Kids' Entertainment

Babe the pig sits beside his farmer, who is only visible from the knees down.
HBOMax
15 Of The Best Farm Movies For Kids

If your kiddo longs for country life, here are a few movies to keep them entertained.

by Jamie Kenney
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

We’re not exactly sure why all kids seem to go through a farm phase. Maybe it’s all the adorable animals. Maybe it’s all the space to run around. Maybe it’s the tractors. Maybe it’s the indoctrinating effect of singing “Old MacDonald” over and over for the first several years of life. Whatever the reason, we get it. Farms are fun! So we’ve rounded out some of the best farm movies for kids to watch as a family.

These films run the gamut from cartoony talking animals, to realistic (but still) talking animals; from real-life stories to the fanciful; from stories that are about farm life to those that just use the farm as a backdrop to tell a more universal tale. Your child will enjoy getting their farm-fix on days when the local petting zoo is closed with stories about pigs, sheep, dogs, horses, and the farmers who care for them.

One small word of warning: life on the farm can be harsh from time to time, and some of these farm movies don't shy away from that fact. In other words, if your kiddo hasn't made the connection between "chickens" and "chicken nuggets" yet, you might want to look into some of these stories before hitting "play." But, "circle of life" conversations aside, none of these movies has a rating higher than PG-13, and will be appropriate for all kinds of little viewers.

Babe

HBOMax

At the annual county fair, Arthur Hoggett wins a piglet named Babe to bring back home to his quaint, vibrant little farm. There, a lonely Babe forms a bond with Fly, the sheep-herding border collie, who becomes a adoptive mother to him. (Fly’s mate, Rex, isn’t so sure about the little guy.) When Babe unwittingly escapes becoming Christmas dinner, Hoggett decides that he's going to show Babe at the next county fair. But when he discovers the big has inherited Fly's knack for rounding up animals, he decides to enter Babe as a sheepherder... but will this unusual move make Hoggett a laughing stock? And will Babe ever truly find his place on the farm?

Stream Babe, rated G, on HBOMax

Chicken Run

Amazon Video

The plucky chickens at Tweedy's egg farm are always trying, fruitlessly, to escape. Their salvation seems to drop out of the sky, Rocky Rhodes, a rooster who seems to have the ability to fly! Ginger, the leader of the Tweedy's chickens, begs him to teach her and her friends how to fly, too. But when they discover that Mrs. and Mrs. Tweedy plan to start selling chicken pies instead of eggs, their hope to escape becomes more urgent than ever before and they decide, if they can't fly away, they'll build a plane that can. Will these proud poultry ever be free birds?

Stream Chicken Run, rated G, on Amazon Prime.

Go West, Go Wild

Peacock

George is a good little monkey and always very curious, and there's lots to learn about life on the farm in this new, feature-length adventure. When George and the Man with the Yellow Hat are asked to farm-sit for cousin Ginny, George bonds with would-be cowboy Emmett, who works there as farmhand. He also gets to know all of the animals who live there: Billy the Bull (who neighs like a horse), Ricochet the retired-trick pony, Spittoon the llama (guess what they do), and Frick and Frack, the curmudgeonly donkeys. But when the animals all get loose, it's up to George, the Man, and Emmett to get them back home!

Stream Go West, Go Wild, rated TV-Y, on Peacock

Field of Dreams

Peacock

People who say “Field of Dreams is a baseball movie, not a farm movie,” would be right if we lived in a world where we had to choose one. Fortunately, we live in a world where movies can be both a baseball and a farm movie, and Field of Dreams is, surely, that.

Ray lives on a corn farm with his wife and daughter in Iowa. One day, while walking through his field, Ray hears a voice telling him “If you build it, he will come.” He then has a vision of a baseball diamond, with none other than “Shoeless” Joe Jackson standing in the center. Inspired by this premonition, plows over part of his crop in order to create it in real life, supported by his wife, Annie, and basically no one else. But his dream is threatened when the bank threatens to foreclose on the farm.

Stream Field of Dreams, rated PG, on Peacock

Charlotte’s Web

Hulu

Wilbur is the runt of the litter... and farm girl Fern’s father knows what must be done with runts (hint, it involves an ax). But sentimental Fern pleads with her father to be allowed to hand-raise the pig and soon, Wilbur is thriving. He’s so healthy, in fact, that he’s sent to live on Uncle Homer Zuckerman’s farm... and, soon, he learns his fate may only have been delayed: Zuckerman plans to eat him! But with the help of a clever spider named Charlotte, a crafty rat named Templeton, and all the other animals on the farm, Wilbur may just escape the plate and achieve greatness.

Stream Charlotte’s Web, rated G, on Hulu

The Secret Life of Pets 2

Amazon Video

Max is a city dog, used to living alone with his owner, Katie. When she has a little boy named Liam, Max is wary at first, but soon becomes not only fond of the boy but overprotective to the point of neurosis. Fortunately, Katie and her family are taking a trip to the country, where they stay on a relative’s farm. Farm life is strange, and the gruff Welsh sheep dog, Rooster, isn’t exactly the nurturing type. But when one of the sheep go missing, Max may just learn how to let go of his neuroses without letting go of his protective nature.

