27 Best Easter Movies to Get You in the Holiday Spirit
When it comes to holiday-themed movies, there’s no denying Christmas and Halloween take the cake and Easter gets left on the back-burner. But after we’ve completed our Easter egg hunt (then proceeded to stuff our faces with all of the candy we can find), we find ourselves in the mood to throw on an on-theme movie marathon. So, we’ve rounded up 27 Easter movies that will make you will make you laugh, cry and even want to enjoy ridiculous amounts of chocolate. Keep reading for our top picks.
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1. ‘Hop’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 95 minutes
Easter Bunny (aka E.B.) has always dreamed of moving to California and making a name for himself in music. Unfortunately for him, his dad won’t let him out of the family’s candy business that easily. Will he stick to what he knows or pack his Easter basket and take a chance? Russell Brand voices the fluffy character while James Marsden, Elizabeth Perkins and Kaley Cuoco all make an appearance (as humans).
2. ‘Easter Parade’
RATING: NR
RUN TIME: 108 minutes
Easter Parade tells the story of a Broadway star who hires (and ultimately falls in love with) a chorus girl. This classic musical stars our favorites, Judy Garland and Fred Astaire and features a slew of Ivin Berlin hits. Natch, an actual Easter parade is involved.
3. ‘Here Comes Peter Cottontail’
RATING: NR
RUN TIME: 55 minutes
You might know the song, but there’s also a film (originally aired on CBS) that tells the story of Mr. Cottontail. In this claymation special narrated by Seymour Sassafras, a young Easter bunny must defeat his nemesis, Irontail, before he completely ruins the holiday.
4. ‘Pieces of Easter'
RATING: PG-13
RUN TIME: 98 minutes
After her car breaks down, a young Alza Bennett finds herself stranded on the side of the road in an unfamiliar town. With little to no options, she must rely on a quiet farmer, Lincoln, to get her to her estranged family’s house in time for Easter. Did we mention they only have three days to make the journey?
5. ‘Chocolat’
RATING: PG-13
RUN TIME: 121 minutes
In Chocolat, a quaint French village is getting ready for the approaching Lent season. However, depriving themselves of indulgences might prove more difficult this year, considering a mother-daughter duo recently decided to open up a chocolate shop.
6. ‘The Dog Who Saved Easter’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 87 minutes
An Easter movie about a golden retriever? Count us in. Mario Lopez voices Zeus, a Lab who is spending some time at a doggie day care while his family is away for Easter. However, things don’t go according to plan and Zeus and his furry friends must save the facility from evil criminals.
7. ‘Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’
RATING: G
RUN TIME: 94 minutes
If you’re a fan of the popular top-motion British cartoon, then you’ll love this Academy Award-winning feature. In the flick, the beloved inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit attempt to save their town from a bunny invasion. But things get hare-y (get it?) when they realize these are no ordinary rabbits.
8. ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’
RATING: G
RUN TIME: 108 minutes
If you’re looking for something you can sing along to, this period adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber's 1969 musical might be the perfect fit. Directed by Norman Jewison, the movie features Ted Neeley as the man himself.
9. ‘Yogi the Easter Bear'
RATING: NR
RUN TIME: 46 minutes
Yogi and his pal Boo Boo are no strangers to getting themselves into shenanigans, but this time the duo find themselves on a hunt for the Easter Bunny in an attempt to save the town’s annual Jamboree, which they unintentionally wrecked before it even began.
10. ‘Rise of the Guardians’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 97 minutes
As PureWow’s own Emma Singer wrote, “This family-friendly superhero flick features a cast of familiar little kid heroes—including Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny and the Sandman—who come together to fight a villain who intends to extinguish the joyful spirit of childhood. Chock full of action and adventure, this film is nothing short of exciting.”
11. ‘The Prince of Egypt’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 90 minutes
This animated feature tells the kid-friendly story of Moses. Apart from its stunning imagery and historical narrative, the movie has also become well-known for its catchy soundtrack. (Seriously, it’ll be stuck in your head all day).
12. ‘Peter Rabbit’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 89 minutes
Part live-action, part CGI movie, Peter Rabbit is based on the 1902 novel by Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. While James Corden voices the titular character, the movie also features on-screen appearances from Rose Byrne, Margot Robbie and Sia. We promise it’s fun for the whole fam.
13. ‘Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade’
RATING: NR
RUN TIME: 30 minutes
This follow up flick is a sweet take on how the popular egg-hunt tradition came to be (brought to you by our favorite Ice Age characters, of course). In The Great Egg-Scapade, Sid gets himself into some trouble when he agrees to become an egg nanny (yes, that’s a thing) and discovers keeping track of the egg is harder than he expected.
