If there’s one thing that excites all kids, it’s magic. Boys, girls, old or young – magic is something that almost all children love. There’s something about the ability to talk to animals, fly, change the weather or even make a zit disappear that is just mesmerizing, and there’s no one who does magic quite like witches. That’s why witch movies are so popular.
Some kids prefer their witches sweet and sassy; others like to see witches who are scary and make them shiver. Still others like witches who are a little kooky and silly.
In this list, we’ve gathered up all the best witches – the scary ones, the sassy ones and the silly ones alike – to bring you all the very best witch movies for kids.
Best Disney Witch Movies for Kids
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Hocus Pocus is the quintessential Halloween movie and the quintessential witch movie. Three sister witches are sentenced to death in Salem.
300 years later, on Halloween 1993, typical teenager Max takes his little sister and the girl he likes to the witches’ house and accidentally raises them from the dead.
The three of them, along with a talking cat named Binx, must find a way to send the witches back to their afterlives before they work the magic that’ll allow them to suck the soul out of a child and remain alive in the world forever.
It’s a little scary and a lot of fun, and your kids are sure to love it.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
This is a family-friendly classic that never gets old. In it, Angela Lansbury – Mrs. Murder She Wrote herself – portrays a slightly bumbling witch who finally gets it together and casts a traveling spell on a bed.
This allows her and her three new wards to travel to the magical Isle of Naboombu and find a way to save England from WWII.
It’s part live action/part animation and absolutely amazing from beginning to end.
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
This Disney classic follows the lives of siblings Tia and Tony, who were both born with extraordinary psychic abilities.
They’re soon noticed by an unkind, devious millionaire named Bolt, who kidnaps them in order to use them for their abilities.
They escape from Bolt, find a map and follow it’s route up the mysteriously named Witch Mountain in order to find the secret of their pasts.
Twitches (2005) & Twitches Too (2007)
Rated TV-PG | Ages: 8+ | Time: 1h 23min
These two Disney Channel originals star popular twin sisters, Tia and Tamera Mowry, as twin witches Artemis and Apollo.
They were separated at birth but are reunited on their 21st birthdays. They find out they must use their powers of witchcraft to save the magical world into which they were born and where their birth mother still lives.
In the second movie, they find out their father might also still be alive and must use their powers to save him as well.
The Halloweentown Movies (1998-2006)
Rated TV-PG | Ages: 8+ | Time: 1h 21min
Rated TV-G | Ages: 8+ | Time: 1h 22min
Rated TV-PG | Ages: 8+ | Time: 1h 28min
If your kids are looking for a witch movie that’ll really get them in the Halloween spirit, have them check out the Halloweentown flicks.
There are four in total, each one representing a different year in the lives of the Cromwell-Piper family, whose mom is a witch who escaped from another dimension.
Although the kids never knew it, once they find out, they’re desperate to find a way there to visit their mother’s home, which is full of monsters, witches and all kinds of supernatural beings.
- Halloweentown (1998)
- Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001)
- Halloweentown High (2004)
- Return to Halloweentown (2006)
Maleficent (2014)
This is the live action version of Sleeping Beauty told from the point of view of Maleficent.
It turns all popular notions of the original story completely upside down and shows the world that Maleficent isn’t quite so bad after all.
Your kids will love the fairies, magic and gorgeous graphics of Disney’s amazing alternate version of the popular fairy tale.
Into the Woods (2014)
Originally a Broadway play, this was adapted for film in 2014. Although its reviews were largely mixed, this musical is one of my favorite witch movies because it’s suitable for the entire family.
The main story is fairly simple and straightforward: A baker and his wife, who’ve been cursed to remain childless, set out on a search for the ingredients to reverse the curse and give the witch who cursed them back her youth and beauty.
While on their journey, they meet several popular fairy tale characters, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and more. If you love fairy tales as much as you love witches, you’ll adore Into the Woods.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe (2005)
This movie, based off the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, is great and stays very true to the book’s source material.
Four children, fleeing a war-torn country, go to live with an eccentric old man and find their way into a magical land through an old wardrobe in his house.
They meet many magical creatures, including a talking lion who tells them they’re destined to save Narnia from an evil White Witch.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Chances are both you and your children have seen Disney’s first fully animated feature film at least once or twice, but it’s always a great one to watch again.
Snow White, a beautiful, kindhearted princess, is hated by her step-mother because she’s more beautiful and better loved by the people.
Her step-mother, an evil witch, tries to have Snow White killed, and when that doesn’t work, she feeds her a poisoned apple that puts her into an eternal sleep… unless true love’s kiss can wake her.
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Despite being released in the 60’s, this is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. It’s the well-known tale of King Arthur.
It features all the best parts of the King Arthur mythos, including Arthur’s transition from lowly squire to King of Camelot, a curmudgeonly old wizard named Merlin, an evil witch who’s Merlin’s biggest rival and of course, the legendary sword in the stone, Excalibur.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Although many people wouldn’t consider this a “witch movie” per se, Ursula, a sea witch, is a huge part of it, and the whole plot of the movie would disappear without her, so I feel like it deserves a spot on the list. (Mostly because I absolutely adore Ursula and the song “Poor Unfortunate Souls.”)
In this Disney classic, a mermaid falls in love with a human prince and asks a sea witch to give her legs so she can go to land to find him.
The only catch is that she has to go without a voice, and if the prince doesn’t fall in love with her in three days, Ursula gets her soul.
Return to Oz (1985)
This acts as somewhat of an unofficial sequel to the original The Wizard of Oz movie, although it stars an entirely new cast.
