AnimeX

How AnimeX looks

AnimeX takes its look from the sleek anime streaming site whose name it shares, a design built almost entirely from black, white and shades of grey. The page is pure black. A slim, translucent header holds the white X logo, with its small green dot, and a rounded grey search field. On larger screens a sidebar runs down the left with rounded menu rows, each with an icon and a label: Home, Catalog, Sports, Animals, Books, My List and Help. The row for the page you are on lights up in a soft grey, and on phones the same links move to a tab bar of icons along the bottom of the screen.

The home page opens with a rounded hero panel in which a dimmed film still sits behind a huge white wordmark, with a bright white Browse button and a grey My List button beneath it. A large bold heading introduces the catalogue, followed by three dark feature cards with rounded corners that describe different ways to watch: quick evenings, film weekends and deep dives.

The films appear as rows of rounded poster cards. Each card lifts gently when you point at it, and beneath the poster sits a small green dot, the title in bold white type and a quieter grey line with the year and running time. Further down, a dark panel gathers every shelf as a rounded button, the help pages sit in a grid of grey tiles, and the footer, almost invisible against the black, holds the links and copyright line.

Getting around

The rounded search field at the top of the page is the quickest way to any film. Type a few letters of a title, a sport, an animal or a place, such as Anne, Hoosiers, baseball, horse or Scotland, and matching films appear as you type. The Catalog link in the sidebar opens all 192 films on one page with the most popular first, and the A to Z list arranges them alphabetically.

The shelves group the films by theme and by decade, each opening as a grid of poster cards with a short introduction. The Trending now and New arrivals rows on the home page are good places to start, and the Top rated shelf collects the films that audiences have loved most.

My List keeps track of the films you would like to watch. Press the save button on any film page and it appears in My List, which lives in this browser and opens instantly. You can export the list to a small file and import it on another device, so a film night planned on a laptop is ready on the family television. The guides, linked from the sidebar and from the bottom of this page, gather the best films on each theme.

The fifties and sixties: Disney dramas and a terrier in Edinburgh

The oldest film on AnimeX is The Jackie Robinson Story from 1950, in which Jackie Robinson plays himself, three years after he broke the colour line in major league baseball, with Ruby Dee as his wife Rachel. It is a remarkable document of a turning point in American sport. The Brave One, from 1956, follows a Mexican boy who raises a bull calf and tries to save it from the bullring, and its story won an Academy Award for a writer working under a false name, later revealed to be Dalton Trumbo. The Missouri Traveler tells of a runaway orphan finding his place in a small farming town, and Soapbox Derby follows a gang of London children building a racing cart.

Disney's live-action dramas of the early sixties are among the most loved films in the catalogue. Greyfriars Bobby tells the true story of a Skye terrier in Victorian Edinburgh who kept watch over his master's grave for years and was adopted by the whole city. Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus sends a runaway boy to the circus with a mischievous chimpanzee called Mr. Stubbs, Those Calloways follows a Vermont family's dream of a sanctuary for migrating geese, and A Tiger Walks sets a small town on edge when a tiger escapes from a circus truck, until a girl leads a campaign to save it. Follow Me, Boys! casts Fred MacMurray as a travelling musician who settles down and spends a lifetime as a small town's scoutmaster.

From Britain came Hand in Hand, a tender story of the friendship between a Catholic boy and a Jewish girl, and Ring of Bright Water, based on Gavin Maxwell's memoir, in which Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna share a remote Scottish cottage with a playful otter called Mij. Spencer's Mountain, with Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara as the parents of a large mountain family, inspired the much-loved television series The Waltons. Disney's Rascal closes the decade with a lonely boy and a pet raccoon in rural Wisconsin.