14. ‘Zootopia’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 108 minutes
While this adorable Disney movie isn't about Easter per se, it is about a very clever bunny cop who, along with a con artist fox, tries to solve a mysterious case in the animal metropolis in which they live and vowed to protect.
15. ‘The Ten Commandments’
RATING: G
RUN TIME: 220 minutes
This Biblical drama centers around the life of Moses. Charlton Heston takes on the titular role, the Egyptian prince who discovers the truth about his Hebrew heritage. It’s important to mention, this one is a whopping four hours long...
16. ‘Hank and Mike’
RATING: R
RUN TIME: 86 minutes
In this comedy, two amateur Easter bunnies (who happen to be BFFs) lose their jobs after the holiday corporation decides to make cuts. With no career and no income, their friendship begins to suffer.
17. ‘Monty Python's Life of Brian’
RATING: R
RUN TIME: 94 minutes
If you’re looking for something more comical, look no further than this satirical classic. Life of Brian follows a Jewish man named Brian Cohen who, for as long as he can remember, gets mistaken for Jesus.
18. ‘Ben-Hur’
RATING: PG-13
RUN TIME: 222 minutes
This three and a half-hour film (yes, you read that correctly) tells the story of Judah Ben-Hur, a member of Jerusalem's Jewish nobility living at the time of Judea's Roman occupation. Starring Charlton Heston, the movie actually won 11 Oscars back in 1960.
19. ‘It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown’
RATING: G
RUN TIME: 30 minutes
We love spending each and every holiday with the Peanuts gang and Easter is no different. However, this 1957 installment features the Easter Beagle instead of the Great Pumpkin, who takes his form in their dog Snoopy. Don’t worry, Lucy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Marcie, Linus and everyone else make an appearance.
20. ‘Steel Magnolias’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 117 minutes
Featuring a standout cast (Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine), Steel Magnolias focuses of the unbreakable friendships of a group of women in a small Southern town. Technically, the 1989 film covers all seasons and holidays, but the Easter egg hunt scene alone qualifies the movie for this list.
21. ‘Veggie Tales: An Easter Carol’
RATING: NR
RUN TIME: 49 minutes
In the animated short, Mr. Nezzer must face his past, present and future, before he makes the decision to knock St. Bart's church and replace it with an amusement park. Think of it like the veggie-version of A Christmas Carol where, instead of Christmas, everything takes place on Easter.
22. ‘Miss Potter’
RATING: PG
RUN TIME: 92 minutes
Technically, this biopic about Beatrix Potter (the author of the best-selling children’s book The Tale of Peter Rabbit) has nothing to do with the holiday itself, but since it centers around the cotton-tailed symbol, we opted to include it here. Zellweger even received a Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe nomination in 2007.
23. ‘Willy Wanka and the Chocolate Factory’
RATING: G
RUN TIME: 98 minutes
OK, bear with us here—the film features so much chocolate and candy that it’s ideal for your Easter Sunday movie marathon. Gene Wilder stars as a magical candy maker who invites a few lucky ticket holders into his factory. There’s also the 2005 remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but we recommend the original.
24. ‘Come Sunday’
RATING: NR
RUN TIME: 106 minutes
Netflix’s official synopsis reads, “A crisis of faith sets renowned fundamentalist preacher Carlton Pearson on a new spiritual path that jeopardizes everything he holds dear.” The 2018 film features a star-studded cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jason Segel, Donald Glover and Martin Sheen.
25. ‘A Walton Easter’
RATING: TV-G
RUN TIME: 120 minutes
If you’ve unfamiliar with the TV series, The Waltons, allow us to introduce you to the Walton family. The drama television series, which ran for nine seasons back in the 1970s, centers around a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War II. In the television film, the Walton gang returns to their family home to celebrate a major anniversary.
26. ‘Rabbit School: Guardians of the Golden Egg’
RATING: G
RUN TIME: 85 minutes
While you might be more familiar with other animated Easter films, don't let Rabbit School: Guardians of the Golden Egg slip under your radar. This 2017 German adventure film follows Max, a young rabbit from the city who gets placed in a rural Easter school and must help try to save the holiday from a band of sneaky foxes.
27. ‘A Week Away’
RATING: TV-PG
RUN TIME: 97 minutes
This Netflix teen musical tells the story of Will (Kevin Quinn), a down-on-his-luck high schooler who finds himself in legal trouble until a foster mother (Sherri Shepherd) sends him to a summer camp, where he falls in love with a fellow camper named Avery (Bailee Madison). This Christian film resonated with audiences and ended up winning the 2021 Dove Award for Inspirational Film of the Year.
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