Colorado Springs KIDS Magazine | The Best Streaming During the Covid-19 School Break

The Best Streaming During the Covid-19 School Break

(From our April 2020 Issue)

How can you possibly entertain your housebound children without either poisoning their minds (and yours)? With the likelihood of a continued unexpected break from school, here are some at-home movie offerings across the streaming spectrum to keep your kids at bay and reasonably entertained.

Winnie the Pooh, (Disney+)
If you want to introduce some purely gentle, lighthearted, good-natured and entertaining films to your youngest, it’s hard to beat Disney+'s Winnie the Pooh arsenal, especially the 2011 feature directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall. The story is slight but heartwarming, the animation less frenetic than today’s CGI-a-thons, and the music (by the same people behind Frozen) far better than expected. Oh! And it’s short, so younger attention spans won’t be taxed.

Paddington and Paddington 2, (Netflix)
The bear who has captured the hearts of film critics everywhere – maybe it’s the shared affinity for marmalade and coats so big they hide any insecurity? – Paddington has emerged as a crossover hero, of sorts. Adults can get just as much entertainment and heartache watching the Peruvian bear bumble through two delightful British adventures as children will – and with the added bonus of both movies featuring excellent performances from the best U.K. actors around (Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Bonneville, Julie Walters and, especially, Hugh Grant in the sequel).

Hugo (Netflix)
For your older kids, there may be no better option on Amazon’s streaming service than Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s 2011 fantasy-drama that is as much a love letter to old-time kiddie adventure films as it is to the medium of film itself.

Missing Link (Hulu)
For the slightly younger set, there is last year’s stop-motion animated tale Missing Link. Tired of living a solitary life in the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Link recruits fearless explorer Sir Lionel Frost to guide him on a journey to find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight, our fearless trio of explorers encounter more than their fair share of peril as they travel to the far reaches of the world to help their new friend. Through it all, the three learn that sometimes you can find a family in the places you least expect.

Babar: The Movie, (Tubi)
Children's book authors Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff's most beloved elephant comes to the big screen in this animated family tale. Elephant monarch King Babar tells the tale, that unfolds via flashback, of how a much-younger Barbar and his girlfriend Celeste save her village from the pugnacious rhinoceroses that have come to raid it.

Babar: The Movie, (Tubi)
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (Netflix)
Miles Morales is juggling his life between being a high school student and being Spider-Man. However, when Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk uses a super collider, another Spider-Man from another dimension, Peter Parker, accidentally winds up in Miles' dimension. As Peter trains Miles to become a better Spider-Man, they are soon joined by four other Spider-Men from across the "Spider-Verse". As all these clashing dimensions start to tear Brooklyn apart, Miles must help the others stop Fisk and return everyone to their own dimensions in this animated action flick.

Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (HBO)
All the major DC superheroes are starring in their own films, all but the Teen Titans, so Robin is determined to remedy this situation by getting over his role as a sidekick and becoming a movie star. Thus, with a few madcap ideas and an inspirational song in their hearts, the Teen Titans head to Hollywood to fulfill their dreams. This movie super-sizes the surreal elements of the eponymous Cartoon Network series for an 80-minute blast of goofy antics and inside-baseball comic-book humor. You’ll love it, your kids will love it, and everyone will survive another day trapped inside together.