The seventies and eighties: Oliver!, the railway and Hoosiers

Oliver! is the grandest film on the classic shelf, Carol Reed's musical version of Dickens with Ron Moody as Fagin, Mark Lester as Oliver and Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger, and songs such as Consider Yourself and Food, Glorious Food. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Railway Children, directed by Lionel Jeffries, follows three children who move with their mother to a cottage beside a Yorkshire railway line after their father is taken away, and its final scene on a misty station platform is one of the most moving in British cinema. Flight of the Doves sends two Liverpool orphans across Ireland to their grandmother, pursued by a villainous uncle who loves disguises.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull turned Richard Bach's fable into a film of soaring photography and songs by Neil Diamond, Jeremy is a gentle story of first love between a young cellist and a dancer at a New York arts school, Justin Morgan Had a Horse tells how a Vermont schoolteacher's small horse founded a famous breed, and Baker's Hawk follows a boy who nurses an injured hawk back to health.

The eighties brought Anne of Green Gables, Kevin Sullivan's celebrated adaptation with Megan Follows as Anne and Colleen Dewhurst and Richard Farnsworth as Marilla and Matthew, followed by Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel. Hoosiers gave Gene Hackman one of his finest roles as a coach with a troubled past who leads a tiny Indiana high school to the state basketball championship. Rad celebrated the BMX craze with a teenager torn between a big race and his exams, and Rocket Gibraltar gathered a family around Burt Lancaster's grandfather for his seventy-seventh birthday, with a very young Macaulay Culkin among the grandchildren. Careful, He Might Hear You is an acclaimed Australian drama about a boy caught between two aunts.

The nineties: gifted children and quiet courage

The 1990s shelf holds 20 films, and several of them are small gems. Little Man Tate, Jodie Foster's first film as a director, follows a seven-year-old genius torn between his devoted, down-to-earth mother and a brilliant educator who wants to nurture his talents. Two Bits stars Al Pacino as a grandfather in 1930s Philadelphia who promises his grandson a quarter, the price of a ticket to the grand new cinema, and Lost in the Barrens, from Farley Mowat's novel, strands two very different boys in the Canadian north.

Animal stories include Born to Be Wild, in which a teenager forms a bond with a gorilla who can use sign language, and Wind Dancer, about a girl who recovers from a riding accident with the help of her horse. Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End completes the trilogy with Glenn Close and Christopher Walken on their Kansas farm, and The First of May sends a foster child and an elderly woman to join a travelling circus, with Mickey Rooney and a cameo from Joe DiMaggio.

Sports dramas include Pistol: The Birth of a Legend, about the young basketball prodigy Pete Maravich, The St. Tammany Miracle and Angels in the Endzone, in which a grieving boy's football team receives some heavenly help. How the West Was Fun gives Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen a dude ranch to save, and Oliver Twist from 1997 casts Richard Dreyfuss as Fagin and Elijah Wood as the Artful Dodger.

The 2000s: whale riders and rookies

The 2000s shelf holds 51 films and some of the best-loved dramas in the catalogue. Whale Rider follows Pai, a twelve-year-old Māori girl in a coastal village in New Zealand who believes she is destined to lead her people, though her grandfather insists the role must go to a boy. Keisha Castle-Hughes earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance, and the film's final scenes are unforgettable.

The Rookie tells the true story of Jim Morris, a Texas high school teacher and baseball coach who promises his team he will try out for the major leagues if they win their district, then makes his debut as a pitcher at the age of thirty-five. Goal! follows a young Mexican-American footballer from the parks of Los Angeles to a trial with Newcastle United, and The Perfect Game recreates the extraordinary 1957 season in which a team of boys from Monterrey won the Little League World Series.

Miss Potter stars Renée Zellweger as Beatrix Potter, struggling to publish her first book and win her independence, with Ewan McGregor as her publisher and the Lake District in glorious colour. Ballet Shoes brings Noel Streatfeild's novel to life with Emma Watson as the eldest of three adopted sisters, and An American Rhapsody follows a Hungarian girl who joins her parents in America years after they escaped. Mickey, written by John Grisham, follows a father and his baseball-playing son on the run from their troubles, and A Shine of Rainbows sends an orphan to a windswept Irish island where he befriends a seal pup.

The 2010s: true stories and horse country

The 2010s shelf is the largest decade with 61 films. Greater tells the story of Brandon Burlsworth, who walked on to the University of Arkansas football team and became an All-American, and Beyond the Blackboard follows a young teacher running a classroom for homeless children in a shelter in Albuquerque. The Last Song stars Miley Cyrus as a teenager who reconnects with her father, a pianist, over a summer by the sea.