Dorothy, who keeps insisting Oz was real, is sent to the asylum by her aunt and uncle. Before anything drastic can happen, though, she escapes and wakes up back in Oz once more. Only Oz is nothing like Dorothy remembers.
Best Non-Disney Witch Movies for Kids
The Harry Potter Films (2001-2011)
Rated PG | Ages: 8+ | Time: 2h 41min
Rated PG | Ages: 10+ | Time: 2h 22min
Rated PG-13 | Ages: 12+ | Time: 2h 37min
Rated PG-13 | Ages: 12+ | Time: 2h 18min
Rated PG-13 | Ages: 12+ | Time: 2h 33min
Rated PG-13 | Ages: 12+ | Time: 2h 26min
Rated PG-13 | Ages: 12+ | Time: 2h 10min
These eight movies are full of witchcraft, wizardry, magic, monsters, ghosts and all kinds of amazing goodness that any kid will love.
Harry, an orphan who lives with mean, almost abusive relatives, turns 11 and finds out he’s a wizard. He’s taken to a magical school called Hogwarts with other young witches and wizards and taught to do magic.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Although it’s a part of the same magical world, this movie is set decades before the events that take place in Harry Potter.
The movie focuses on a wizard named Newt Scamander and his case of magical creatures.
He visits New York, where all of his magical creatures escape his case, and he has to track them all down and get them back in the case before they cause magical mayhem that can’t be reversed.
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Although many people, myself included, have issues with the ending of this popular anime, Howl’s Moving Castle still deserves a spot on this list.
Sophie, a beautiful young woman, is cursed by an angry witch to become an old woman overnight. She leaves home to try to break the curse and meets a young wizard named Howl along the way.
There’s a lot of drama, several branching storylines, a magical moving house and a war.
There’s so much going on that it may be hard for young children to follow, but your older children are sure to love it.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz. This is the original classic starring Judy Garland.
Garland plays Dorothy, a young girl from Kansas who gets swept up, along with her dog, into a tornado and dropped down into the magical world of Oz.
While there, she meets many magical creatures, including a few witches – both good and bad – and the mighty Wizard of Oz, on her journey to find her way home.
Nanny McPhee (2005)
A widower in Victorian England, Mr. Brown has seven children who he loves very much but can’t seem to control.
He hires multiple nannies, but the kids keep running them off with their bad behavior. Finally he hires the magical Nanny McPhee.
When she first arrives, she appears mean and unattractive and the kids don’t like her at all.
Over time, though, she uses lots of love, some stern discipline and some discrete magic to get the kids in line.
As she does, they grow to care for her, and her unattractive appearance becomes less and less unattractive, although the kids aren’t quite sure why or if it’s even happening at all.
Season of the Witch (2011)
If you’re looking for a witch movie for kids, make sure you grab this copy of Season of the Witch and not the 1973 version directed by George Romero. That’s not a mistake you want to make.
In this PG-13-rated movie, a knight and his companions are tasked with escorting a supposed witch to a monastery for a trial. Along the way, they find out she might be something even more dangerous than a witch.
Spirited Away (2001)
Often considered Hayao Miyazaki’s all-time best film, Spirited Away is another great witchy anime. In it, a little girl named Hiiragi loses her parents to an evil witch.
The witch turns them into pigs, and Hiiragi must journey through the world of Kami (Japanese spirits) in order to find them again.
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
If your children are fans of sweet, kind witches, this is the movie for them. It’s a Japanese anime about Kiki, a teenage witch famous for flying on a broomstick.
She uses her amazing talents to start a delivery service called “Witch Delivery Business,” taking things from one person to another.
For some reason, though, Kiki suffers a crisis of self and loses her ability to fly. She must regain it in order to save a friend.
The Good Witch (2008)
This is actually only the first of several Hallmark movies about Cassie Nightingale, also known as “the good witch.”
Cassie helps the local police chief investigate and solve cases, and over time, their work relationship turns into something more.
Despite the help she provides, the rest of the town doesn’t trust her and her supernatural powers, and Cassie must decide whether to leave the hostile town or stay with the man she loves.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)
Before Sabrina the Teenage Witch was a terrifying show on Netflix, it was a sweet, slightly cheesy comic book, which was then made into a sweet, very cheesy movie.
The movie tells the story of Sabrina, a regular teenage girl, who lives with her aunts, has a crush on the hottest boy in school and just happens to become a witch on her sixteenth birthday.
This movie served as the pilot for the hugely popular ABC show.
If your children aren’t quite ready for the terrifying world of Netflix’s Sabrina, introduce them to her with this movie. They’re sure to love it.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
This Japanese anime is based off the popular book The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart.
The English language version was released in 2018 and follows the story of a young girl named Mary.
She finds a flower known as the “fly-by-night.” It gives her the power to become a witch for a single night. This gives her a lot of pleasure, but it gets her into some mischief as well.
The Little Witch (2018)
An English-dubbed, Swiss-German movie, The Little Witch tells the story of one witch bound to defy the customs of her order.
A member of an organization of “bad” witches, the Little Witch decides to be good and only use her magic to help others.
When her superiors give her a choice – hurt some kids or lose her magic forever – the Little Witch decides to save the kids and steal her superiors’ powers.
This movie is super sweet and suitable for kids aged six and up.
The Witches (1990)
Based off the book by Roald Dahl, this is the story of a young boy, Luke, who accidentally comes across a coven of bad witches.
The witches turn Luke into a mouse for spying on them and plan to turn the rest of England’s children into mice as well.
Even as a mouse, Luke knows he has to find a way to stop the witches, and with the help of his grandmother and another boy-turned-mouse he meets along the way, Luke sets out to do just that.
The movie has some killer makeup effects and scary puppets, so it might be best for older children who don’t scare as easily.
