| Marisa LaScala |
Whisper of the Heart (1996)
This film comes from Studio Ghibli, the acclaimed animation house behind beloved movies like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. It’s about the sweet relationship that develops between two teenagers but also about their creative pursuits: Shizuku, the girl, wants to become a writer, and Seiji, a boy, wants to learn how to make his own violins. MPAA Rating: G
The Wild Robot (2024)
Love is at the heart of this movie, although rather than romantic love it focuses more on the love between found family and community. It’s about a robot who, after being lost in a shipwreck, heads into the forest and becomes something of a parental figure to a baby duck. While helping to raise the baby duck, the robot changes the relationships of all the other animals around them. MPAA Rating: PG
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The Princess Bride (1987)
The romance between Westley and Buttercup is one of the all-time greats. Lucky for kids, though, it’s nestled in a story that contains adventure, excitement and swashbuckling, which will keep them going through the mushy parts. MPAA Rating: PG
Your Name (2017)
It’s hard to maintain a relationship as a teenager. It’s even harder when the teens in question live miles away from each other. It’s truly the hardest when they only know of each other’s existence because they body swap in each other’s dreams. The unexpected connection between two high school students in Japan forms the basis for a story that’s both moving and urgent. MPAA Rating: PG
Wall-E (2008)
Wall-E is many things. It’s a sci-fi adventure in space. It’s an environmental parable. But it’s also the story of an adorable robot and the lovely friendship he finds after working all alone for many years. MPAA Rating: G
Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You (1999)
This one is as gentle as they come, so you might be able to watch with the littlest movie fans in your life. This 22-minute short finds the gang at the 100 Acre Wood jealous that Christopher Robin is using his time to make a Valentine’s Day card for a girl. Owl helps them deduce that Christopher Robin is lovesick and only a “lovebug” called a “smitten” can cure him — so they head on a hunt through the forest to find one. Rating: TV-G
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
For kids who don’t like straight-up romance, this Hayao Miyazaki-directed film has a love story buried in a tale about dueling magicians and kingdoms at war. Sophie is enthralled by a handsome wizard named Howl — but a jealous witch puts a curse on her and changes her into what looks like a 90-year-old woman. (If the kids like it, the book that it’s based on is equally good, but also very different.) MPAA Rating: PG
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Elemental (2023)
There’s forbidden love, and there’s … impossible love? In Pixar’s Elemental, the world is divided into four groups: Fire, Water, Air and Earth. When two people find a connection across groups, they have to figure out if they can make it work without destroying each other — or their families. It’s not specifically about Valentine’s Day, but it is about how love may or may not conquer all. MPAA Rating: PG
Ella Enchanted (2004)
There are enough riffs on Cinderella out there to fill 100 Valentine’s Days, but this one also adds a soundtrack of pop songs like “Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart.” There’s also an element of self-empowerment, since Ella has to set off to break a curse placed on herself before she can have her happily ever after with her prince. MPAA Rating: PG
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
How can you have a love triangle between Spider-Man, Spider-Man and Spider-Man? When you start messing with multiverses, anything is possible. Miles Morales (Spider-Man) pines for Gwen Stacy (Ghost Spider), but she’s lost in a different dimension. Meanwhile, she’s getting close to Hobie (Spider Punk) — and they’re dealing with a threat to the whole multiverse. Does it work out for them? Keep in mind, this is only Part I, and there’s no date yet for Part II. MPAA Rating: PG
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie (2023)
Superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir, when they’re not saving France, spend most of their time pining for each other. The problem? They have no idea that, out of costume, they’re really Marinette and Adrien, two high school students in the same class. This musical Netflix movie re-tells their origin story and explains how they got into such a complicated tangle. MPAA Rating: PG
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
They say true love is forever, but is it really forever forever? This film, based on the classic novel by Natalie Babbitt, tells the story of a teenager who falls in love with a boy whose family has found the Fountain of Youth, rendering them immortal. MPAA Rating: PG
True: Happy Hearts Day (2019)
In this 23-minute preschool special, True and her cat Bartleby come across the Rainbow Kingdom’s loneliest citizen. Can she harness the power of happy hearts to keep him from spreading his gloom? Rating: TV-Y
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
If they’re embarrassed by mushy romantic movies, maybe they’d be better served by a screwball rom-com. This classic finds Cary Grant and Karharine Hepburn falling in love, but that’s almost a backdrop to the antics they get into with a tame leopard, Baby, who of course heads out on the loose. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
If The Princess Diaries was all about Mia coming into her own as royalty, the sequel is about her search for a suitor. You see, Mia can only become queen if she marries. Chris Pine plays the dashing Nicholas, one of her potential fiancés. MPAA Rating: G
Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (2018)
In a sci-fi twist on forbidden romance, this musical takes place in a town that suffered an accident at a power plant, turning half the population into zombies. The zombies and humans were walled off from each other until the government invented Z-bands, which keeps the zombies from craving human brains and allows the humans and zombies to mingle once more. Amidst this rocky reintegration, a zombie football player and a human cheerleader fall in love and have to keep their romance a secret from their family and friends. Z-O-M-B-I-E-S is now a three-movie franchise, and its most recent installment, 2022’s Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3, introduces aliens into the mix. Rating: TV-G
Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)
Loosely based on William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, this 3D computer-animated movie puts a family-friendly spin on the timeless tale of forbidden love. Kids who enjoy it can move onto the sequel, Sherlock Gnomes, though it’s less of a love story. MPAA Rating: G
Belle (2022)
For older ones, this anime is sort of a sci-fi, futuristic retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It follows Suzu, a shy girl who lives in a small town. When she enters a metaverse known as the U, though, she’s a famous singer with thousands of fans. But also lurking in the U is a beast known as “The Dragon.” MPAA Rating: PG
Little Women (2019)
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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