2017 Family Friendly Movies

It's time for my favorite post of the year: my annual list of family-friendly movie releases! Every year, I take a couple hours and put together a list of all the family-friendly movies that will be coming out for the year (you can check out past lists here). This really is my favorite post because I truly love going to the movies with my family. There is no shortage of kid-friendly movies coming out in 2017!  I have 20 on the list! I think it's the most I have ever posted! This year we have everything from the return of Lightning McQueen to the much-anticipated live-action Beauty and the Beast and more minions. 2017 is jam-packed of kid-friendly movie fun!!

This movie release list is posted by month with release dates as of 01/03/2017. Remember, release dates are subject to change and I will update my list accordingly! This list includes movies with a G and PG rating. Let's get the fun started:

JANUARY

Monster Trucks  01/13/2017

Looking for any way to get away from the life and town he was born into, Tripp (Lucas Till), a high school senior, builds a monster truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town with a most unlikely friend.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQrj2M-2Uiw

A Dog's Purpose  01/22/2017

A devoted dog (Josh Gad) discovers the meaning of its own existence by showing humans how to laugh and love over the course of several lifetimes.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jLOOCADTGs

FEBRUARY

The LEGO Batman Movie, 02/10/2017

There are big changes brewing in Gotham, but if Batman (Will Arnett) wants to save the city from the Joker's hostile takeover, he may have to drop the lone vigilante thing, try to work with others and maybe, just maybe, learn to lighten up.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Omq74wC1erg


Rock Dog, 02/24/2017

A mastiff (Luke Wilson) leaves his Tibetan village to pursue his dream of becoming a rock 'n' roll star.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGsUHbq3yUY


MARCH

Beauty and the Beast, 03/17/2017    

I AM SUPER EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE!!!!

Belle (Emma Watson), a bright, beautiful and independent young woman, is taken prisoner by a beast (Dan Stevens) in its castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the beast's hideous exterior, allowing her to recognize the kind heart and soul of the true prince that hides on the inside.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omEtQlhhM64

Power Rangers, 03/24/2017

Five teens (Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler) utilize their special powers to save the world from an alien threat.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPl-afeXTS8

Boss Baby, 03/31/2017

A wildly imaginative 7-year-old (Miles Bakshi) clashes with his demanding newborn brother (Alec Baldwin).

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNnbilJ2ts

APRIL

Smurfs, The Lost Village,   04/07/2017

With the evil wizard Gargamel (Rainn Wilson) hot on their trail, Smurfette (Demi Lovato), Brainy (Danny Pudi), Clumsy (Jack McBrayer) and Hefty (Joe Manganiello) embark on a journey through the Forbidden Forest to find a mysterious village.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x6LiTq8Vik

MAY

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul,  05/19/2017

A family road trip to grandma's 90th birthday celebration takes a wrong turn when a boy (Jason Ian Drucker) hatches his latest scheme to become famous.

Official Trailer: Not Available Yet

JUNE

Captain Underpants, 06/02/2017

A principal (Ed Helms) transforms into the superhero Captain Underpants after two children hypnotize him.

Official Trailer: Not available yet

Cars 3, 06/16/2017

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) enlists his new friend as a technician to help him compete against a new generation of racers.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suv-5HOi6pc

Despicable Me 3, 06/30/2017

Gru (Steve Carell) and his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) must stop former '80s child star Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) from achieving world domination.

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DBi41reeF0

AUGUST

The Emoji Movie, 08/04/2017

The Emoji Movie is an upcoming 2017 American 3D computer-animated film directed by Tony Leondis and written by Leondis, Eric Siegel and Mike White. 

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_8cbx_jOmw

Nut Job 2, 08/18/2017

Surly (Will Arnett) the squirrel and his animal friends spring into action when the evil mayor (Bobby Moynihan) of Oakton plans to bulldoze the park that they live in.

Official Trailer: not available yet

BLAZING SAMURAI, 08/25/2017

Blazing Samurai is an upcoming American computer-animated action comedy film directed by Chris Bailey and Mark Koetsier and written by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper.

