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A list of family movies releasing in Canada from November 2016 to March 2017 to add to your “to see” list.
Trolls
Release Date: November 4, 2016 Rating: All provinces: G.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Family, Musical
Director: Mike Mitchell, Walt Dohrn
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Release Date: November 18, 2016
Rating: PG (Warning: Not Recommended for Young Children) for all Provinces except Quebec – G
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Director: David Yates
About: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars in the central role of wizarding world magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four Harry Potter blockbusters. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds. Website
Moana
Release Date:November 23, 2016
Rating: G for AB/BC/MB/QC/SK & PG for NB/NL/NS/ON/PE
Genre: Action, Adventure, Family, Musical
Director: John Musker, Ron Clements, Chris Williams, Don Hall
About: Three thousand years ago, the greatest sailors in the world voyaged across the vast Pacific, discovering the many islands of Oceania. But then, for a millennium, their voyages stopped – and no one knows why. From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Moana,” a sweeping, CG-animated feature film about an adventurous teenager who sails out on a daring mission to save her people. During her journey, Moana (voice of Auli’i Cravalho) meets the once-mighty demigod Maui (voice of Dwayne Johnson), who guides her in her quest to become a master wayfinder. Together, they sail across the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous monsters and impossible odds, and along the way, Moana fulfills the ancient quest of her ancestors and discovers the one thing she’s always sought: her own identity. Directed by the renowned filmmaking team of Ron Clements and John Musker (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “The Princess & the Frog”) and produced by Osnat Shurer (“Lifted,” “One Man Band”). Website
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Release Date: December 16, 2016 Rating: PG all provinces (with warning Violence/Violence, Not Recommended for Young Children.) Quebec – G.
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Director: Gareth Edwards
Sing
Release Date:December 21, 2016
Rating: All Provinces: G
Genre: Comedy, Family
Director: Garth Jennings
About: Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, SING stars Buster Moon (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist -okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel- who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. Website
A Monster Calls
Release Date: January 6, 2017
Rating: PG all Provinces except Quebec (with warning Frightening Scenes, Mature Subject Matter/Violence, May frighten young children). Quebec: G
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
About: 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) is dealing with far more than other boys his age. His beloved and devoted mother (Felicity Jones) is ill. He has little in common with his imperious grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). His father (Toby Kebbell) has resettled thousands of miles away. But Conor finds a most unlikely ally when the Monster (portrayed by Liam Neeson in performance-capture and voiceover) appears at his bedroom window one night. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth that powerfully fuses imagination and reality. Website
Monster Trucks
Release Date: January 13, 2017
Rating: All Provinces: PG, except Quebec: G
Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure, Family
Director: Chris Wedge
About: 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.
A Dog’s Purpose
Release Date: January 27, 2017
Rating: All Provinces PG except Quebec – G
Genre: Comedy, Family
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
About: Based on the beloved bestselling novel by W. Bruce Cameron, A Dog’s Purpose, from director Lasse Hallström (The Cider House Rules, Dear John, The 100-Foot Journey), shares the soulful and surprising story of one devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) who finds the meaning of his own existence through the lives of the humans he teaches to laugh and love. The family film told from the dog’s perspective also stars Dennis Quaid, Peggy Lipton, Britt Robertson, K.J. Apa, Juilet Rylance, Luke Kirby, John Ortiz and Pooch Hall. Website
The Lego Batman Movie
Release Date: February 10, 2017
Rating: G: AB, BC, QC, SK; All the Rest: PG
Genre: Animation
Director: Chris McKay
Beauty And The Beast
Release Date: March 17, 2017
Rating: All Provinces PG, except Quebec – G
Genre: Drama, Family, Fantasy, Musical
Director: Bill Condon About:Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs. “Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Oscar® winner Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s eccentric, but lovable father; Josh Gad as Lefou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Golden Globe® nominee Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, the candelabra; Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and two-time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts. Website
Power Rangers
Release Date: March 24, 2017
Rating: TBA
Genre: Action, Family
Director: Dean Israelite