Zootopia 2 (2025)
It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown (1974)
We know the Great Pumpkin didn’t exactly work out as planned for Linus. Surely, the Easter Beagle won’t bring him down. In this half-hour Peanuts special, available only on Apple TV+, Linus is once again sure that a benevolent holiday spirit will come bring the gang treats. Everyone else is not so sure, so Peppermint Patty and Marcy try to dye their own eggs, while Lucy throws a private egg hunt. Rating: TV-G
Peter Rabbit (2018)
After the Easter Bunny and maybe Bugs, the next most-famous bunny is probably Peter Rabbit. He takes the spotlight in this modern twist on the Beatrix Potter classic, which imagines “Bea” as a friendly neighbor to the McGregor farm. When Farmer McGregor’s nephew comes to the farm, he runs afoul of Peter and his rabbit friends—much to Bea’s chagrin. If it’s a hit, follow it up with Peter Rabbit 2. MPAA Rating: PG
Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Hiding eggs while never being spotted, delivering presents to all the kids of the world in one night, slipping teeth from kids’ pillows without them feeling it—in a way, being a holiday mascot is like being a super hero, with distinctive super powers. In this one, they all form their own Avengers-like team up to fight against an evil being named Pitch Black, who wants to spread darkness and despair throughout the land. So who’s in on the squad? The Easter Bunny of course (played by Hugh Jackman in his Australian accent), along with Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fischer), and Jack Frost (Chris Pine). It’s al all-star holiday team-up! MPAA Rating: PG
The King of Kings (2025)
The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ to Town (1977)
It just wouldn’t be a holiday without a Rankin/Bass stop-motion special, a la Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This 45-minute tale delves into the origins of certain Easter traditions, like painting eggs, eating chocolate bunnies, or scarfing down jelly beans. MPAA Rating: G
Hop (2011)
There are so many movies about Santa successions, and who is going to take over once one Santa retires. But what about the Easter Bunny? In this one, teenaged rabbit E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) is reluctant to take over as the next Easter Bunny, so instead he joins up with a human slacker (James Marsden) for rock ‘n’ roll adventures. MPAA Rating: PG
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
This is the only animated movie on this list that can call itself an Oscar winner: It won the award for Best Song for “When You Believe,” performed by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. (It beat out Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from Armageddon, too.) The movie is an animated, musical adaptation of the Book of Exodus, which is always a good story to revisit around Easter and the voice cast includes a huge list of big-name actors like Val Kilmer (who plays Moses), Ralph Feinnes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Helen Mirren and Steve Martin, among others. MPAA Rating: PG
Easter Parade (1948)
This Fred Astaire/Judy Garland movie is best known for its title song, which celebrates the Easter bonnet that has all the frills upon it. But that’s not the only great musical number in it: Watch the rest for songs like “Steppin’ Out with My Baby” and “I Love a Piano.” MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Daffy Duck’s Easter Egg-Citement (1980)
Bugs may be the bunny, but this special belongs to Daffy Duck. The mallard emcees this 40-minute special, which features three cartoons by animation great Fritz Freleng, all about Easter and spring. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
An Easter Story (1983)
The plot of this story may really resonate with procrastinators: It’s about an Easter egg shortage that occurs right before the big holiday. And while it may look like it stars Muppets, it’s actually from the mind of a different ’80s puppet pioneer: Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
The Dog Who Saved Easter (2014)
Fans of ABC Family’s The Dog Who Saved Christmas are already familiar with Zeus, the lovable yellow Labrador Retriever. Even if they missed that one, though, dog-lovers will thrill to this Easter-themed sequel, where Zeus (with the voice of Mario Lopez) has to foil a plot by robbers to disrupt a doggie day care. MPAA Rating: G
The Ten Commandments (1956)
In some households, Easter means the yearly rewatch of The Ten Commandments, listening again to the story of how Moses led his people from enslavement in the Book of Exodus. Though it’s rated G, this Cecil B. DeMille-directed epic is probably too intense for the littlest family members (and too long, clocking in at more than three hours). MPAA Rating: G
Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Adventure (2012)
Swiper, no swiping … the Easter eggs! When the mischievous fox hides the basket of Easter eggs, it’s up to Dora, Boots, and their bunny friend to go on a journey to get it back in this special, which runs just over an hour long. MPAA Rating: G
Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade (2016)
Sid and the rest of his Ice Age pals are tasked with a rescue that turns into the world’s first egg hunt. (And yes, Scrat gets in on the fun, too.) You can watch the whole thing in less than half an hour, so it’s great if you just need to throw something on to keep kids entertained for a bit. Rating: TV-G
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
Also good for the older ones, the blockbuster musical by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber tells the story of Holy Week through rock ‘n’ roll songs. If you don’t want to watch the whole film, you can skip through the songs in the live arena tour version, featuring performances by the Spice Girls’ Mel C. as Mary Magdalene, musical comedian Tim Minchin as Judas, and Ben Forster, winner of the ITV reality series Superstar, as Jesus. MPAA Rating: G
Yogi the Easter Bear (2005)
Did you know that it was actually Yogi the Bear’s ancestors that got the Easter Bunny started? When Yogi and Boo-Boo come out of hibernation on Easter, Yogi tells the story of how his family was instrumental in kicking off the Easter tradition in this 47-minute special. MPAA Rating: Not Rated
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
It’s Santa who makes an appearance in this movie, not the Easter bunny. But when the four Pevensie siblings head through a wardrobe to the magical world of Narnia to help defeat a winter-making White Witch, you can see parallels to the Easter story—especially regarding the noble lion Aslan, who experiences a resurrection. Time to teach those kids about allegories! MPAA Rating: PG
Peppa Pig: The Easter Bunny (2018)
If you’re looking for something to watch with toddlers, this hourlong Peppa Pig special is as gentle as they come. Peppa joins her friends and family for Easter fun, including an egg hunt, gardening with her grandparents and, of course, splashing in muddy puddles. Rating: TV-G
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
There are no egg hunts or treat-filled baskets to be found in this Aardman stop-motion animated movie, but bunnies abound. When a town is overrun by rabbits, Wallace and his dog Gromit investigate—and find out a beast has been destroying vegetable patches in the run-up to a garden competition. MPAA Rating: G
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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