With Valentine's Day around the corner, love is certainly in the air. And with many of us still quarantined inside our homes, we'll be looking for love in other places, like in watching romantic comedies. While romantic comedies might be the perfect thing to watch to put everyone in a Valentine's Day mood, they're not always the most family-friendly movies out there. And let's face it, kids aren't always that invested in Valentine's Day, even if their favorite cartoons try to get them to be.
But even teens and young children deserve to be swept up in all the heart fluttering glory romantic comedies often offered to older viewers. Luckily, there are a handful of family-friendly movies out there that borrow all the best moments from romantic comedies, like the grand romantic gesture, but leave out the more mature themes.
A Cinderella Story (2004)
What's more family-friendly and romantic than an adaptation of the beloved Cinderella tale. While A Cinderella Story might not be the animated classic young kids are familiar with, it will introduce them into the swoon-worthy world that is love stories. Released in 2004, A Cinderella Story was the first teen adaptation that has since launched a successful franchise that adapts the Cinderella story to fit the modern age.
In this one, Sam (Hilary Duff) embraces Cinderella by living with her evil stepmother who forces her to work at Sam's late father's diner. But Sam has bigger dreams than being "diner girl," which she confesses to her texting penpal, "Nomad." Things get complicated, though, when Sam learns that "Nomad" is none other than, the popular Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray). Not only do these two have a cute love story, but they also teach audiences a valuable lesson about always being true to yourself.
Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging (2008)
Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging is a highly underrated romantic comedy that also serves as an epically underrated coming of age story too. The film was released on Nickelodeon in 2008 and is based on a young adult novel series.
The movie centers on 14-year-old Georgia, who has made it her mission to get Robbie, a very cool teenager, to fall in love with her. In order to win over this "older man," Georgia pulls out all the stops and even resorts to using one of her classmates in the hopes of making Robbie jealous. In the end, though, Georgia didn't need to do any of those things because Robbie loves her for who she is, unconditionally.
Camp Rock (2008)
Camp Rock is not only one of Disney Channel's most popular original movies of all time, but it's also the perfect movie to watch with the family on Valentine's Day.
While most of the movie revolves around Mitchie (Demi Lovato) trying to fit in with the "popular" crowd at the summer camp by lying to them about who she is, there's also a budding romance that the film explores. Both Mitchie and Shane Gray (Joe Jonas) end up making each other better people because of their friendship that eventually blossoms into something much more. It's another reminder to young kids that being yourself is the most important thing of all.
High School Musical (2006)
High School Musical is arguably the biggest Disney Channel Original Movie to ever exist. Not only did it launch a successful franchise that became the blueprint for future Disney Channel Original Movies, but it also gave audiences one of the most iconic love stories of all time. Move over Noah and Allie, because Troy and Gabriella are the true one true pairing.
The movie follows Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) as they manage to shake the world of high school clique to its core all the while falling in love with each other. Not only will kids learn the power of a musical duet, but they'll also learn that it's okay to explore things that aren't what others expect them to be good at.
Love Simon (2018)
Just when the world seemed to be spinning out of control, Hollywood gave us Love, Simon, the first-ever teen gay romantic comedy produced by a major Hollywood studio. But it's not just the groundbreaking nature of Love, Simon that has to lead it to be considered a modern-day classic teen romantic comedy, it's the story at the heart of it.
Young kids will love watching Simon (Nick Robinson) fall in love with his mystery pen pal all the while trying to figure out which of his classmates he's talking to. Even the most romance repulsed kids will find the ending scene with Simon and Bram (Keiynan Lonsdale) on the Ferris wheel together too swoon-worthy to make fun of, and it'll also teach them that they can love anyone they want, no matter what.
Sleepover (2004)
In the world of teen movies, Sleepover is highly underrated, which is a shame considering it's a fun story about two groups of best friends battling it out in a scavenger hunt in the hopes of securing the premier lunch spot when they start high school in the fall.
Sleepover has a lot going for it in terms of showcasing the power of friendship, but it also has an insanely sweet love story. Soon-to-be freshman Julie (Alexa Vega) has been in love with Steve (Sean Faris) since grade school. Unfortunately for her, Steve is older than her, insanely popular, and probably doesn't even know who she is -- or so she thinks. Through a crazy scavenger hunt that takes the girls all over town, Julie realizes she's more awesome than she gives herself credit for and in the end, she does get the guy.
The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
Anyone who grew up watching Disney Channel in the early 2000s knows that Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) and her best friend, Gordo (Adam Lamberg), were destined to fall in love with each other. It just took these two middle schoolers a little longer to figure out.
The Lizzie McGuire Movie mixes adventure with romance as these soon-to-be high schoolers travel to Rome on a school-sanctioned summer field trip. However, the trip takes on a whole other meaning when Lizzie gets roped into pretending to be an Italian pop-star who she looks eerily similar to. Despite Lizzie and Gordo spending most of the film apart, it's their fierce loyalty to each other that ends up driving them to realize that they might just be the perfect couple after all.
The Princess Diaries (2001)
The Princess Diaries is definitely more preoccupied with preparing Mia (Anne Hathaway) to be the future Queen of Genovia, but that doesn't mean there isn't a bit of romance involved here and there. In fact, one of the most underrated teen romances occurs between Mia and her best friend's older brother, Michael Moscovitz (Robert Schwartzman).
Not only is Mia an amazing role model for young girls, but Michael is an equally amazing role model for young boys. In fact, it's through his dedicated friendship with Mia and desire to be respectful that ultimately lands him dancing with the future Queen at the Ball.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before (2018)
Adapted from the best-selling teen book series, the To All The Boys franchise one of Netflix's most popular teen rom-com franchises of all time.
The best part of To All The Boys I've Loved Before is that it gives in to all the best romantic comedy tropes. For starters, Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) pretend to date each other, which might not be the best lesson for kids but it's super cute. In the end, these two help each other see the world from someone else's perspective.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
10 Things I Hate About You is, without a doubt, the best teen romantic comedy to come out of the 1990s. And even though it's adapted from an iconic Shakespeare play, the movie is, for the most part, family-friendly.
One of the biggest messages the younger audience can take away from 10 Things I Hate About You is that being true to yourself and who you really are is the best way to go and you don't have to be quiet and bashful if this isn't you. Kat (Julia Stiles) is the polar opposite of quiet and bashful and yet, she still manages to get the guy in the end. As for Patrick (Heath Ledger), well he teaches audiences that it's important to support other people's dreams if you care about them and that telling the truth is always better than lying.