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Best films to help teach kids about climate change
We break down some of the most important films you can watch with your children to get them thinking about the future of our planet.
Universal
- Chezelle Bingham
Published: Thursday, 29 January 2026 at 12:40 pm
10 items
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Climate change is something which will impact – or is already impacting – just about everyone in the world. But it can be tricky to know exactly how to introduce the many issues it causes to young kids, especially without overwhelming them.
That's where cinema can be an especially handy tool. Over the years, a great number of movies aimed at younger viewers have tackled themes connected to the changing environment, and there are therefore bucketloads of options if you're looking to educate children in an accessible and – crucially – entertaining way.
From Pixar's beloved 2008 film Wall-E to acclaimed 2024 movie The Wild Robot, animation has proved an especially great medium for exploring these issues, introducing a number of beloved characters and captivating stories that get to the heart of the matter without being too frghtening or didactic.
With that in mind, below we’ve compiled a list of some of the best films to help introduce your kids to the ideas of climate change, sustainability and the environment.
Showing 1 to 10 of 10 results
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2024
Adventure
Animation
U
Animated adventure featuring the voices of Lupita Nyong'o, Kit Connor and Pedro Pascal. Washed up on the shore of an island, robot "Roz" learns to cope with the environment. When she encounters orphaned gosling Brightbill, Roz and wily fox Fink join forces to raise the runt.
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2008
Sci-fi
Adventure
U
Animated sci-fi comedy featuring the voices of Sigourney Weaver, Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight. On a refuse-covered Earth of the future, a lonely robot called WALL-E is carrying out its function to compress and form litter into towers, a task it was programmed to do by the humans who abandoned the barren planet centuries ago. Then a visit from a probe called EVE brings hope that Earth could be populated once more.
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2006
Animation
Family
U
Musical animated adventure featuring the voices of Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood and Robin Williams. In the freezing Antarctic, Emperor penguins find their soul mate through their own unique "heart song". Unfortunately for young bird Mumble, he can't sing a note, but he can tap dance brilliantly. Social rejection soon follows, leading his "happy feet" to be blamed for a colony-threatening fish famine. Determined to prove his worth, Mumble heads off on a perilous journey to discover the truth about what has happened to the fish stocks.
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2002
Adventure
Animation
PG
Animated comedy adventure, featuring the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Denis Leary. Twenty thousand years ago, Earth's animals are fleeing the onslaught of a new Ice Age. However, three natural enemies - a mammoth, a sloth and a sabre-toothed tiger - are diverted from their escape and their enmity when they become the unlikely guardians of a lost human infant.
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2016
Adventure
Animation
PG
Animated musical adventure featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho. Ancient Polynesia: Moana, the future leader of her island community, sets sail on a perilous mission to rescue her home from encroaching darkness. Forming an uneasy alliance with the mischievous demigod Maui, she strives to return a mystical relic to its rightful place, while also discovering her true purpose.
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2016
Animation
Adventure
U
Pixar's animated sequel to Finding Nemo, featuring the voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks. Dory, a friendly blue tang fish with short-term memory loss, embarks on an epic quest to find her long-absent parents. Friends Nemo and Marlin join Dory on a perilous mission that ultimately teaches everyone the true meaning of family.
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2007
Documentary
Nature
U
Wildlife documentary narrated by Queen Latifah, which follows the lives of a polar bear cub and a walrus pup as they struggle with the environmental changes that are affecting their habitat.
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2012
Animation
Family
U
Animated comedy adventure with the voices of Zac Efron, Ed Helms and Danny DeVito. In a city where everything is artificial, young Ted Wiggins seeks to win the heart of his dream girl Audrey by finding her a real tree. But first he must reverse the destructive work of a greedy businessman with the aid of a grumpy woodland guardian.
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2006
Animation
Comedy
U
Animated comedy adventure featuring the voices of Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling and Steve Carell. When Vincent the bear wakes from his winter hibernation to find that scheming raccoon RJ has stolen his stash of food, he gives RJ a deadline to return it, or else. After duping a bunch of animals into helping him, the desperate RJ discovers that part of the forest has been turned into a suburb, and there's a massive hedge separating him from a potentially rich source of salvation.
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2011
Family
Drama
U
Family drama starring Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr, based on the true story of Winter, a bottlenose dolphin, who is rescued by an aquarium after being injured by a fishing trap off the Florida coast. After complications set in she loses her tail and is fitted with a prosthetic replacement.
See more Best films to help teach kids about climate change
Authors
Chezelle BinghamSub-Editor
Chezelle Bingham is a Sub-Editor for Radio Times. She previously worked on Disney magazines as a Writer, for 6 pre-school and primary titles. Alongside her prior work in writing, she possesses a BA in English Literature and Language.
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