Horse lovers have a whole stable of films from the decade, from A Sunday Horse, the true story of a rider who reached a national championship on a horse nobody believed in, to Midnight Stallion, A Horse for Summer, Orphan Horse, A Horse Called Bear and The Horse Dancer. Touching Wild Horses sends a grieving boy to Sable Island, home of a famous herd of wild horses.

The decade also includes Will, about a young Liverpool fan's journey to see his team in a European final, and As Dreamers Do, about the boyhood of Walt Disney in Missouri.

2020 to today: new voices

The newest shelf holds 19 films. American Underdog tells how Kurt Warner went from stacking shelves in a grocery store to winning the Super Bowl, with Zachary Levi as Warner and Anna Paquin as his wife Brenda. The Long Game recreates the story of five Mexican-American caddies in 1950s Texas who were barred from the country club course where they worked, built their own one-hole course in a field and went on to win the state championship.

Out of My Mind, from Sharon Draper's novel, follows Melody, a sixth-grader with cerebral palsy whose sharp wit and brilliant mind finally find a voice, and Skater Girl follows a teenager in a village in Rajasthan who discovers skateboarding. You Gotta Believe recreates a Fort Worth little league team's remarkable 2002 season, Buckley's Chance strands a boy in the Australian outback with a wild dingo, Dolphin Island gives an orphaned girl a home with her grandfather and a dolphin named Mitzy, and Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse imagines a Christmas meeting between a six-year-old Roald Dahl and his heroine, Beatrix Potter.

Sports stories

Sport gives family drama its most dependable shape: a team or an athlete facing long odds, a season of hard work and a final game that brings everyone to their feet. The sports shelf holds 42 films. Basketball has Hoosiers, the gold standard of small-town sports films, along with Pistol: The Birth of a Legend, Believe in Me, in which a young coach is handed a girls' team and learns to believe in them, and The St. Tammany Miracle.

Baseball has The Rookie, The Perfect Game, You Gotta Believe, Twelve and The Jackie Robinson Story, while American football has American Underdog, Greater and Angels in the Endzone. Football in the global sense appears in Goal!, Back of the Net and Will, and golf takes centre stage in The Long Game.

The shelf ranges widely beyond the big team sports: gymnastics in An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars and A Second Chance, BMX in Rad, skateboarding in Skater Girl, go-karts in Kart Racer, drag racing in Right on Track, the true story of two sisters who became champions, motocross in Free Style, cheerleading in Going for Gold, wrestling in Reversal and pool in Kiss Shot, with Whoopi Goldberg as a mother who returns to the table to pay her mortgage. The Sports stories guide picks the highlights.

Animal friends

The animal shelf gathers 50 films about the bond between young people and the creatures in their care. Dogs have a special place: Greyfriars Bobby, the two versions of Where the Red Fern Grows, The Trial of Old Drum, about a beloved dog at the centre of a famous court case, My Dog the Champion, Frank, Summer's Shadow and Miracle Dogs all celebrate canine loyalty.

Horses fill a large part of the shelf, from Justin Morgan Had a Horse and Wind Dancer to Moondance Alexander, Virginia's Run, Princess and the Pony, Heart of a Champion, Storm Rider and The Dark Horse. Wilder creatures appear in Ring of Bright Water, Rascal, Cheetah, set on the plains of Kenya, White Lion, The Golden Seal, Run, Cougar, Run and Buckley's Chance, and the sea brings Dolphin Island and the seal pup of A Shine of Rainbows.

Some of the most memorable animal stars are the least expected: the chimpanzee astronaut of Race to Space, the gorilla of Born to Be Wild, the injured rabbit of The Christmas Bunny and the soaring gull of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The Animal friends guide suggests where to start.

Classic books on screen

The classic books shelf holds 29 adaptations, and many of them are the best possible introduction to a great novel. Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne Shirley appears in Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, whose Prince Edward Island landscapes have drawn visitors to Canada for decades. Charles Dickens is represented by Oliver!, Oliver Twist, the playful modern retelling Scrooge & Marley and The Ghosts of Dickens' Past, a story about the young author himself.