Official Trailer: not available yet

SEPTEMBER 

The LEGO Ninjago Movie

Ninjas, samurais, and sensei fight side-by-side against dragons, armies of snake men, and a once-banished warlord who is now seeking to return to power

Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1PJ_OCYIN8

NOVEMBER

COCO, 11/22/2017

Coco follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who sets off a chain of events relating to a century-old mystery, leading to an extraordinary family reunion.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC1vUdr9q0U

Paddington 2, 11/24/2017

Paddington, now happily settled with the Brown family and a popular member of the local community, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.

Official Trailer: not available yet

DECEMBER

Jumanji, 12/22/2017

In a brand new Jumanji adventure, the tables are turned as four teenagers are sucked into Jumanji's world - pitted against rhinos, black mambas and an endless variety of jungle traps and puzzles. To survive, they'll play as characters from the game: meek Spencer becomes a brave explorer (Dwayne Johnson); hulky jock Fridge becomes a tiny genius (Kevin Hart); It-girl Bethany becomes a bookworm professor (Jack Black); and unathletic Martha becomes an amazonian warrior (Karen Gillan). To beat the game and return to the real world with their lives, they'll have to start seeing things in an entirely different way.

Official Trailer: not available yet

FERDINAND, 12/22/2017

Ferdinand, a little bull, prefers sitting quietly under a cork tree just smelling the flowers versus jumping around, snorting, and butting heads with other bulls. As Ferdinand grows big and strong, his temperament remains mellow, but one day five men come to choose the “biggest, fastest, roughest bull” for the bullfights in Madrid and Ferdinand is mistakenly chosen. 

Official Trailer: not available yet

WHEW!!! That's A LOT of movies to keep us entertained this year! We, as a family, are really looking forward to watching them all!!


***This list will be updated with new trailers and release dates accordingly. I create this list and have no affiliation with any theater, movie company or production studio. This is just for the love of movies!***

Fall 2015 Family Friendly Movies & a $100 Fandango GC Giveaway

Disclosure: I am a Fandango Family blogger and I was compensated for this post. However, all opinions are mine alone!

As we slowly adjust to our crazy school schedules, it's a little harder to find time to spend together just hanging out. Thankfully, there are lots of movies being released into theaters this Fall that should allow us some fun family time! We love going to the movies and try to see every movie as it released. It's our thing and we are really looking forward to seeing all of these! 

Up first is Hotel Transylvania 2. We saw this over the weekend and we LOVED it. The whole gang is back in this perfect sequel to Hotel Transylvania! It is funny, goofy and I know your whole family will enjoy it!

PAN, October 9, 2015

This looks like it's going to be amazing. I mean, the trailer is breathtaking, I can't even imagine seeing this in IMAX 3D! PAN is the story of a young Peter Pan, a dashing Captain Hook and Blackbeard the Pirate (played by the incredible Hugh Jackman) and their adventures in Neverland!



Goosebumps October 16, 2015

I have a feeling that they are gong to do right by R.L. Stine with this movie adaptation of the Goosebumps books. I read these books as a kid, my kids are reading them now and really enjoy them. It doesn't seem scary. It seems like the perfect movie for kids this Halloween!



The Peanuts Movie, November 6, 2015

This is the highly anticipated big screen debut of the Peanuts gang! I have been seeing this and other trailers for this movie for months and we are all super excited to watch the movie. My kids have only ever seen, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown but I grew up with the Peanuts gang and nostalgia definitely kicks in every time I see the trailer!



The Good Dinosaur, November 25, 2015

We have been waiting for this movie for a while now since the release date kept getting pushed back but thankfully this Thanksgiving weekend, we will finally get to watch The Good Dinosaur. This movie is about friendship and loyalty and you know it will be a tearjerker!

WOW! That's a lot of movies to check out! Going to the movies can get expensive so I want to help you out! Thanks to the amazing folks at Fandango, one of you lucky readers can win a $100 gift card to go watch any movie you want! Enter below for your chance to win!

Entry-Form

Have you checked out the Fandango Family site lately? They have all sorts of fun stuff just for families such as trailers, crafts, recipes,  momREEL kids and the new MOVIECLIPS series! Check it out today!


Tell me: Which movie or movies are you and your family most excited to go watch this fall?

