Travelling with your family? Here are some movies for the whole tribe to enjoy together.
Despicable Me 4
Despicable Me, the flagship franchise of animation studio Illumination, shows no signs of slowing down. At the time of writing, Despicable Me 4, the fourth main entry in the series, is the third-highest-grossing movie of 2024, having earned more than US$950 million worldwide.
Despicable Me 4 reacquaints audiences with reformed supervillain Gru (Steve Carell), his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), and their daughters Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Madison Polan). They welcome a new family member, Gru Jr (Tara Strong), who proves himself to be a handful. A new threat rears its head in the form of Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell), Gru’s boarding school classmate who has long held a grudge since Gru overshadowed him at a talent competition. Maxime and his girlfriend/henchwoman Valentina (Sofia Vergara) plan to turn people into human-cockroach hybrids. Gru and family are forced to relocate and assume new identities to evade Maxime and Valentina, but their covers are quickly blown.
And, of course, Despicable Me 4 features what fans are really looking forward to: the return of Gru’s Minions. Dave, Mel, Gus, Tim, and Jerry are selected to become Mega Minions with superpowers, turning them into destructive forces.
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The most loveable criminal mastermind and his army of incomprehensible, yet adorable, yellow minions are back for a fourth instalment filled with outrageous adventures and family shenanigans.
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Inside Out 2
Return to Headquarters to reunite with old emotions and meet new ones in this sequel to Inside Out. Set two years after the first movie, a 13-year-old Riley (Kensington Tallman) is selected to join an intensive ice hockey camp at the high school she is about to enter. She struggles to maintain her close friendships with Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green) while trying to fit in with the members of the Firehawks, the high school hockey team.
Inside Headquarters, the control room in Riley’s brain, Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) work in harmony.
Headquarters undergoes an unexpected renovation, with the arrival of new emotions, including Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). The newcomers upend the five main emotions’ operation as chaos ensues.
Joy and company must wrest control of Headquarters back from Anxiety and her crew as Riley undergoes a tumultuous time at the hockey camp.
This relatable movie further explores how we process emotions, and its resonance with audiences of all ages has made it the highest-grossing animated film at the time of writing.
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Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is disrupted by something entirely unexpected: new Emotions!...
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The Tiger’s Apprentice
Enter a magical world and witness a hero fulfil his destiny in this adaptation of the 2003 fantasy novel by Laurence Yep. This vibrant adventure is an entertaining take on Chinese mythology brought to life by an all-star voice cast.
Tom Lee (Brandon Soo Hoo) lives with his grandmother Diane (Tan Kheng Hua) in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Unbeknownst to Tom, his grandmother is the guardian of the Phoenix egg, and when she dies, that mantle passes on to him. Mr Hu (Henry Golding), the Tiger Guardian, trains Tom to take his grandmother’s place so that he can protect the egg from the evil sorceress Penny Loo (Michelle Yeoh).
Hu introduces Tom to the other guardians, each representing an animal from the Chinese Zodiac, including Sidney the Rat (Bowen Yang), Mistral the Dragon (Sandra Oh), and Naomi the Monkey (Sherry Cola).
Tom Lee, a Chinese-American boy, after the death of his grandmother, becomes the apprentice of a talking tiger Mr. Hu and learns ancient magic to become the new guardian of an ancient phoenix.
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Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Earth Symphony
Discover music’s ability to connect mankind in the 43rd film of the beloved Doraemon franchise. Nobita (Megumi Ōhara) is struggling to practise the recorder for his school recital. Drawn by the sound of his recorder, a mysterious girl named Mikka (Riana Hirano) appears before him and invites him, Doraemon (Wasabi Mizuta), and their friends to follow her.
Mikka takes them to the Hall of Music on a planet where music is transmuted into energy. She seeks a master musician to perform alongside her to restore the Hall of Music to its former glory. Nobita, Doraemon, and Mikka must defend Earth from a sinister entity that seeks to erase all music from the world.
Director Kazuaki Imai says he was inspired after observing his son singing along to a show on TV during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The musicians were all performing remotely because the concert could not be held in person, and this gave Imai the idea to make a Doraemon movie centred on music.
Nobita is practising his recorder when a mysterious girl appears. She is looking for an expert musician to play with her to revive the "Hall of Music" on a planet where music is an energy source.
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The Garfield Movie
The beloved Jim Davis comic strip creation Garfield returns to the screen in this animated adventure that takes the indoor cat and places him in the great outdoors. Garfield (Chris Pratt) was adopted by artist Jon Arbuckle (Nicholas Hoult) as a kitten and lives with Jon and the yellow beagle Odie (Harvey Guillén). Garfield and Odie are kidnapped by criminal mastermind Jinx (Hannah Waddingham), a Persian cat, who is constantly flanked by her henchmen, Shar Pei Roland (Brett Goldstein) and Whippet Nolan (Bowen Yang). Garfield reunites with his father, Vic (Samuel L Jackson), who used to be Jinx’s partner in crime. Jinx makes Vic her accomplice in a heist of Lactose Farms. Garfield, Odie, and Vic will meet allies like Lactose Farms’ washed-up mascot Otto (Ving Rhames) and enemies like overzealous chief of security Marge Malone (Cecily Strong), as they embark on a grand adventure.