English childhood classics include The Railway Children from E. Nesbit's novel and Ballet Shoes from Noel Streatfeild's, along with Pollyanna, whose heroine plays the Glad Game to find something good in every situation. American classics include both versions of Where the Red Fern Grows, Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus, Rascal and Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End, and from Australia come Storm Boy, from Colin Thiele's novel, and Opal Dream, about a girl in an opal-mining town whose imaginary friends go missing.

The Classic books guide picks a few favourites, and reading the book after the film, or before it, makes a wonderful family project.

Growing up

The growing up shelf is the largest on AnimeX, with 62 films about the moments that shape young lives: a new school, a summer away from home, a first friendship, a first heartbreak, a dream that seems impossible. Out of My Mind, Little Man Tate and Jasmine Is a Star follow young people determined to be seen for who they really are, and The Fat Boy Chronicles, OK and Contest look honestly at bullying and how friendship can overcome it.

Summer stories are a highlight of the shelf: Summer Eleven follows a group of girls in their last summer before middle school, Secret of the Cave sends an American boy to solve a mystery in an Irish village, Behind the Waterfall gives two grieving siblings a summer with a kindly old Irishman, and Come Away Home sends a twelve-year-old to spend an unexpected summer on Hilton Head Island. Summerhill visits the famous progressive school where pupils help make the rules.

The shelf also includes coming-of-age stories built around a passion, from Rad, Skater Girl and Kart Racer to Go for It!, Lift Me Up and Useless. The Growing up guide has a short tour.

Music, dance and art

Forty-nine films on AnimeX follow young people who find their voice through music, dance, painting or writing. Dance leads the way with Ballet Shoes, Save the Last Dance 2, in which a dancer balances ballet at a famous New York conservatory with the hip-hop she loves, Go for It!, about a Mexican-American teenager in Chicago, Hope Dances, Lift Me Up and All Styles, about a college student who forms a dance crew.

Music shapes The Last Song, Jeremy, Broken Hill, in which a sheep farmer's son forms a band of prison inmates to win a conservatory place. Art and storytelling inspire Miss Potter, Christmas Cottage, the semi-autobiographical story of the painter Thomas Kinkade's youth, with Peter O'Toole as his mentor, and As Dreamers Do, about the boyhood of Walt Disney.

Tradition and performance come together in Whale Rider, whose climactic school concert is one of the film's most moving scenes, and in Jasmine Is a Star, about a teenager with albinism who sets her heart on modelling. The Music, dance and art guide has more.

True stories

Eighteen films on the true stories shelf are based on real people, and they tend to be among the most inspiring in the catalogue. Sport supplies many of them: The Jackie Robinson Story, Hoosiers, loosely based on the real Milan High School team of 1954, The Perfect Game, Pistol: The Birth of a Legend, Right on Track, Greater, American Underdog, The Long Game and You Gotta Believe.

Other true stories look at writers and artists, from Miss Potter and The Ghosts of Dickens' Past to As Dreamers Do and Christmas Cottage, at a determined rider in A Sunday Horse, at a dedicated teacher in Beyond the Blackboard, and at a famous court case about a beloved dog in The Trial of Old Drum. Ring of Bright Water comes from Gavin Maxwell's account of his life with an otter, and An American Rhapsody from the director's own family history.

These films often end with photographs or footage of the real people involved, a moment that adds great weight to the story. Read the True stories guide for a tour.

Christmas dramas

The Christmas shelf holds 17 gentle holiday dramas. The Fitzgerald Family Christmas gathers a large Irish-American family for a holiday that may bring their long-absent father home, All Good Things sends two city sisters to their grandparents' farm for the holidays, and Christmas Ranch gives a rebellious girl a pony and a ranch to save.

Small miracles fill Snow Wonder, in which a magical snowstorm touches many lives at once, Christmas Oranges, about an orphan's hope for a simple Christmas treat, The Christmas Bunny, A Christmas Tree Miracle and The Santa Box. The Night They Saved Christmas sends a family to the North Pole to help Santa, played by Art Carney, protect his village from an oil company's blasting, and Middleton Christmas plans a holiday concert to save a school. The Christmas dramas guide picks a few to begin with.