2015 Family-Friendly Summer TV & Movie Guide

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Acorn Influence. All opinions are mine alone. 

Summer is here! The kids have been out of school for over a week now and I have been busy planning out our days. We have a family vacation coming up, summer camps to attend and lots of lazy, down time. The kids get to pick what to do during this down time and it's usually watching TV or watching a movie at home or at the theater. We will pick out a show or movie and watch it together. We have also made a list of TV shows and movies we want to watch this summer. I try to cover as much of the list as possible over the summer.

TV:
My kids love to watch cartoons and shows on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Our top favorites are: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Titans Go, Lab Rats, Spongebob and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn. We will watch the same episodes on repeat, especially with OnDemand.

On our "Must-Watch TV" list, we have:

One Crazy Cruise on Nickelodeon on June 19th



Kira Kosarin (The Thundermans), Benjamin Flores Jr (The Haunted Hathaways), Sydney Park (Instant Mom), and Rio Mangini (Bella and the Bulldogs) are all stuck together on one crazy cruise!

Teen Beach 2 on Disney Channel on June 26

Amberly and Gian loved the original Teen Beach and are anxiously awaiting this second installment. Adrian, not so much, but he will watch it with us.

Family Rule: We watch TV together. Everyone gets to pick a show and everyone watches it!
The Descendents on Disney Channel on July 31st This looks like lots of fun. We will make an event out of this one. Invite their friends over, host a move night!! We love to go to the movies. I share a round-up of movies we want to watch at the beginning of ever year (2015, 2014, 2013) and we watch every movie on those lists. There are lots of fun ones coming out over the summer (June-August) and these are on our list: Jurassic World - June 12

We took Adrian to see this on Monday. Our "Family TV rule" doesn't work for the movies. We talk to the kids about the movies and take whoever wants to see it. Besides, Gian can't watch a movie like this because of the sensory overload and Amberly could care less about dinosaurs so we took Adrian only. We loved everything about this movie! It was pretty fantastic! Inside Out - June 19

This is going to be amazing. I can't wait to see what Disney does with emotions!!

Minions - July 10

Obviously with Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 being such hits, the Minions don't need an introduction. They are cute, they make funny noises and kids love them!

Ant-Man - July 17

I wasn't too sure about this movie until I saw a full trailer before Jurassic World and I am hooked. This will be another movie where only Adrian and I go but that's fine. We are BIG Marvel buffs!

Underdogs - August 14

Underdogs was a surprise entry on the summer movie list. I hadn't heard of it before but Amberly had and since Ariana Grande voices one of the characters, she really wants to see it. 

"The story of a reluctant hero whose town is threatened when his long-time rival returns home to avenge an old grudge. When the players from his foosball table are magically brought to life, he recruits them to help him enter into the biggest underdog match ever, save the town and win back the love of his life."
It's going to be a summer of fun here at our house. I have these three crazies all summer! 

Wish me luck!
What TV shows and/or movies are you and your family looking forward to this summer?

REVIEW: Sofia the First: The Enchanted Feast DVD

Calling all Sofia the First fans! There is a new Sofia the First movie coming out on DVD!! Sofia the First, The Enchanted Feast hits stores on August 5th!

Official Synopsis:

There's more than meets the eye when you join Sofia the First for this royally scrumptious adventure! All the monarchs from Enchancia's neighboring kingdoms have come to watch a dazzling display of magic: First, Cedric will conjure up a fabulous feast. Next, he'll transform the banquet room into a hall of amazing ''morpho-mirrors.'' But before the fun begins, wicked Miss Nettle (disguised as ''Sascha the Sorceress'') crashes the party with a scheme to steal Sofia's magical amulet. Can Sofia foil the bad fairy's plan before it's too late? Perhaps . . . with help from Snow White, who reminds her it's important to trust your instincts.

Our Review:

Sofia and Snow White are the perfect pair!! With Snow White's advice and Sofia the First's "I can do it" attitude, children will learn to always trust their instincts. Very valuable leasson if you ask me. Also, the usual cast of characters and even more incredible ones join the feast so there is crazy amounts of fun! This was probably our favorite Sofia the First adventure yet!!