Stream The Secret Life of Pets 2, rated PG, on Amazon Prime

Fly Away Home

Amazon Video

Amy is 13 years old hasn’t seen her father, an eccentric inventor, in a long time. After all, she and her mother live in New Zealand and he’s all the way in Canada. But when her mother dies in a car accident, she has to travel halfway around the world to go live with him on his farm. Their complete lack of a relationship is awkward and feels insurmountable, but when Amy finds an abandoned goose nest, the hatchlings imprint on her, and she and her dad team up to teach the flock how to take flight and migrate south for the winter.

Stream Fly Away Home, rated PG, on Amazon Prime

Flicka

Disney+

Katy lives on a ranch in Wyoming with her mother, father, and brother, Howard. She loves the ranch and hopes to take over one day, even though her father seems to favor her older reluctant brother for the task.. She also loves the horses who live there, especially Flicka, a wild mustang she tamed. She and Flicka feel like kindred spirits, so she is heartbroken when her father sells the horse to the rodeo. Katy hatches a scheme to win back her beloved steed, but when her plan takes a dangerous turn, her will, and her family, will be put to the test.

Stream Flicka, rated PG, on Disney+

Barnyard

HBOMax

We may think we know about farm animals, but it turns out we’re wrong. It turns out the animals have vibrant social lives when we’re not looking, and they work hard to keep this a secret... except for Otis. Otis is a carefree cow who has a thing or two to learn about responsibility, much to the chagrin of his stern father, Ben. But when a pack of coyotes encroaches upon the farm, threatening the animals who live there, Otis may just find the courage and responsibility he needs to grow up and learn how to take his place as a mature leader.

Stream Barnyard, rated PG, on HBOMax

Spirit Untamed

Lucky Prescott’s mother Milagro was one of the greatest horsewomen in the west before she died in a tragic accident during a performance. Jim, Milagro’s husband, was so overcome with grief he sent Lucky to spend most of her childhood in a city on the East Coast with her grandfather and Aunt Cora. But now, she and Cora are reuniting with Jim in the sleepy town of Miradero. On the train over, Lucky befriends a wild mustang, whose rebellious spirit is quite familiar. Jim, fearing Milagro's fate will also befall their daughter, warns lucky to stay away from horses, especially wild mustangs. But with new friends Pru and Abigail, Lucky not only grows closer to the mustang, but will help set him free.

Stream Spirit Untamed, rated PG, on Amazon Prime

Ferdinand

Disney+

When Ferdinand was just a calf living at Casa del Toro, a special farm and training center for bulls to learn to fight against matadors, his father was chosen for battle and died. Devastated, he ran away to a flower farm, where he lived happily with Nina and her father. (No one there minds that he's a pacifist!) By the time he is discovered by the authorities, he has grown from a tiny calf to an enormous bull, prompting the owners of Casa del Toro to train him for the bullrings in Madrid. But the only thing bigger than Ferdinand is his spirit, and he is determined to end the violence.

Stream Ferdinand, rated PG, on Disney+

Peter Rabbit

Amazon Video

Peter Rabbit and his three sisters – Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-Tail – love spending their days playing and raiding Mr. McGregor’s vegetable garden. Oh, McGregor doesn’t like it, but the rabbits know how to deal with him well enough. Besides, their friend Bea, a surrogate mother, is around to help them out when they need it. But when McGregor’s great-nephew Thomas suddenly moves in, they find themselves matched against a new and formidable foe, especially when Thomas and Bea seem to be developing feelings for each other! Who will prevail in this cheeky battle of wits: human or hare?

Stream Peter Rabbit, rated PG, on Amazon Prime

Home on the Range

Disney+

When cattle rustler Alameda Slim leaves Maggie as the last cow standing in her herd, her owners sell her to the kindly Pearl Gesner, an aging woman who runs Patch of Heaven farm. There, Maggie finds her second chance, befriending many of the other animals that live there. Her best friends, though, are her fellow bovines: the carefree, silly Grace and the stern and sensible Mrs. Caloway. But when the bank threatens Patch of Heaven, these three unlikely heroines take it upon themselves to save their home by collecting the bounty on none other than that dastardly Alameda Slim himself!

Stream Home on the Range, rated PG, on Disney+

Shaun the Sheep

Amazon Video

Shaun is the most mischievous sheep at Mossy Bottom Farm... and that’s saying a lot, because all of the sheep are kind of troublemakers. But when their farmer gets amnesia and, through a series of bizarre events, becomes a famous celebrity hairdresser (we promise, it makes sense in context), the sheep find life on the farm impossible without him. So they do what any other sheep would do: disguise themselves as humans, catch a bus, and go and look for him in the big city! Will they find him before Trumper, the fanatical animal control worker, catches them for good?

Stream Shaun the Sheep – The Movie, rated PG, on Amazon Prime

Minari

Amazon Video

It’s 1983 and the Yi family moves from California to Arkansas to start a farm. It is hard work, and before long, parents Monica and Jacob ask Monica’s mother Soon-ja to come from Korea to help them watch the children, David and Anne, much to David’s dismay. And yet, over time, the bond between all members of the family strengthens, despite the hardships they must endure in their quest for their American dream.

While Minari won’t likely be a hit with the littlest farmers in your family (they don’t have a great grip on quiet pathos or the complexities of depicting “the immigrant experience” on film), it’s a great movie to watch and discuss with older kids who can read subtitles.

Stream Minari, rated PG-13, on Amazon Prime

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