Choosing for every age

Family dramas range from gentle animal stories to films that deal with loss, illness or hardship, and choosing well makes all the difference. For younger children, Greyfriars Bobby, Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus, Rascal, Dolphin Island, Miracle Dogs and The Christmas Bunny are warm, simple and reassuring.

Children from about eight upward tend to enjoy the sports films, Anne of Green Gables, The Railway Children, Oliver!, Ballet Shoes and Whale Rider, which handle sadness with great care. Teenagers often respond to Out of My Mind, Skater Girl, The Last Song, Rad and the true sports stories, which speak directly to ambition, friendship and identity.

A number of films in the catalogue deal with the death of a parent or a family hardship, and they are best watched together so there is time to talk afterwards: Where the Red Fern Grows, A Shine of Rainbows, Behind the Waterfall, Useless and Touching Wild Horses are moving examples. Every film page gives the genres and running time, and the official services show age ratings and offer kids profiles.

Planning a drama night

A family drama works best when there is time afterwards to talk, so a weekend afternoon or an unhurried evening is ideal. For a sports double bill, pair Hoosiers with The Rookie, two films about second chances on very different stages, then ask everyone which moment they found most exciting. For a classic books weekend, watch Anne of Green Gables on Saturday and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel on Sunday, or follow The Railway Children with Ballet Shoes.

For an animal evening, choose Greyfriars Bobby and Ring of Bright Water, two films set in Scotland, or travel further afield with Cheetah and White Lion. For a night of real-life heroes, line up American Underdog and The Long Game, and for a musical treat, few films can match Oliver! with a bowl of popcorn and everyone singing along to Consider Yourself.

Younger viewers might enjoy a Disney afternoon of Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus, A Tiger Walks and Rascal. Older children may prefer a thoughtful pairing such as Whale Rider and Skater Girl, two stories of girls who refuse to let tradition decide their future. Save your choices to My List and export it to the family television, and the evening is ready.

How Watch now works

AnimeX is a guide, and every film page has a Watch now button that opens the film on JustWatch for the country you pick. JustWatch is a widely used service that lists where a film can be streamed with a subscription, rented, bought or watched free with advertising. The country menu covers fifteen countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, India, the Philippines, Singapore and South Africa, and your choice is remembered in this browser.

Streaming catalogues change regularly, so the JustWatch page always shows the latest picture. The classic Disney dramas are often gathered on the studio's own service, many recent films were made for the large streaming platforms or for family television networks, and older British and Australian dramas often turn up on free services and in public libraries.

Most of the catalogue was made in English, and the official services usually provide subtitles and dubbed versions in many languages. The Languages and versions guide explains how remakes are listed, and Where AnimeX films stream describes the services behind the button.

The help pages

Fifteen short guides sit in the sidebar under Help and at the bottom of the home page. How to watch with AnimeX follows a film from the poster cards to its official service, Finding a film gives search tips, and My List explains how to save films and carry the list to another device.

The theme guides open the shelves one by one: Sports stories, Animal friends, Classic books, Growing up, Music, dance and art, True stories, Christmas dramas, Classic family drama and New family dramas, each with a few recommendations and a link to the full shelf.

The practical pages cover Languages and versions, Where AnimeX films stream and The official AnimeX site, which describes how the real address looks.

Stories rooted in place

Many family dramas are inseparable from their landscapes. Anne of Green Gables made the red roads and green fields of Prince Edward Island famous around the world, Whale Rider was filmed in the small east coast community of Whangara in New Zealand, and The Railway Children used the steam railway of the Worth Valley in Yorkshire, which still welcomes visitors who want to stand on the station platform from the film.

Miss Potter shows off the lakes and fells of the English Lake District that Beatrix Potter loved and helped to protect, Greyfriars Bobby recreates the old streets of Edinburgh around the churchyard where the real Bobby is remembered with a statue, and Ring of Bright Water captures the wild coast of the Scottish Highlands. Hoosiers was filmed in small towns across Indiana, with local people filling the gymnasiums as spectators.