Sofia the First, The Enchanted Feast is available for pre-order at the Disney Store by clicking here! 

Disclosure: I was provided this DVD for my review. All opinions are my own!

Back to School Fun at P.S. from Aeropostale

Disclosure: I am a P.S. from Aeropostale VIP Blog Ambassador and was provided with a gift card to aid in this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

I love shopping for back to school. Only problem? Shopping for fall clothes in Miami is difficult. We don't actually have a typical fall season. No boots and sweaters here, we continue in swimsuits and flip-flops through December. However, since swimsuits and flip-flops are not considered "proper school attire", I needed to go back to school clothes shopping. 

As the kids get older, they like to provide input as to what to wear. I love it. Each has their own style and liking. One of their favorite stores to shop at is P.S. from Aeropostale. They walk in like they own the place, grab a bunch of stuff they like and off to the fitting rooms! 

I asked them to pick out something to wear for the first day back and here's what they came up with. I love all three looks!

Graphic tee/ jeans/ denim vest/ skater dress/ plaid shirt

Adrian prefers a more athletic laid back look. He picked this "In it to win it" tee, skinny jeans and cap. 

Gian prefers a more put together look. He chose a plaid button down with straight jeans!

Amberly is really into the new "mixed print" trend so she picked a paisley print denim vest and skater dress. This girl could live in dresses! Oh and she says she is going to wear the denim vest with everything!

                            

I love this skull cap. The black on black rocks! Oh and the skull just screams FALL!!

                         

All these looks are so perfect for back to school. All the clothes are great for the classrooms and hanging out with friends after school!

P.S. from Aeropostale carries sizes 4-14. All the clothes the kids picked could be layered with jackets or sweaters for those of you that are lucky enough to live in states where you actually get a "fall" season. Here are some other cool looks available at P.S. from Aeropostale:

Girls sizes 4-14 available at P.S. from Aeropostale

Boys sizes 4-14 available at P.S. from Aeropostale

Have you gone back to school shopping yet? Do your kids like to shop with you?

REVIEW: Planes: Fire & Rescue

We had the privilege to get to attend the advance screening of the new Planes: Fire & Rescue movie this week. I was very excited to watch this movie since I really loved the first one. This movie was very different from the first though. This one is more focused on Dusty Crophopper learning selflessness. It's not all about him this time. My favorite part of this movie is that it is focused on real superheroes: our firefighters. There aren't many movies that highlight the firefighter profession, especially towards children. This movie does an excellent job at helping children understand how much firefighters do and how they sacrifice themselves for others. Also, there's a new cast of lovable characters that your children will enjoy meeting. 

Official Synopsis:

When Dusty learns that his engine is damaged and he may never race again, he joins forces with fire and rescue helicopter Blade Ranger and his team, The Smokejumpers, to battle a massive wildfire.

I really recommend this movie for all families. It is a great movie to watch together as a family!!

Planes: Fire & Rescue hits theaters July 18th!

More info here: http://movies.disney.com/planes-fire-and-rescue

REVIEW: How To Train Your Dragon 2 and FREE Printables

We were honored and humbled to be invited to attend a screening of How To Train Your Dragon 2 last week. How To Train Your Dragon has been one of Adrian's favorites for years and he was looking forward to watching the sequel since he saw the first preview months ago. 

Official Synopsis: 

It's been five years since Hiccup and Toothless successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snotlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island's new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds. When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.

Our Thoughts:

This is the ultimate story of a boy and his pet!! This is probably one of the best sequels ever. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. Hiccup and Toothless are an incredible team and I loved how this film continued on the training aspect of the first film. There are more dragons, more adventures, more love and definitely more fun!!! One thing I do recommend is having your kids watch the first film (if they haven't seen it) before going out to watch this one. In my opinion, they need to watch the meeting of Hiccup and Toothless first. I guarantee they will love both movies!!

For Fun: Make sure to go to the official website for the movie: http://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/ and check out all the cool games and printables available! 

Having a How to Train Your Dragon party? Dreamworks even has free party printables for you to download! 

http://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/play/downloads/printables

How To Train Your Dragon 2 hits theaters Friday, June 13th!!

Did your kids love the first movie? Are they excited to go see the sequel?