgettable films for all ages.
Although even more than the most well-known hits of the decade, a cavalcade of forgotten and underappreciated 2000s family movies deserves their own time in the spotlight. Especially with Gen Z reaching their peak nostalgic period, it's the perfect time to revisit the gems that helped define the decade for an entire generation.
10 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium' (2007)
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium follows the story of Molly Mahoney (played by Natalie Portman), the insecure yet capable manager of the Wonder Emporium store. When the store owner, Mr. Magorium (played by Dustin Hoffman), begins his retirement and relinquishes the store to her, the magic and imagination of the store begin to fade away. It becomes up to Molly to save the magic of the store so that the world's greatest toy store can continue to spread joy.
The primary strength of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium is its magical toy store premise acting as an excuse for a wide variety of creative and visually enthralling toys and gags. From stuffed animals that come to life to countless bubbles and flying toy planes, the visual excitement that comes from the store is the absolute highlight of the film. There's also a strong central theme and message of holding onto childlike whimsy and imagination and how even in adult life, it's important to let loose and let creativity run wild.
9 'Snow Day' (2000)
Snow Day follows the stories of a group of kids making the most of their unexpected snow day, giving them a day off school. From confessing feelings to the popular girl at school to finally taking down the evil snowplow man, the spirits are high as the children believe anything can happen on a snow day.
Snow Day is at its best when it focuses on the childish wonder and excitement that comes from being out in the snow with friends and enjoying the time off of schoolwork. While there are many plot threads throughout the film, the highlight is absolutely young Natalie's attempts to take down Roger the snowplow man. The comical exponential increase of the stakes between the two parties makes for a number of great moments, only further amplified by Chris Elliott's great cheesy performance as Roger.
8 'Fat Albert' (2004)
Based on the classic '70s cartoon, Fat Albert follows the titular Fat Albert (played by Kenan Thompson) and his rag-tag group of friends as they are miraculously transported into the real world. It becomes up to young Doris Robertson (played by Kyla Pratt) to look over the real-life cartoon characters and deal with their shenanigans as they try to entrust life lessons onto her.
Despite the negative connotation that comes from reboots of classic properties, Fat Albert finds a way to adapt the material in an original and interesting way that fits in the modern setting. A lot of comedic mileage comes from having dated cartoon characters interact with the real world, and there's no shortage of abstract and absurd humor to find that has aged beautifully. The film works especially when it's centered around the core of Thompson's performance as Albert, which the majority of the film revolves around, and he delivers a great comedic performance.
7 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' (2008)
Based on the classic novel of the same name, Journey to the Center of the Earth follows a determined scientist, his nephew, and their mountain guide on a quest to find his long-lost brother. On their journey, they stumble upon the beautiful yet dangerous world at the center of the earth and have to find a way back to the surface before they are lost forever.
Journey to the Center of the Earth has a number of highlight aspects to it, from the creative world-building to the lost world of the center of the Earth to the ahead-of-its-time quip-centric dialogue. By far, the absolute best part of the film is the electric screen presence of leading star Brendan Fraser. The film only further proves how great of a leading man Fraser is, as his presence and abilities on screen easily elevate everything around him.
6 'Cheaper by the Dozen' (2003)
Cheaper by the Dozen follows the story of the Baker family, with parents Tom and Kate (played by Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt) and their 12 children. When Tom is offered his dream job to coach his college football team, the entire family moves out to Evanston to theoretically live their dream lives. Moving places a lot of turmoil on the family, however, and what was once a dream opportunity is slowly but surely beginning to fall apart at the seams.
While it may seem like a difficult task to follow and give enough time to such a large cast of characters, Cheaper by the Dozen does an effective job of focusing on the bigger picture at hand. While there are various individual gags with each child, there's a much greater focus on the bigger picture and the family's dynamic as a whole and its evolution through the film. Wrapped together with some classic slapstick humor, Cheaper by the Dozen gives out a surprising amount of heart and care for viewers that give it a chance.
5 'Sky High' (2005)
Sky High provides a glimpse into a world where superheroes and their battles against supervillains are commonplace and a part of everyday life. We follow Will Stronghold, the son of two of the world's biggest and most well-known superheroes, as he begins his journey at the high school for superheroes, Sky High. But there's one issue for Will: he doesn't have any superpowers himself, so now he's forced to try and survive high school while being the only person there without powers.
Sky High has aged perfectly for the modern era, where superhero stories are told left and right, and still shows an original and inventive take on a world adapting to life with superheroes. It's one of the best original adaptations of the coming-of-age story to the superhero genre and is filled with iconic and memorable moments that have left audiences wanting more since its release.
4 'Aliens in the Attic' (2009)
Aliens in the Attic follows an extended family who has to face off with a group of aliens when they invade their vacation home. The aliens have technology that allows them to take control over adults, so it's up to the kids of the family to both fight the aliens and hide their battle from their vulnerable parents.
Aliens in the Attic takes a simple premise and delivers a surprisingly creative slapstick comedy that delivers a lot of laughs that still hold up to this day. What especially works well is the family dynamics between the primary young children of the family, as they all have their own histories and connections with one another as a family. This creates an effective and genuine dynamic that flows throughout the entire film and then is further amplified by the children's attempts to get their parents safe and away from the aliens.
3 'Shorts' (2009)
Shorts tells a chronicle of various stories that focus on one suburban town's experiences with a rainbow-colored rock that will grant wishes to the holder. These stories are not told in chronological order, and the film acts more as a collection of short stories that come together in the end as opposed to a singular story being told.
Even outside the abstract and unusual storytelling method, Shorts is a film that is brimming with creativity and imagination from beginning to end. Much like the other family movies from director Robert Rodriguez, Shorts feels like a film built from the ground up to be a child's favorite movie. Its hyperactive and nonsensical style works wonders for the film's theme of child empowerment and strength over the greedy and powerful adults in their lives.
2 'Bridge to Terabithia' (2007)
Bridge to Terabithia follows a young outcast boy named Jess (played by Josh Hutcherson) at the beginning of a brand-new school year. While he starts the year alone, he soon finds friendship in his new neighbor Leslie (played by AnnaSophia Robb), and the two begin hanging out and having adventures outside of school. Together they form the imaginary fantasy world of Terabithia, where the two are king and queen, and they fight against forces of evil in their own fun-filled adventures.
While Bridge to Terabithia is much more well known for its infamous twist ending, the actual film, at its core, still has much to offer regarding emotional maturity and strength. There are inherent themes of both imagination and escapism that comes from the world of Terabithia, which acts as Jess's true creative outlet to parallel the pain caused by their school life. It tackles this topic in a much more mature and effective way than seen in most family films, and this message only amplifies in strength when we enter the iconic final act of the film.
1 'Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' (2004)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events follows the newly orphaned Baudelaire siblings, who, after their parents' passing, are forced into the custody of their distant relative Count Olaf (played by Jim Carrey). Count Olaf is only using these children for their wealthy inheritance, however, and he soon enacts a plot to murder the children to obtain the said inheritance. The siblings now find themselves on the run from Olaf, running from caretaker to caretaker to avoid his deadly grasp.
While only adapting a small part of the famous series of novels, the film does a great job of adapting the aesthetic of the novels as a whole. Adapted to film, the darkly gothic styling and production design are a sight to behold upon itself, conjuring up comparisons to the best works of Tim Burton. Carrey also does a great job at playing the primary antagonist of Olaf, being able to tap into a variety of comedic performances as a primary comedic highlight of the film.