Further afield, Skater Girl built a real skatepark in a village in Rajasthan, which remained for the local children after filming, Cheetah and White Lion were shot in the wild landscapes of Kenya and South Africa, and Touching Wild Horses visits Sable Island off Nova Scotia, home to hundreds of free-roaming horses.

A short history of family drama

Family drama has been part of cinema since its earliest days, but the films on AnimeX begin in 1950, when studios were learning to tell serious stories that respected the intelligence of young viewers. The Jackie Robinson Story showed a real hero playing himself, and small British productions such as Soapbox Derby were made especially for children's Saturday morning screenings.

In the late fifties and sixties, the Walt Disney studio made a series of thoughtful live-action dramas about animals, frontier families and small towns, often based on popular books. These films, from Greyfriars Bobby to Those Calloways and Rascal, treated young audiences as intelligent viewers and set a pattern that lasted for decades. At the same time, British filmmakers produced lavish literary adaptations, with Oliver! winning the top prize at the Academy Awards and The Railway Children becoming a national favourite.

The eighties brought the great sports drama, with Hoosiers setting the template that later films such as The Rookie and American Underdog would follow, and television became a home for ambitious adaptations such as Anne of Green Gables. From the nineties onward, independent filmmakers and family television networks produced a wide range of smaller dramas about horses, dogs, faith in oneself and growing up, and in recent years streaming services have brought new voices and settings, from the villages of Rajasthan in Skater Girl to the classrooms of Out of My Mind.

Hidden gems

Beyond the famous titles, the catalogue rewards curious viewers with many smaller films. Hand in Hand is a beautifully simple British film from 1961 about a friendship between two seven-year-olds that crosses the boundaries of faith. The Brave One is a vivid Mexican-set story with a remarkable history behind its screenplay, and Flight of the Doves is a lively chase across the Irish countryside with a scene-stealing villain.

Two Bits is a warm, nostalgic portrait of a Philadelphia neighbourhood in the 1930s, Opal Dream is a touching Australian fable about imagination and belief, and Lost in the Barrens is a gripping survival story from the far north of Canada. Her Majesty, from New Zealand, follows a girl whose dream comes true when the Queen visits her small town, and Summerhill takes a lively look at a school where children help make the rules.

These films are easy to miss in a crowded streaming menu, which is exactly why they deserve a place on My List. Many of them are short enough for a school night and gentle enough for the whole family.

Talking about films together

One of the special pleasures of family drama is the conversation that follows. Simple questions work best: Which character would you most like to meet? What would you have done in their place? Was the ending fair? Children often notice details that grown-ups miss, and talking about a film helps them put feelings into words.

Sports films invite questions about teamwork and fairness, animal stories about responsibility and letting go, and the classic books about how life has changed and how it has stayed the same. Films about loss, such as Where the Red Fern Grows or Behind the Waterfall, can open a gentle conversation about grief at a time when everyone feels safe and close.

Some families keep a notebook of the films they have watched together, with a line or two about each one and a score out of ten from every member of the household. Over the years it becomes a small family treasure, and a reminder of all the stories shared on the sofa.

Families on screen

Behind every story on the shelves stands a family, and the catalogue shows families of every shape. There are large, noisy households, such as the mountain family of Spencer's Mountain and the Scottish immigrants of All Mine to Give, and small ones, like the mother and gifted son of Little Man Tate or the father and daughter who rebuild their bond in The Last Song. Grandparents play a central role in Two Bits, Rocket Gibraltar and Whale Rider, and aunts, uncles and family friends step in to care for children in Behind the Waterfall, Useless and Careful, He Might Hear You.

Adoptive and foster families appear throughout, from Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert taking in Anne Shirley to the three adopted sisters of Ballet Shoes and the young runaway who finds a home in The Missouri Traveler. Many of these films celebrate the idea that a family is made by the people who choose to love and look after each other, and that idea speaks to children and grown-ups alike.