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Garfield, the lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father, Garfield joins a hilarious, high-stakes heist.
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IF
Writer-director John Krasinski takes audiences into the realm of childhood imagination in IF. This hybrid live-action and animated film is a sweet, unexpectedly emotional movie about getting back in touch with one’s childhood to process loss and grief, and it is as resonant for adults as it is moving for children.
Twelve-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming), whose mother died years ago, discovers she can see people’s imaginary friends or IFs, which come in all shapes and sizes. She meets Cal (Ryan Reynolds), who is accompanied by a large furry purple creature named Blue (Steve Carell) and a fairy-like creature named Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Cal is helping to match imaginary friends to new children after their original companions have outgrown them. At Memory Lane Retirement Home, where old IFs live, Bea meets elderly teddy bear Lewis (Louis Gossett Jr), who suggests that Bea help the IFs reunite with their original owners rather than placing them with new ones.
The all-star voice cast also includes Awkwafina, Emily Blunt, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, and Krasinski himself, who also plays the live-action role of Bea’s father.
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A young girl who goes through a difficult experience begins to see everyone's imaginary friends who have been left behind as their real-life friends have grown up.
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Kung Fu Panda 4
Eight years after the last Kung Fu Panda movie, the wisecracking, roundhouse-kicking giant panda Po is back with another action-packed adventure. Jack Black returns to voice the lovable, food-obsessed panda, who’s now tasked with finding a successor as he leaves behind the role of the Dragon Warrior to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace. A new character, the fox bandit Zhen (Awkwafina), accompanies him on his mission to take down the big bad of the film, the fearsome Chameleon (Viola Davis). The movie’s non-stop action has gotten an upgrade, reflecting advances in animation technology, and features more impressive kung fu scenes. Director Mike Mitchell says in an interview: “We had a really cool stunt team [from the Marvel films] that came in and did specific moves for our animators. […] and then we took them into animation and elevated them even more and made it even crazier.” Besides the jazzed-up fight sequences, expect a ton of laughter from the cast of anthropomorphic animals, especially the adorable Zhen.
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He must find a new hero to take over as Dragon Warrior so that he may fulfil his destiny as the next spiritual leader of the Valley of Peace, Po decides to take one adventurous mission.
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Boonie Bears: Time Twist
Who says Hollywood has got all the popular animated kids programmes? Boonie Bears, a popular Chinese animated series that debuted in 2012, has gained a significant global fanbase in the past decade. Created by Fantawild Animation Inc., the show revolves around the wacky, adventurous antics of two bears, Briar and Bramble, as they thwart the efforts of a bumbling logger named Vick, who is intent on destroying their woodland home. Though the series is aimed at kids, it touches on serious real-life issues; it blends comedy and environmental themes, emphasising the importance of nature conservation and wildlife protection. Known for its vibrant animation and engaging storylines, Boonie Bears has expanded beyond TV into merchandise and feature films, including 2024’s Boonie Bears: Time Twist. The 10th feature film in the franchise, Time Twist, shines the spotlight on Vick, who must save Briar and Bramble by embarking on an adventure through space and time.
Vick's boss leads him to a client that offers Vick to restart his life as a simple logger. This choice threatens the lives of the bears and the forest, leading Vick on a journey to save them.
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Pororo: Popstar Adventure
Pororo the Little Penguin is South Korea’s answer to Boonie Bears. Since its premiere in 2003, the animated show has charmed young audiences not just in its home country but all over the world. Perhaps that’s because its main character, Pororo, whose design was inspired by iconic mascots such as Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty, has no cultural coding whatsoever and thus appeals to a wide demographic. The show follows the adorable and playful penguin and his diverse group of friends, including Crong the dinosaur, Eddy the fox, Loopy the beaver, and Poby the polar bear. Set in the snowy, whimsical village of Porong Porong Forest, the series explores themes of friendship, teamwork, and problem-solving. Like Boonie Bear and many other successful children’s animated shows, Pororo the Little Penguin has expanded into merchandise, theme parks, and feature films, including Pororo: Popstar Adventure. In the movie, Pororo and his friends are an inch away from winning a singing contest, which they joined purely for fun. As they advance closer and closer to the final round, the villain Big Ben’s petty jealousy grows. Will Pororo and his friends survive the distractions thrown against them by Big Ben and eventually win the superstar contest?
Pororo and his friends are an inch away from winning a singing contest which they joined purely for fun. As they advance to the final round, the villain Big Ben’s petty jealousy grows.
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