Best Family Movies of 2003

1.

Finding Nemo

6.9

8.1/10

Nemo, an adventurous young clownfish, is unexpectedly taken from his Great Barrier Reef home to a dentist's office aquarium. It's up to his worrisome father Marlin and a friendly but forgetful fish Dory to bring Nemo home -- meeting vegetarian sharks, surfer dude turtles, hypnotic jellyfish, hungry seagulls, and more along the way.

3.

Brother Bear

5.7

6.8/10

When an impulsive boy named Kenai is magically transformed into a bear, he must literally walk in another's footsteps until he learns some valuable life lessons. His courageous and often zany journey introduces him to a forest full of wildlife, including the lovable bear cub Koda, hilarious moose Rutt and Tuke, woolly mammoths and rambunctious rams.

4.

Elf

5.5

6.9/10

When young Buddy falls into Santa's gift sack on Christmas Eve, he's transported back to the North Pole and raised as a toy-making elf by Santa's helpers. But as he grows into adulthood, he can't shake the nagging feeling that he doesn't belong. Buddy vows to visit Manhattan and find his real dad, a workaholic publisher.

5.

Whale Rider

5.5

7.5/10

On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.

6.

In America

5.4

7.7/10

An Irish immigrant family adjusts to life in the United States, a chance to get over the lost son. They have no money and the apartment is in bad condition.

7.

Secondhand Lions

5.3

7.5/10

"Secondhand Lions" follows the comedic adventures of an introverted boy left on the doorstep of a pair of reluctant, eccentric great-uncles, whose exotic remembrances stir the boy's spirit and re-ignite the men's lives.

8.

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

5.0

6.7/10

The sailor of legend is framed by the goddess Eris for the theft of the Book of Peace, and must travel to her realm at the end of the world to retrieve it and save the life of his childhood friend Prince Proteus.

9.

Boundin'

4.9

7.0/10

On a high mountain plain lives a lamb with wool of such remarkable sheen that he breaks into high-steppin' dance. But there comes a day when he loses his lustrous coat and, along with it, his pride. It takes a wise jackalope - a horn-adorned rabbit - to teach the moping lamb that wooly or not, it's what's inside that'll help him rebound from life's troubles.

10.

Holes

4.9

7.0/10

Stanley's family is cursed with bad luck. Unfairly sentenced to months of detention at Camp Green Lake, he and his campmates are forced by the warden to dig holes in order to build character. What they don't know is that they are digging holes in order to search for a lost treasure hidden somewhere in the camp.

11.

Daddy Day Care

4.8

5.5/10

Two men get laid off and have to become stay-at-home dads when they can't find jobs, which inspires them to open their own day-care center.

12.

The Haunted Mansion

4.4

5.0/10

Workaholic Jim Evers and his wife/business partner, Sara get a call one night from mansion owner, Edward Gracey wants to sell his house. Once the Evers family arrive at the mansion a butler takes them to dine with Gracey. Gracey takes one look at Sara and he thinks she's his lost lover.

13.

Looney Tunes: Back in Action

4.4

5.7/10

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck are up to their feuding ways again. Tired of playing second fiddle to Bugs, Daffy has decided to leave the Studio for good. He is aided by Warner Bros.' humor impaired Vice President of Comedy, Kate Houghton, who releases him from his contract and instructs WB security guard/aspiring stunt man DJ Drake to capture and "escort" Daffy off the studio lot.

14.

The Lizzie McGuire Movie

4.2

5.5/10

Lizzie McGuire has graduated from middle school and takes a trip to Rome, Italy with her class. And what was supposed to be only a normal trip, becomes a teenager's dream come true.

15.

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

4.2

6.7/10

A new vigilante, Batwoman, is wreaking havoc in Gotham City. The dynamic duo must discover her true identity.

16.

Honey

4.2

5.3/10

Honey Daniels (Jessica Alba) dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches dance classes at a nearby community center in Harlem, N.Y., as a way to keep kids off the streets. Honey thinks she's hit the jackpot when she meets a hotshot director (David Moscow) who casts her in one of his music videos. But, when he starts demanding sexual favors from her, Honey makes a decision that will change her life.

17.

The Jungle Book 2

4.1

5.4/10

Mowgli has been living in the man-village with his little stepbrother Ranjan and his best friend Shanti. But the man-cub still has that jungle rhythm in his heart, and he misses his old buddies Baloo and Bagheera. When Mowgli wanders back to the wild for some swingin' fun, he soon finds the man-eating tiger Shere Khan is lurking in the shadows and planning his revenge.

19.

Stitch! The Movie

3.9

6.2/10

The continuing adventures of Lilo, a little Hawaiian girl, and Stitch, the galaxy's most wanted extraterrestrial. Stitch, Pleakley, and Dr. Jumba are all part of the household now. But what Lilo and Stitch don't know is that Dr. Jumba brought one of his alien "experiments" to Hawaii.