Brothers and sisters have their own stories too. Flight of the Doves follows a brother and sister fleeing across Ireland together, The Railway Children shows three siblings looking after each other in a difficult year, and All Good Things sends two city sisters to rediscover their family's roots on a farm at Christmas. Watching these films side by side, children often recognise their own family in surprising places.

Films for three generations

Family dramas are some of the few films that grandparents, parents and children can enjoy equally, each finding something different in them. A grandparent may remember seeing Oliver! or Greyfriars Bobby at the cinema, a parent may have grown up with Anne of Green Gables on television, and a child may be discovering Out of My Mind or Skater Girl for the first time.

Mixing the decades is a lovely way to plan a visit or a holiday gathering. Try pairing an older film with a newer one on a similar theme, such as The Jackie Robinson Story with American Underdog, or Ring of Bright Water with Dolphin Island, and let each generation explain what it enjoyed. The conversations that follow are often as memorable as the films themselves, and many families find their own favourite stories passed on from grandparents to grandchildren in exactly this way.

What family dramas teach

Family dramas return again and again to a handful of lasting values. Perseverance is the most common: the coach and players of Hoosiers, the late-blooming pitcher of The Rookie and the grocery clerk of American Underdog all show that effort and belief can carry people further than talent alone. Belonging is another, from Anne Shirley finding a home at Green Gables to the caddies of The Long Game building a course of their own.

Many of these films are about seeing people clearly. Out of My Mind asks viewers to look past a wheelchair to the brilliant mind of the girl sitting in it, Whale Rider questions who is allowed to lead, and Hand in Hand shows two children whose friendship crosses the lines that adults have drawn. The animal stories teach responsibility and care, and the true stories show that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Above all, family dramas give parents and children a shared experience to talk about. A moving film can open a conversation about grief, fairness, ambition or kindness more gently than any lecture, and many families find that the drama they watch together becomes part of the family's own story.

Remakes and companions

A few stories appear in more than one version, and each has its own page with the year beside the title. Where the Red Fern Grows was filmed in 1974 and again in 2003, and Oliver Twist appears as the 1968 musical Oliver! and as a 1997 television drama. Anne of Green Gables has its original film and its sequel, and Sarah, Plain and Tall is represented by the final film of its trilogy.

The American Girl films form a small series of their own, with An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars, An American Girl: Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight, An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success and An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance, each built around a girl with a passion and a lesson to learn. A Second Chance and A Second Chance: Rivals! follow an Australian gymnast and the team she later coaches.

Studios and storytellers

Walt Disney Productions made many of the classic dramas in the catalogue, including Greyfriars Bobby, Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus, Those Calloways, A Tiger Walks, Follow Me, Boys! and Rascal, and returned to true sports stories decades later with The Rookie. Canadian producer Kevin Sullivan made the Anne of Green Gables films a national treasure, and Britain's directors, from Carol Reed to Lionel Jeffries, gave the classic shelf its finest literary adaptations.

American Underdog comes from the Erwin brothers' Kingdom Story Company, known for hopeful true stories, and family television networks have produced dozens of horse, dog and Christmas dramas in the last two decades. Notable names appear throughout: Jodie Foster directed Little Man Tate, John Grisham wrote Mickey, and Niki Caro made Whale Rider before going on to direct big studio films.

Dramas through the year

The catalogue has a drama for every season. Spring suits sports stories and new beginnings, with The Rookie, The Perfect Game and Hoosiers. Summer is perfect for holiday stories such as Summer Eleven, Secret of the Cave and Come Away Home, and for island films like Dolphin Island and A Shine of Rainbows. Autumn brings back-to-school dramas and football, from Out of My Mind to Greater, and winter belongs to the Christmas shelf and to snowbound classics such as Lost in the Barrens.

Happy viewing

Family dramas ask a little more of their audience than a comedy or a cartoon, and they give a great deal back: a good cry, a cheer at the final whistle, a conversation on the way to bed, a story that a child remembers for years. AnimeX gathers 192 of them in one place, with a page for each and a button that leads to the official services, so the next meaningful evening is only a few clicks away. Choose a film, gather the family and enjoy the story. Welcome to AnimeX.

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