The Best Kid Friendly Movies All About Paris

Heading to France for a Paris family trip soon? These kid-friendly movies all set in the stunning City of Lights will help to get the little ones just as excited as you are!

Whether you're planning a family trip to Paris or simply want to share a bit of French culture for all ages, there's a Paris movie for all ages sure to please! Prepare for a trip and get the whole family excited to stroll through Notre Dame, visit some of Europe's finest train stations and their clock towers, and taste French foods!

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
WALT DISNEY, 1996

This animated musical drama is for anyone who loves a solid, classic Disney film about Paris. This movie is based on the original novel by renowned French novelist Victor Hugo. If you haven’t seen it yourself, here’s a quick recap: it’s based on the character Quasimodo, a deformed bell ringer of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Quasimodo has grown up confined in the walls of Notre Dame all his life, but is convinced by his only friends, three living stone gargoyles aptly named Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, to attend the annual Festival of Fools. Throughout the rest of the movie, Quasimodo meets new people (including the gypsy Esmeralda) and goes through adventures and hardships that help him to learn to accept himself and become a part of society outside of the cathedrals’ walls. A must-see for any young ones planning to visit Paris, as they can picture Quasimodo himself ringing the bells when you visit the Notre Dame!

 

RATATOUILLE
PIXAR, 2007

Perfect for a foodie or a taste of French gastronomy, Ratatouille explores what it means to be a chef and to enjoy French cuisine. Remy, a rat who lives in the sewers of Paris, dreams of becoming a chef like his recently deceased idol Auguste Gusteau. Using his gifts of highly developed sense of taste and smell, Remy happens to find himself helping Alfredo Linguini, a garbage boy at Gusteau’s former restaurant. The unlikely pair become sort-of friends, you could even say business partners, and discover French food in an entirely different light. Pixar does an incredible job of animating the food, and it will leave you drooling and salivating, hungry for more. Get the whole family excited to taste French food, exactly how Ratatouille makes it!

 

HUGO
PARAMOUNT PICTURES, 2011

Set in 1931, a young boy named Hugo Cabret finds himself orphaned and living alone in the Montparnasse train station, Paris (you could visit this location, too!). His father was once a clock maker and before he passed, he and Hugo were trying to repair an automaton that he had found. Hugo is forced to live with his alcoholic uncle and learns how to repair and maintain the clocks at Gare Montparnasse all by himself. In his spare time, he tries to fix the automaton by himself, but realizes there is a heart-shaped key missing that his father could never find. Hugo meets a toy store owner’s god-daughter while he is looking for more pieces, and discovers she has the key to the automaton. They become fast friends, and Hugo continues his adventures while exploring film and literature in his little pocket of Paris.

 

ARISTOCATS
WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, 1970

A family of cats, Duchess (the mother), Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse (her three kittens) are living with a wealthy retired opera singer, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille and her English butler, Edgar, in Paris. After learning some unsettling news, Edgar the butler “cat-naps” the cats and abandons them in the countryside. Duchess and the kittens must find their way back to their Madame! Not knowing what to do, they happen to meet an alley cat named Thomas O’Malley, who helps guide them back to Paris. It isn’t an easy stroll, and the cats meet many more animals along the way who help them to reach their final destination and evade the ever so scandalous butler. This movie is a timeless classic about Paris through the eyes of a family of cats, kids are sure to enjoy the catchy songs and hilarious moments.

 

A MONSTER IN PARIS
BIBO FILMS, 2011

Emile, a shy projectionist with a passion for film, and Raoul, an inventor and delivery driver, are two friends living in Paris. While making a delivery to a botanical garden, Raoul pours a recent “super fertilizer” concoction on a sunflower seed, causing it to grow immediately past full grown--in fact it’s overgrown! A different concoction is poured on the assistant at the garden, a monkey named Charles. Charles is granted the voice of an amazing opera singer. Somehow, the two potions get mixed together and cause an explosion. Luckily, no one is hurt but the two potions happened to fall upon a flea in the garden, who is now the size of a human and can sing ballads like no other. The plot is not nearly over yet, so grab a bowl of popcorn and gather the family around the TV for Parisian special!

 

Madeline
TRISTAR PICTURES, 1998

This live-action screenplay is a rendition of those books from your own childhood, and encompasses all four into a heart warming film you can enjoy with your kids. Madeline is an orphan girl that attends a Parisian boarding school, with a very strict headmistress. Madeline causes all sorts of trouble for the headmistress, but nonetheless the people at the school are her family. She has adventures throughout Paris, adopts a dog, runs away with a circus, and more. This movie is sure to have your kids wanting to wander through Paris themselves, and will bring back a note of nostalgia for yourself.

 

PASSPORT TO PARIS
DUALSTAR ENTERTAINMENT, 1999

Melanie and Allyson Porter are 13 year old identical twin sisters, played by the Olsen twins. All they can think about are boys, boys boys. In an attempt to broaden their horizons, their parents send them to spend their spring break in Paris with their uncle, who happens to be the US Ambassador for France. When they get there, they expect to be shopping and exploring, but instead spend all their time with their uncle’s no-nonsense assistant since their uncle always seems to always be busy. Somehow, the girls meet and befriend a fashion model who introduces them to--you guessed it--boys. The twins ditch the assistant and get into adventures and mischief with the boys, but eventually learn how to cooperate with their uncle, make amends with the well-meaning assistant, and enjoy their trip.

Now that everyone's excited for a taste of France, how about exploring our 10 best kid-friendly activities in Paris!

Bring the whole family for a bit of live entertainment in Paris, all of our shows are 100% accessible to English speakers, no French required!

Start planning a family theatre night in Paris